Setting the Table
It would be the second out-of conference game in a row for Maumee Valley, this time against the Monclova Christian Academy Thunder. The Thunderdome is a wonderful place to play and the home boosters are most hospitable.
The guests would not return these courtesies on the floor this night. Pressure defense early by Maumee Valley ensured that the three Gibsonburg coaches sent to scout the Hawks in advance of their big TAAC match-up would not see much of the MV offense this night.
Game Summary
It was a track meet with Maumee Valley bringing home the gold from the Monclova Christian Thunder, 74-36. MV ran an early press and was up 20 before the end of the first quarter. From that point forward, Coach Robinson stayed in the half court defense and played long stretches at a slow pace. The Hawk starters only played 1.5 quarters of the game on average. Every Hawk played at least five minutes tonight.
The JV's also rolled, beating their Thunder counterparts 55-12. Nick Towns led the JVs with 8, followed by Kedar Jones and Turner Booth with 7 each, Solomon Collins and Marcus Knabbs with 6 each, Jeremy Anderson and Osama Alkhalili with 4 each, Robbie Ariss with 3 and Lucas Isaza and Danny Hazimah with 2 apiece.
First Quarter – MV 24 – MCA 5
Starting five – Dave Brown (’13), Rick Deichert (’12), Jared Sturt (’12), Jonathan Krueger (’12) and Julius Turner (’12)
MV played man-to-man all evening, including the press. MCA worked a 2-3 zone.
The game opened slowly, with MV running its base offense. Jared scored the first points on two free throws and Dave Brown hit a scooper. MV played tough early half court defense, forcing this turnover.
Once warmed up, the Hawks started their press. From the Thunder’s point of view, things became a blur for a while. Rick scored first with a layup and MCA's coach called a time out at the 6:27 mark to see if he could guide his team through the coming storm.
He could not.
Over the next six minutes Maumee Valley would go on a 18-5 run, with scoring from Julius, Jared (now 4/4 from the line, Dave, Julius again (twice) – here’s the first time off a Rick Deichert steal..
...Dave again, Julius again with a free throw, Caleb Willhight…and it was 21-2 MV. With the Thunder barely able to get the ball across the half court line, Coach Robinson called off the press up by 19. Caleb would put the icing on the quarter with a three pointer near quarter’s end to finish things off for the Hawks.
The game was well in hand and many Hawks would see extended action this evening.
Second Quarter MV 13 – MCA 13
On the floor for MV: Nick Frasco, Caleb Willhight, Thad Woodard, Julius Turner and Jared Sturt
Thad was fouled shooting to start the quarter and split the free throw pair. MCA’s guard Trevor Hestor would come alive during the quarter and begin to hit jump shots on the right side of the key off high post screens – the Thunder’s most effective offense of the evening. The visitors answered with a Julius drive of his own, and MCA22 scored again. Jared was up next in the scoring column – and MCA22 hit another shot.
This back and forth ended when Caleb Willhight hit his second trey of the evening, then came back down the floor and was fouled near the basket. He would make both.
Rashaan Preston now entered the game with 3:10 remaining in the half. Maumee Valley’s scoring ended with a basket by Thad. It was 38-18 at half time.
Third Quarter MV 26 – MCA 10
On the floor – original starting five
The 16 point bulge for Maumee Valley actually did not reflect play. It could have been a lot worse, as the Hawksquad did not apply any pressure during the quarter. The main starters played about 2/3 of this quarter, and here are some video highlights:
First, here’s Dave Brown driving the basket on a break
Next up, the offense works the ball into Jared who converts – note the foul not called after the shot..
Rick Deichert gets into the flow – listen for the ‘money’ call in the video:
Rick finds Jared trailing on the break for this basket
Thad Woodard would replace Julius and score on this down-low iso play.
Jared basically had his way on the boards, illustrated by this putback for two.
Rick converted on this fast break
Jared would float through the MCA zone and score on this layup
And three MV starters teamed up for this rebound (Jon) fast break (Rick) and score (Dave)
Jared finished off the scoring in the quarter off of this inbounds play
And so went. At the end of three, it was MV 64 – MCA 28
Fourth Quarter MV 10 – MCA 6
On the floor: Nick, Caleb, Thad, Jared, Rashaan
Lots of play in the fourth with lots of players, and your Hawkblogger caught some history during the period.
First up, here are Nick Towns first career points in a varsity uniform:
Some other fourth quarter plays include this Nick Frasco jumper:
More history – Rob Ariss’ first varsity points:
A nice lead pass by Thad to Nick for a layup
A basket by Thad Woodard
And finally, a scene that’s probably played out at least 100 times for Coach Robinson – his team scoring late in the game as the young players work the base offense – here it’s Thad again.
Final Game Thoughts
A big night for the Hawks and a tough night for the hosts. Lots of empathy for MCA, the Hawks have been in their position many times in the past. Things will improve for the Thunder, as they are a very young team.
Scoring
Even though the starters only played about 12 minutes each, this was enough time for Jared Sturt to lead all scorers with 22 points. Julius Turner scored his uniform number tonight (11), and Caleb Willhight went double digits for the first time in his varsity career, downing 10 points. Also scoring for the Hawks were Dave Brown and Thad Woodard with 9 each, Rick Deichert with 7, Nick Frasco with 4, and Robbie Ariss and Nick Towns with their first varsity points - each with two on the evening.
Next up
The first round of the key three game stretch of TAAC heavyweights starts next week when the Gibsonburg Golden Bears.
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