Beth-Center holds off Carmichaels
DEEMSTON – What exactly was it that had Beth-Center getting the best of Mapletown in non-section boys basketball action Tuesday night? Was it the Bulldogs’ intense transitional offense, a barrage of timely three-pointers or several offensive rebounds which led to their 69-63 win over the Maples?
Beth-Center head coach Barry Niemiec was rather poignant in his answer, focusing on the transition game.
“Without a doubt,” Niemiec said, “it was the points off turnovers. Our defense causes turnovers and gives us chances to put points on the board.”
For Mapletown head coach Fred Morecraft, it seemed like all three at once as his Maples made two second-half runs only to fall short in the end.
“It was the way they put it all together,” Morecraft said. “It seemed like every bounce was going their way, and good things happen to teams that hustle. We lacked some intensity and we dug ourselves a hole we couldn’t get out of.”
Beth-Center (4-1) turned up the pressure late in the first quarter led by Garrett Balas, who scored 12 of his 21 points in the quarter. Balas scored four field goals in the final three minutes as the Bulldogs went on a 14-4 run in the final four minutes, capped off by Balas’ three-pointer at the first-quarter buzzer.
“He’s one of our shooters,” Niemiec said. “If you key on one or two, we got other guys who can score. You can’t watch one and not the other.”
Mapletown (3-2) found that out with Matt Dearing, who scored a game-high 25 points off the bench for Beth-Center. Dearing not only nailed three big three-pointer in the first half, but led the transition game scoring several times off Mapletown turnovers, including two late in the third quarter when the game was close.
After Mapletown trailed by as much as 11 points midway through the third quarter, center Kevin Mackainch led a comeback by scoring the first 11 of his 14 points for the game, including a three-point play on a Bulldog foul that tied the game, 40-40, with 2:41 remaining in the quarter.
Beth-Center came right back on an 8-0 run provoked by two fast-break field goals by Dearing off Mapletown turnovers.
“We were pretty successful pounded the ball inside to our big man,” Morecraft said. “But as soon as we tied it up, they got a bunch of turnovers and we could never break that eight-point threshold the rest of the way.”
Both teams exchanged three-pointers in the fourth quarter, but it wasn’t until the Maples’ Cory Dillinger hit a three-pointer and knocked down two foul shots on the ensuing possession that Mapletown could wage close at 66-63. But it was too little, too late, as the Bulldogs ran the time off the clock to seal the win.
“You got to give credit to both teams,” Niemiec said. “Mapletown didn’t panic and they gave 110 (percent) no matter what the score was.”
Mapletown had four starters in double figures led by Mackainch and Justin Corso with 14 points apiece, and Dillinger and Andy Erjavek with 13 and 12 points, respectively.
But looking back, Beth-Center’s transitional offense did the Maples in.
“We have to work on our transitional defense,” Morecraft added. “That’s definitely something we need to emphasize, and we will.”