|
Basketball is a simple game at heart.
And when your team commits 10 turnovers and only makes one field goal
for eight minutes - your most likely going to come out on the short end
of the stick.
That's what Logan Elm did to visiting Zane Trace Tuesday evening,
outscoring Trace 22-2 in the first quarter for a 71-43 non-league win.
"The key to the first was our defensive intensity and the kids focus
they brought on defense," Logan Elm coach Doug Stiverson said. "They
(Logan Elm) got all over them in the full court (press) and made them do
things on offense that they didn't want to do."
LE (7-0) put-in the first nine points of the game with most of those
coming from Evan Blake on a pair of threes.
The Logan Elm senior hit six triples for the game and shot 9 of 15 to
finish with a game-high 26 points.
After a Zach Roll bucket snapped the Trace (2-4) drought, LE rallied
back on a 13-0 run that was highlighted by six points down low from
Tyler Congrove and two points a piece from Cody Leist, Bryant Blake and
Kyle Reichelderfer.
LE shot 7 for 15 during the first stanza, on their way to a 22 for 49
shooting evening (45 percent).
The Braves also converted 20 of 32 free throw attempts.
While Logan Elm looked nearly unstoppable in the first quarter, the
Pioneers held the Braves to only 3 of 10 shooting in the second quarter
to make a run.
Two buckets by Ben Haynes down low got a 12-3 Trace rally started. The
Pioneer run was capped by a layup and three-pointer from Roll and a
triple off the hands of Brandon Street that cut the lead to 25-14.
"Our kids didn't come out with the same kind of intensity as they did
in the first and they lacked the energy that comes from that," Stiverson
said. "It was a complete opposite of the first and you have to give
their ballclub credit for hanging around and cutting the lead to 12 at
half.
"We just have to stop having these periods where we slack off in our
intensity and let teams back into games."
The Braves answered back with Evan Blake draining a triple off a feed
from his younger brother Bryant.
On Logan Elm's next possession, the older Blake found Reichelderfer on
a fastbreak for an easy layup and a 30-18 lead at the half.
LE extended their lead back up to 20 coming out of the break with Evan
Blake connecting on two more three-pointers in a nine-point period,
while Reichelderfer also chipped in nine on three layups and a
three-ball.
"Evan was a huge key, especially in the third quarter where he hit a
couple of threes to get us going," Stiverson said. "The guys came back
out with the same intensity that they had in the first and did a nice
job holding them to one shot on most occasions.
"That helped us to get some fastbreak opportunities and easy scores."
Reichelderfer joined Blake as the only other Brave in double-digits
with 19 points.
Leist fell a few short of a double-double with nine points eight
rebounds, which led the Braves.
"Our four seniors with Tyler, Kyle, Cody and Evan did an outstanding
job and deserve a lot of credit for our start," Stiverson said. "Cody
worked hard on the boards and we've stressed the last few days of
practice that we don't want them getting any offensive rebounds. He also
finished inside on offense.
"Then Tyler on defense starts things up front and provides our guys
with a lot of energy to feed on."
Roll paced the Pioneers with 13 points with Ben Haynes adding six
points.
Nick Bloomfield made a three-pointer from near the half court stripe at
the buzzer that ended the third period and finished with five points for
Trace.
After shooting 1 for 5 in the first, Zane Trace finished the game with
a 19 for 45 effort (42 percent), but only had one free throw find its
mark out of eight attempts.
The
Pioneers finished the game with 23 turnovers, compared to 12 for Logan
Elm.
The Braves continue their brief two-game stand against the Scioto
Valley Conference by traveling to county rival Westfall Friday evening.
After playing five of their first seven contests on their home floor,
Logan Elm will play six of their next seven games away from the Spangler
Memorial Gymnasium.
"We've gotten off to a good start, but these road games are going to be
very important for us," Stiverson said. "We have to know on the road
that we might not get the close calls, but we have to fight through that
and have no defensive lapses like we've had at times.
"We need our guys to play a complete 32 minutes."
Zane Trace returns home to Kinnikinnick to play Whiteoak Friday.
Logan Elm also took the reserve matchup by a 51-37 final.
Tim Congrove led the Braves with 16 points as Luke Sargent added 12,
Zach Holbrook nine and Ben Lee four.
|
