Plaintiff's Exhibit A:
PLAIN-VANILLA (adjective and noun): Having no embellishments, extra equipment, elaborate packaging, etc.; plain, lacking special features and qualities, no frills, basic, bland, simple, conventional, down-to-earth; safe, unadventurous; white bread; plain and basic without ‘bells and whistles’ and often said of a computer system or product. “The mandate is to stick with the plain vanilla, out-of-the-box functionality to minimize development and maintenance costs.”, “I want a plain-vanilla car without a lot of chrome trim.” [in allusion to vanilla ice cream, taken to be the most basic flavor]
(from Merriam-Webster and Random House Unabridged Dictionaries, Oxford English Dictionary):
With a huge game coming the next day against Ottawa Hills and a large number of scouts in attendance, Coach Jim Robinson’s plan was to show the bare minimum of the playbook and still win. The Hawks would run the basic motion offense, play man-to man defense, work deep into the bench and go home with a win. Sort of a Plain Vanilla game…
Defendant's Exhibit A – The 15 most popular ice cream flavors
1. Vanilla, 29%
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| That's what I'm talkin' about! |
3. Butter pecan, 5.3%
4. Strawberry, 5.3%
5. Neapolitan, 4.2%
6. Chocolate chip, 3.9%
7. French vanilla, 3.8%
8. Cookies and cream, 3.6%
9. Vanilla fudge ripple, 2.6%
10. Praline pecan, 1.7%
11. Cherry, 1.6%
12. Chocolate almond, 1.6%
13. Coffee, 1.6%
14. Rocky road, 1.5%
15. Chocolate marshmallow, 1.3%
All others, 23.7%
Source: International Ice Cream Association
Well, if it’s so ‘plain’ and it’s so ‘vanilla’ why do so many people like it? Because it’s good! And so is a league win no matter how straightforward it may seem…
Game Summary
The Hawks defeated Danbury this evening 44-31 at the Varsity Gym, setting up the big TAAC showdown Tuesday evening against Ottawa Hills.
MV jumped out to a 16-4 first quarter lead and played the Lakers even through the rest of the evening. The visitors' stands had nearly as many opposing team scouts this evening as fans, with several clipboards getting a feverish workout in advance of both Maumee Valley's and Danbury's upcoming playoff appearances.
First Quarter MV 16 – Danbury 4
Starting five – Dave Brown (’13), Rick Deichert (’12), Jared Sturt (’12), Jonathan Krueger (’12) and Julius Turner (‘12)
Danbury started the game in man defense but for reasons to be seen, switched to a 2-3 zone in the second quarter. MV played man defense 90% of the evening, pressing frequently.
Jared scored the opening two points on a jumper from the left side of the foul line at 7:20. MV came out in a press, and both teams played good defense in the early going. Danbury’s first points were scored by Dakota Hruby on a hook shot close in.
Danbury was focused on getting the ball in to Hunter Stevens early, but he wasn’t able to convert. On the other end, Jon Krueger drew a foul and converted one. Caleb Helline put the Lakers back up with a runner.
MV regained the lead when Rick Deichert broke to the basket for two and was fouled on the way in. He converted the extra shot for an old-fashioned three pointer. Dixon stole a pass on the Lakers’ next possession and Rick converted with a 3 ball.
The Hawks held the visitors to a one and done trip down court and Dixon scored two points cleaning up on a fast break. MV’s pressure continued to pay off when Rick stole the ball at half court and lasered a pass to Dixon for two points.
Daniel Brandon and Nick Frasco entered the game with 1:02 to play and MV held the ball for a last shot –
…which Dave Brown made from three point range.
The Hawks scored thirteen straight points to close out the quarter with a 12 point lead.
Second Quarter MV 9 – Danbury 9
Starting the Quarter – Dave, Nick, Daniel, Julius and Dixon
Caleb Helline scored the first points of the quarter for the visitors at the 7:37 mark. After an Nick Frasco trey missed the mark, Dave Brown was fouled driving the lane for two and converted the back end.
Play continued back and forth to little effect and during a stoppage in play with 6:34 remaining, Rick and AJ took over the guard positions for Dave and Nick. The Rick and AJ combo gives the Hawks a 6’1” and 6’2” front court(!) – and there’s likely still some growth left in both those guys.
But it was Julius who next scored for MV, a three from the left hand side.
Following a Laker free throw by big man Hunter Stevens, Dixon scored on a jumper from the foul line to put the Hawks up 19-8.
Danbury switched back to a 2-3 zone to shake things up. Dixon worked hard underneath to draw a foul, but came up empty at the line.
At the 4:43 mark, Jared returned to action, then at 4:03, Jon Krueger gave Dixon a rest. Julius stole a pass and got the rock to AJ underneath to make it MV 23 – Danbury 8.
On the other end, Danbury was having considerable difficulty dealing with Jared Sturt. Several Laker short-range shots were affected with Jared just being in the neighborhood. Caleb Helline narrowed the gap for the visitors with a basket + 1 which he converted. But Jared got the ball underneath at the other end and powered through three defenders for the layup.
With 2:01 remaining, Lucas Kennedy scored for Danbury, evening up the quarter for the guests. The teams traded unfruitful possessions the rest of the way, and MV maintained its 12 point lead, 25-13 at the half.
MV had a successful first half shooting; 10-17 from inside the arc and 3-6 (one each by Dave, Rick and Julius) from long range. Caleb Helline scored 7, accounting for the majority of Danbury’s points.
Third Quarter MV 7 – Danbury 7
Starting the quarter – initial game starters
With several scouts in attendance from TAAC and Sectional playoff opponents, Coach Robinson decided to strip the game down to its most basic elements the second half.
MV worked the first 30 seconds off the clock, but missed a two point try. Several consecutive shots were missed by both teams until Hunter Stevens scored two points with 6:36 to play.
Julius got the action going for the Hawksquad, driving the center of the lane and holding the ball to the last moment, then bouncing it to Jared for the easy layup. Rick Deichert blocked a two point shot at the Danbury end, then Rick got it to Julius…
…for the three pointer.
An aside – and I kid you not – John Wayne worked in an Ice cream store growing up.
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| You want sprinkles with that, pilgrim? |
Jon hit a jumper next and MV was up 32-15. Daniel Brandon re-entered the game for MV, which switched to zone. Following a two point basket by Branden Burke, the Hawks held the ball from the 4:29 mark down to 3:32 running the base offense.
Dalton Chapman scored next for Danbury, a three point basket to get the visitors back to 32-20. With that, Coach Robinson substituted Dave, Jared and Dixon in with 1:35 remaining in the quarter. Those three ran the clock out and at the 75% mark, the Hawks were up 12.
There was enough motion offense during the quarter to cause an acute case of basketball kinetosis. The Hawks had shown little and kept their opponents at bay.
Fourth Quarter – MV 12 – Danbury 11
Starting the Quarter - AJ King, Dave, Julius, Jared and Dixon
In a repeat of the third quarter opening, the teams traded goose-eggs the first minute with several missed tries. Rick entered the game during this fray, and opened scoring for MV with a three pointer. Julius kept pace, firing in a trey of his own.
With 4:36 remaining, Jared again went strong to the basket for two,
…and MV had for all intents and purposed iced the game with a 38-22 lead.
Danbury scored the next seven points on a basket + 1 by Lucas Kennedy, a 3-ball by Caleb Helline and a two pointer by Hunter Stevens.
But the final outcome was not in doubt. First Rick made a layup, then the final Hawk points were scored by Jared with a basket
and Rick and Jonathan who each made one free throw.
On the court at game’s end was Nick, Caleb Willhight, Omar Hazimah, Daniel and Thad Woodard. Final score, Hawks 44 – Danbury 31.
Final Game Thoughts
I caught up with Coach Robinson after the game. He was well pleased with the game. As he described the action to me I was struck by the number of plays he described that the team didn’t run.
It was a quick and simple game, but one the Hawks were more than happy to win. The home team moved to 13-2 on the season and 9-1 in the TAAC.
Scoring
And now for the happy totals. Rick Deichert (10 points), Jared Sturt (10) and Julius Turner (9) led the scoring for the Hawksquad. Dixon Stoddard scored 6 points, all in the first half, Jonathan Krueger had four, Dave Brown three and AJ King scored two to round things off for the victors.
Next up
Mr. Larry Anning and his maintenance staff will get a workout tomorrow evening making sure the fire code is adhered to as the Varsity Gym will be packed to capacity when the Green Bears come calling. Make sure to get there early and get your game face on.
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