Fast facts
Opponent: Otsego HS
Enrollment (9-12): 554
Division/League: D-III / Suburban Lakes League
Team Nickname: Knights
Scrimmage format: 8 minute regular clock quarters / Two Quarters each Varsity & JV played.
Setting the Table
Otsego has been the Hawks' preview opponent for at least the last three years. I distinctly recall the 2008-9 preview, when the Hawks went up 5-0 playing a disciplined half court offense. Otsego pressed for the next ten minutes and it was not pretty. Times have changed.
The visitors were missing two starters due to injury. No truth to the rumor that one of the missing Knights was Roy Hobbs.
Game Summary
Maumee Valley defeated the Otsego Knights 19-16 in a two quarter preview scrimmage behind a balanced attack. Seven different Hawks scored throughout the evening. The first six field goals were tallied by six different players. The Hawks established a 14-8 half-time lead and ran a control-tempo offense in the second quarter for the win. Jared Sturt and Julius Turner led MV with four points each.
First quarter – MV 14 – Otsego 8
Starting five – Rick Deichert, Dave Brown, Jared Sturt, Jonathan Krueger, Dixon Stoddard
Otsego opened up in a 1-3-1 zone and stayed there the majority of the evening, sometimes switching to a 2-3. MV took the opportunity to practice their zone offense, trying to work the ball inside or fire the three. The initial attack was deliberate, with a few missed opportunities early.
At the other end of the court, the starting five would shine on defense. Maumee Valley’s tight man-to-man setup frustrated the visitors from the start. My (ultra) unofficial statistics showed MV with seven steals in the first quarter, led by Rick Deichert’s three pilfers plus one by Nick Frasco later on. Jared Sturt had two blocks in the opening frame and affected several other shots. Jonathan Krueger was very active all quarter, disrupting passing lanes. Dave Brown’s tight defense up top led to two hurried inlet passes which Dixon Stoddard intercepted.
The Hawks were on Otsego like, well, Hawks on field mice…
The Blue and White pressure pierced the Knights’ offensive armor at around the 3:30 mark, when two quick steals led to two easy baskets and a time out for the guests to regroup.
MV ended the quarter with one of its favorite zone overload plays resulting in an easy basket for Jared.
Second Quarter - Otsego 8 – MV 5
Starting five: Rick, Julius Turner, Omar Hazimah, Parker Bayer, Daniel Brandon
Otsego got off to a good start with the first two baskets, closing their deficit to 14-12. This led to the play of the game, a rainbow three pointer from Parker Bayer near the four minute mark which extended the lead to 17-12.
I credited an unofficial assist to the uniform – Parker (class of '12) inherited number 15 this year from his brother Carter (class of ’10).
Julius Turner had an active second half; a steal, two rebounds and two points from the charity stripe. Jonathan was a stopper along the sideline, knocking three passes out of bounds and not letting the Knights establish any running game.
Rick and Dave were in together for only two brief stretches in the second quarter. Their highlight together was another fine half-court trap reminiscent of the Lake scrimmage which forced the visitors to call time out just in time to avoid a five-second call.
The second quarter was vintage Robinson-ball. The goal looked to be practicing ball control with one of the two starting guards at the point for the majority of the quarter. The Hawks were able to control tempo throughout the second quarter with nary a turnover, including the last 45 seconds where MV played keep-away until the final buzzer.
Final game thoughts
This team has learned different ways to win games. In scrimmages thus far we have seen success with a press break, an up-tempo offense, some deadly plays against the zone defense and slow-down ball control when needed. And the bag of tricks has only been partially opened. Tonight, the Hawks showed they could win with defense.
An underrated aspect of the team’s win was the way the Hawks ran both the offense and defense this evening, limited as it was. The Hawks ran only three or four different offensive sets all evening. In that regard, the game the feel of a summer league game – stick to the knitting and don’t show anybody anything!
All 11 Hawks who played this evening showed an overall comfort with the system on both sides of the ball. Coach R did not call any time-outs due to confusion over who was supposed to be where and when they were supposed to be there (or at least he hid that well).
This team has athletic ability plus the smarts to absorb a college-level scheme. And hey, why not? After all, Maumee Valley is the premier college preparatory institution in Northwest Ohio…
What else did I not mention about the evening? Otsego, with a guard-heavy roster, did not press once and tried only a single half-court defense. That level of respect illustrates the full circle journey from Coach Robinson’s Maumee Valley debut two years ago.
Scoring
Jared & Julius - 4 points each; Parker - 3 points; Dave, Rick, Jonathan, and Dixon - 2 points each
JV action
The JV starting five included Solomon Collins, Robbie Ariss, Ahmed Kahlil, Thad Woodard and Danny Hazimah. The Hawks played Otsego to a dead heat in the first quarter, but lost the game 31-11. Ahmed led Maumee Valley with six points on two three-pointers.
[Editor's note - actually, they're all my notes so that's redundant. Anywaty, I received the following correction on the JV scoring: 'Grant scored 3 points, Thad hit 2 free throws, Solomon had 3 points.' I do know Ahmed hit a three and that adds up to 11, so I'll go with that. Sorry for the mishap.].
Congratulations to the JVs on their first game (that I've seen, anyway). A large number of Freshmen saw their first action on the Varsity Gym hardwood. Better things are ahead, gentlemen.
A Tip of the Hat This Evening to…
Varsity golf coach Tim Voyles, who refereed both JV and Varsity tonight. Tim, of course, cannot ref any regular season Maumee Valley games, so it was good to see him this evening at home. He never called Rick, Nick, Jonathan, Parker, AJ King or Grant MacPherson out-of-bounds…
Next Up
Bright Lights and Broadway!! It’s opening night on the road against the Fayette Eagles. Watch the blog this week for more team articles, the official TAAC pre-season poll, and a game preview. What more could you ask for?
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