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CARROLL - Logan Elm couldn't find the answers to a tenacious
Bloom-Carroll defense for nearly three quarters Tuesday, falling on the
road 54-45 in the Braves first loss of the season.
A man-to-man defense mixed in with a zone caused fits for the Braves
(8-1, 3-1 MSL) from the field, as Logan Elm only managed a 18 for 51
shooting performance.
"If it was a three or a 15-foot jumper, they had a guy in our faces
contesting the shot," LE coach Doug Stiverson said. " ... They are a
very long (armed) basketball team and they go 6-2 and 6-3 clear across
the lineup."
"We wanted to really do a good job defending (Kyle) Reichelderfer and
(Evan) Blake," Bloom-Carroll coach Tom Petty said. "We had help from
several people doing that, but we knew they'd make their run."
With the Logan Elm loss to Bloom-Carroll and Canal Winchester's defeat
at the hands of Circleville, there is now a three-way tie atop the
league between LE, Canal and Fairfield Union.
Bloom-Carroll (6-2, 2-2 MSL) pressed the advantage in the first three
quarters, using an inside game led by Kale Richardson and Brent Thorne
to take a 38-21 lead with only 50 seconds left in the third.
Logan Elm finally started finding some answers when senior Kyle
Reichelderfer stepped up to drain a jumper, then took a feed from Evan
Blake to convert a three-pointer at the buzzer to cut the B-C lead down
to 39-26.
"Kyle stepped up with Evan in foul trouble there at the end of third
and kept our kids believing that we had a chance," Stiverson said. "The
guys got after it on defense after that and turned up the pressure."
The end of quarter streak ignited the Braves from the field as they
were nearly flawless in the fourth quarter on a 8 for 13 mark from the
field.
Reichelderfer followed a layup from Jamie Morris with his second triple
of the game that brought Logan Elm to within a dozen.
After a three-ball from Chris Leasure and two along the baseline by
Bryant Blake, Evan Blake went to work scoring the next seven LE points
on his own triple, then driving the lane for two layups that put the
Bloom-Carroll lead down to 46-45 with 1:15 left.
The last Blake layup would be the final points that the Braves would
tally for the rest of the evening.
A layup following a key offensive rebound from Jalin Thomas and two
free throws from Richardson helped the Bulldogs to finish the game on an
8-0 run.
"He (Thomas) was strong on the offensive board and put two or three of
those back," Stiverson said. "He was effective along the baseline."
The Bulldogs converted on seven free throws in the fourth period, and
knocked in 12 of 20 attempts for the game.
"Our guys deserve a lot of credit for the heart they showed coming
back," Stiverson said. "It came down to that one point or one rebound to
either take a lead or tie at the free throw line." ... They were just
better on the boards."
Logan Elm could only manage eight free throws while dropping in half of
its attempts.
The Braves dug themselves an hole, only converting on 2 of 13 shots in
the first quarter and 5 for 22 in the first half, allowing Bloom-Carroll
to build a 24-14 halftime advantage.
Richardson put in nine points from the field during the first half,
while Evan Blake scored all but five of the Braves' offense.
Bloom-Carroll finished the game 19 for 43 (44 percent) from the field
and were led by Richardson and Schmitz with 15 points each.
Thomas added 12 to put three B-C players into double digits.
Evan Blake put in a game-high 23 points - putting in 7 of 14 shots in
the second half - while Reichelderfer added 10 points.
Logan Elm returns to action Friday at Canal Winchester while
Bloom-Carroll entertains Bishop Ready in a non-league encounter on the
same night.
"We were away last Friday (at Westfall) and we're also away Friday and
Saturday,” Stiverson said. "Nobody is going to feel sorry for us in
these stretch of road games and our guys will have to regroup and find
their way Friday."
The Braves took the reserve matchup 48-35 with Tim Congrove scoring 14,
Eric Holbrook 13 and Ben Lee 12 points for Logan Elm. |
