In Yann Martel's/Ang Lee's wonderful novel/movie Life of Pi, the title character ends up marooned in a lifeboat with a tiger named Richard Parker. The lost at sea plot segment shows Pi's efforts to coexist with one of the most powerful creatures on the planet. To survive, Pi must use his wits, respond to adversity and impose his will on the Tiger.
Maumee Valley took the 45 minute trip south to visit North Baltimore's one year-old High School complex. They have a wonderful gym with some throwback features such as 'The Jungle' (a recessed band stand) and banners preserved from their old gym honoring State Champions as far back as 1925. Although not quite elegant (lots of optic orange will do that to a room) it's a fine space, similar to the new gyms at Fayette, New Riegel, Edon and Lakota. Property taxes are a school district's best friend.
Now while there was nobody on the North Baltimore lineup named Parker, the Hawks would still face a stern test tonight in this facility in the North Baltimore Tigers.
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| Hey, I thought this was gonna be an easy road win. |
Friday's two hour game sequence clearly paralleled the movie. MV would initially be pushed around by the Tiger(s), but would focus on their survival and wear down their hosts on the way to a seventeen point victory.
Starters - Marcus Knabbs ('14), Lucas Isaza ('15), Thad Woodard ('14), Nick Towns ('15), Rashad Woodley ('14)
First Quarter - NB 14 - MV 12
It was a sight not yet seen thus far this year as 6' 6" Sophomore(!) Chad Wright stepped into the circle, equal in height to Rashad Woodley, and won the opening tip. Maumee Valley started in man-to-man defense.
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| Good defensive posture is essential. |
Lucas Isaza opened the scoring for MV with two points and the Hawks opened up pressing on defense. North Baltimore's senior swing man Jacob Frost answered back with a three. Nick Towns scored for the Hawks from close range. After a travel call against the Tigers, Nick hit this two pointer off a Thad Woodard feed...
... to extend the lead to 6-3. Tyler Trumbull answered back with two, then Frost hit his second trey to put NB back on top 8-6. Nick maintained his single-handed effort to keep MV in the game with a right-hand base line hook shot.
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| Juat another Nick Towns wannabe. At least as far as the haircut is concerned. |
Newcomer hit a free throw, then after several misses by both teams Nick Towns scored his eighth point of the quarter assisted by an alert Rashad Woodley...
After more cold shooting by all ten guys on the floor, each team's big guys - Wright and Woodley - exchanged baskets. Gabe De Los Reys closed out the quarter with a three pointer putting the home team ahead by two.
It was a tight ballgame evidenced by eight lead changes in the quarter.
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| Yo, these guys are tough. |
Second Quarter - MV 18 - NB 16
The Hawks ran their motion offence against the Tigers' 2-3 zone but couldn't convert. NB's Sean Watson beat the visitors' press for two, then scored again on an and-one. The home crowd was excited about their team's 19-12 lead at the 6:39 mark. It would be their high point for the evening.
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| The Hawks needed to crawl back into the boat. |
Keith McClure took the first step on the comeback trail with a sorely needed three pointer, answered in-kind by De Los Reys. Solomon Collins scored the next three in the old-school fashion, driving down the middle for two and scoring on the bonus. NB's Trumbull hit a two to back the Tigers lead up to five points.
MV's press began to pay dividends, with Solomon and Thad Woodard scoring the next five points to tie the game at 22 all. Coach John Eichar sensed his team needed to calm down and took a time out at the half way point in the quarter. Both teams went cold for a spell, broken by De Los Reys' two free throws.
Rashad tied the game again with a putback off a missed shot. Jacob Frost said 'so what' and made the Tigers' fifth three pointer to take back the lead then Sean Watson made a free throw to get it back to four. Marcus Knabbs was fouled going to the hole and made the pair then Danny Hazimah pulled MV to within one with a foul shot. The Hawks took a 30-28 lead with another Keith McClure three pointer and NB's Wright scored two to knot up the score 30-30 at the half.
The Hawks had taken North Baltimore's best shot of the night and fought back to even. Half of the home team's points came on three pointers. MV would be determined to stop that in the second half.
Third Quarter - MV 15 - NB 10
North Baltimore stayed in their 2-3 zone, as three of their starters had three fouls.
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| North Baltimore's back defensive line. The guy on the right tended to over rotate.. |
The Tigers started aggressively on offense with Chad Wright and Levi Newcomer scoring four quick points. MV bounced back, with leadership from Nick Towns and Thad Woodard, who stole the ball and scored on a breakaway, enhanced by a Newcomer foul - which Thad converted. Jacob Frost hit a three, and MV answered with a basket. It would be NB's last three ball of the evening.
Following a Tiger free throw, Danny Hazimah found a seam in the zone to give MV its first lead of the half...
...but Wright scored again to take it back. Both teams turned the ball over and at 3:32 Josh Arthur called time out to set up another wave of pressure defense.
Maumee Valley's press finally knocked the Tigers for a loop. Solomon and Thad scored on consecutive NB turnovers. The Tigers were unable to bring the ball in bounds and MV regained possession. The Hawks now patiently worked against the zone, ultimately getting the ball in deep where Rashad Woodley was fouled...
He made both shots. The Hawks ended the quarter on a 6-0 run and held a five point lead, their largest of the evening to date.
Fourth Quarter - MV 18 - NB 6
MV opened with ball to no avail, but Thad cleaned a Tiger forward's clock with a steal up top, which he converted into three points on the and-one. MV forced another turnover. Faced with an eight point deficit and a ravenous Hawks defense, Coach Eichar called an early time-out to avoid a full blown collapse.
Coach Arthur now went back to MV basics and ran 35 seconds off the clock. This forced the Tigers out of their zone, and now it was MV taking the time out to set up a counter. They did so, in the form of this Solomon Collins pull-up 15 footer...
...the lead was double digits. Lane Bishop ended the Hawks' 10-0 run with a basket and foul shot. Then Chad Wright thrilled the home crowd with a mean block, but Solomon came up with the ball and drew a foul, making one of two.
Solomon would be this evening's fourth quarter hero. He was again fouled and made the pair, upping Maumee Valley's lead to ten. Solomon kept up the heat, stealing an in-bounds pass and rambling coast to coast for this two pointer...
MV struck again with a Woodard steal and Lucas Isaza basket and with 3:30 left. Their lead was stretched to 14, and the smell of victory was in the air.
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| Fortunately there was no smell of rotting fish. |
The teams traded baskets, including this Isaza reverse layup...
MV finished with scores from Thad and Rashad, and tripled their opponents score in the fourth quarter. Solomon would lead the Hawks in scoring this night with 16, seven of which came during the fourth quarter.
Scoring:
Danny Hazimah - 3
Marcus Knabbs - 2
Keith McClure - 6
Lucas Isaza - 6
Nick Towns - 10
Thad Woodard - 14
Solomon Collins - 16
Rashad Woodley - 6
Afterthoughts-
You will forgive your Hawkblogger for sounding repetitive, but the MV formula for victory tonight was again:
- a deep rotation, providing MV with more fouls to give, and less individual foul trouble
- a no-star lineup - any and all Hawks contribute at any given time
- new players ready to step up on offense - actually two this night with Nick Towns early and Solomon Collins late
- never ending pressure which stresses opponents to a breaking point.
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| Wore you out tonight, Richard Parker. |
North Baltimore has an improving squad with an up-tempo style of play. The Tigers can only get better. They have an excellent chance at a winning record in MAL play and could do some playoff damage. Chad Wright has two more years to improve on a solid base and could attract some college recruiting attention. Better times are ahead for the Tigers.
Finally, without giving the story away, Life of Pi reflects on how we mentally filter life compared with its sometimes harsh reality. The Hawks are now 6-1 and have a few more games before the grinding three game Ottawa Hills/Toledo Christian/Gibsonburg stretch. Those three games will go far to determine how high the reality plane lies for these 2013-4 Hawks.
Happy New Year from your Hawkblog.
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