Posted: Thursday, December 20, 2012 12:00 am | Updated: 6:39 am, Thu Dec 20, 2012.
Posted on December 20, 2012 by Todd Thorpe
MORRISVILLE — George School showed up with a game plan against local rival Morrisville.Unfortunately, the Bulldogs woke up, turned the tables around and cruised to a 52-34 victory Wednesday night in a non-league boys basketball game at Morrisville.
“We were just trying to spread the ball around, but then we struggled with their pressure a little too much, and we weren’t getting rebounds,” said Cougars coach John Stevens.
Spreading the ball around seemed to work for a while. There was much more passing than scoring in the early part of the game as George School opened up a six-point lead (12-6) in the opening quarter. There really wasn’t much of a clear advantage on the boards, although at times it seemed as though the Bulldogs had the upper hand.
“We could tell that they had a good plan,” said Morrisville coach Orick Smith. “We came out sluggish. We weren’t doing a very good job of moving the ball, and we were a little out of rhythm.
“Once we settled down, it was about ball reversal. Once we started moving the ball, we started to find the shots that we wanted.”
The Bulldogs’ Anthony Bollard halved that early lead by tapping in an offensive rebound, drawing a foul and converting the three-point opportunity to make it 12-9. The teams then traded baskets as the first quarter ended with the Cougars still up, 14-11.
One notable difference was the physical aspect of the George School’s game. The Cougars sent the Bulldogs to the line for 20 shots, with Morrisville converting 16.
Rickey Melendez made one of two foul shots; Bollard made 2 of 2, and then Nick Castillo made a layup to open up a 16-14 lead for Morrisville in the second quarter.
Sekou Kaba then made a layup and a short jump shot to put the George School up, 18-16, but that would be that last lead held by the Cougars.
Donald Kinslow scored to tie the game, and then Melendez scored twice, the second time on a layup after a steal, and Castillo took advantage of the George School’s penalty situation and sank both ends of a one-and-one foul to open up a 24-18 lead for Morrisville.
The Cougars stayed close at halftime (26-22), but the Bulldogs opened the second half with a 12-point run, outscored the visitors, 17-6, in the third quarter and ran away with the game.
“We weren’t getting good opportunities in the second half, and on the ones that we did get, we didn’t hit the shot,” said Stevens. “We also didn’t play very good defense in the second half.”
“We got the game back to our tempo and played good defense (in the second half),” Smith said. “(George School) couldn’t find the shots that they wanted to take.”
Melendez led Morrisville with 18 points, and teammate Kinslow kicked in 15 points and grabbed eight rebounds. George Long led the Cougars with 10 points. Muhammad Johnson added eight points and six boards.
Spreading the ball around seemed to work for a while. There was much more passing than scoring in the early part of the game as George School opened up a six-point lead (12-6) in the opening quarter. There really wasn’t much of a clear advantage on the boards, although at times it seemed as though the Bulldogs had the upper hand.
“We could tell that they had a good plan,” said Morrisville coach Orick Smith. “We came out sluggish. We weren’t doing a very good job of moving the ball, and we were a little out of rhythm.
“Once we settled down, it was about ball reversal. Once we started moving the ball, we started to find the shots that we wanted.”
The Bulldogs’ Anthony Bollard halved that early lead by tapping in an offensive rebound, drawing a foul and converting the three-point opportunity to make it 12-9. The teams then traded baskets as the first quarter ended with the Cougars still up, 14-11.
One notable difference was the physical aspect of the George School’s game. The Cougars sent the Bulldogs to the line for 20 shots, with Morrisville converting 16.
Rickey Melendez made one of two foul shots; Bollard made 2 of 2, and then Nick Castillo made a layup to open up a 16-14 lead for Morrisville in the second quarter.
Sekou Kaba then made a layup and a short jump shot to put the George School up, 18-16, but that would be that last lead held by the Cougars.
Donald Kinslow scored to tie the game, and then Melendez scored twice, the second time on a layup after a steal, and Castillo took advantage of the George School’s penalty situation and sank both ends of a one-and-one foul to open up a 24-18 lead for Morrisville.
The Cougars stayed close at halftime (26-22), but the Bulldogs opened the second half with a 12-point run, outscored the visitors, 17-6, in the third quarter and ran away with the game.
“We weren’t getting good opportunities in the second half, and on the ones that we did get, we didn’t hit the shot,” said Stevens. “We also didn’t play very good defense in the second half.”
“We got the game back to our tempo and played good defense (in the second half),” Smith said. “(George School) couldn’t find the shots that they wanted to take.”
Melendez led Morrisville with 18 points, and teammate Kinslow kicked in 15 points and grabbed eight rebounds. George Long led the Cougars with 10 points. Muhammad Johnson added eight points and six boards.
3 comments:
It was a very exciting game to watch and the boys did a terrific job! Keep it up, Bulldogs!
Kinslow is a good player.
great article!
Post a Comment