Saturday, March 06, 2010
Knights cruise past Tigers
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Jeanna Duerscherl | The Roanoke Times
Honaker player Tyler Brown tries to block a shot by James River's Jordan Talbott during the second period of their quarterfinal game at the Salem Civic Center.
The game lasted 32 minutes but it was over slightly more than 18 minutes in, when the James River Knights built a 23-point third quarter lead and were never threatened en route to a 69-48 victory over Honaker in a Group A Division 2 quarterfinal.
James River (26-2) had a simple strategy in the first half -- control the paint. The Knights attempted just three jump shots longer than eight feet, all outside the arc, connecting on a single 3-pointer. The other 12 first-half field goals were layups or jumpers from point-blank.
"We work to get the best shot possible," James River coach Mike Good said. "Our strategy all year has been to get the best shot, and early on our shot selection wasn't what it should be but we retooled it and got better."
The second half saw more of the same as again James River was content to wait for an opening when running the offense, or score on a layup in transition.
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Up by nine at the half, the Knights opened the second half in a man-to-man defense with full court pressure. Honaker (12-14) was not able to handle it, allowing James River to put together a 15-1 run and effectively ended the competitive portion of the game.
"We made too many dumb passes, too many silly turnovers," Honaker coach Waylon Hart said. "We were trying to make a hard pass when an easy one was right next to us."
The Tigers committed 22 turnovers, mostly on poor decisions, but quick hands by the Knights filled those passing lanes and took the ball in most of those instances. Senior guard Ethan Humphries was credited with six of the Knights' 16 steals.
The Knights' effort was exemplified in the third quarter when Humphries scored five points in four seconds in the third period. He took the ball past a ball screen on the high post and penetrated the lane where he was fouled. After making both free throws, Humphries watched the player throwing the inbound pass. He intercepted it, took two steps and was fouled while laying it in the hoop. The three-point play pressed the lead to 19 and had the Tigers eyeing the bench for ideas of ways to get back in the game. But ideas were short.
James River's short-shot strategy led to a 54 percent field-goal shooting clip. In stark contrast was Honaker's 30 percent, including a frigid 14 percent from 3-point range.
Patrick Bennett led all scorers with 21 points. Clark Dye led Honaker with 13 points.
The Knights will play the winner of today's Essex-Dan River game in a semifinal March 12 at 12:15 p.m. at the Siegel Center in Richmond.
HONAKER (12-14)
Morgan 0 0-0 0, C.Dye 6 1-1 13, Hall 0 2-4 2, Gent 0 2-2 2, Davis 4 0-0 12, J.Dye 1 0-0 2, Reynolds 0 0-0 0, Murphy 1 0-0 2, C.Brown 1 4-6 6, Smith 0 1-2 1, Vandyke 0 0-0 0. T.Brown 3 2-8 8. Totals 16 12-23 48.
JAMES RIVER (26-2)
Tucker 3 0-0 6, J.Bennett 4 1-2 10, P.Bennett 9 3-6 21, Humphries 4 4-5 12, Talbott 5 1-2 11, Sandidge 0 2-4 2, Hoppe 3 0-0 6, Brogan 0 0-3 0, Thrasher 0 0-0 0, Pentecost 0 1-2 1. Totals 28 12-24 69.
Honaker 8 12 10 18--48
James River 18 11 23 17--69
3-point-goals -- Honaker 4 (Davis 4), James River 1 (J.Bennett). Total fouls -- Honaker 20, James River 23. Fouled out -- none.
