Mapletown rolls past Beth-Center
CARMICHAELS – A month ago, the Mapletown boys basketball team was in disarray in a six-point loss at Beth-Center. So when the Maples romped over the Bulldogs, 52-38, Monday night in the first round of the King Coal Christmas Tournament at Carmichaels, one could only ask what the difference was.
“Our defense, without a doubt,” said Mapletown head coach Fred Morecraft. “Their fast break concerned me, but we did a good job getting back and cutting the penetration.”
No Beth-Center player scored more than 10 points and the most points the Bulldogs (4-7) could post in a quarter was 12. Mapletown forced several turnovers early on and controlled the boards.
“It was just mental mistakes and bad passing,” said Beth-Center head coach Barry Niemiec. “We didn’t execute.”
Mapletown (7-3) played a sagging man-to-man defense the entire game and prevented the Bulldogs from running the floor, something that hurt the Maples in a 69-63 loss on Nov. 20.
The Maples’ Gerod Buckhalter did not play in that game, but was a major factor Monday night, scoring a game-high 16 points before fouling out.
“With Gerod in there we had better matchups,” Morecraft said. “We pressured their guards and caused a lot of turnovers. I can’t stress enough how well our defense played.”
Buckhalter, a six-foot-three guard, along with forwards Kevin Mackainch, Justin Corso, and Andy Erjavek, keying defensively inside, executed the help-side defense effectively. The forwards also controlled the boards offensively.
“The difference for us was rebounding,” Niemiec said. “They got two, three and four shots, which slowed us down.”
Erjavek and Mackainch joined Buckhalter as Mapletown’s double-figure scorers with 12 and 10 points, respectively. Davis Slagle led Beth-Center with 10 points.
Buckhalter scored 13 of his 16 in the first half, as he converted on three-consecutive Mapletown possessions in the first quarter helping the Maples take an early 7-4 lead.
That lead would swell to 14 points by the second quarter as Mapletown scored off three Beth-Center turnovers. Twice Mapletown guard Adam Robbins scored off turnovers to give his team 10-point leads of 17-7 and 21-11. Mapletown led 31-18 at the half.
According to Niemeic, the start of the second half is what really did his team in. Beth-Center missed three straight lay-ups to start the third quarter, while Buckhalter hit his last points of the game on a three-pointer during the stretch.
“We were in the defense we wanted, we just missed lay ups,” Niemeic said. “That just hurt us right there.”
With less than five minutes left in the third quarter, Buckhalter converted off a Beth-Center turnover by feeding Mackainch for a fast-break lay up, putting Mapletown up 40-18. The Maples never looked back.
Mapletown plays Carmichaels, a 57-39 winner over Bentworth, tonight at 7:30 p.m. in the championship game, while Beth-Center will play Bentworth at 6 p.m. in the consolation game.