December 17, 2013 at New Riegel HS
The New Riegel Blue Jackets are a historical power in the soon to be defunct Midland Athletic League. New Riegel won at least a share of nine boys basketball titles in a twelve team league over the MAL's 28 year history. The Jackets reached the sectional semi-final in 2011-12, when they lost to Toledo Christian. In fact, the Jackets play a similar tough-nosed style to the Eagles. But New Riegel is rebuilding after two strong seasons and it was not to be this evening for the home team.
As the local paper's headline put it "Jackets can't handle the Truth' - Foreman that is, who scored 15 along with Thad Woodard's 16 on the night. If it was a two against five game, the Hawks would have come up one point short. Alas for the hosts, Maumee Valley brought the rest of its deep rotation along on the bus. Maumee Valley used the press to great effect this evening on the way to defeating the New Riegel Blue Jackets 57-32 on a wintery Tuesday evening.
Starters - Marcus Knabbs ('14), Lucas Isaza ('15), Thad Woodard ('14), Nick Towns ('15), Rashad Woodley ('14)
First Quarter - MV 16 - NR 5
Surveying the 6'6" Rashad Woodley in the jump circle, the Jackets inserted a guard and brought all of their players into the defensive end, conceding the opening tip...
Marcus Knabbs scored the opening points of the game on a Eurostepping drive down the right hand foul lane. The Jackets foreshadowed their game-long frustration early on, when in their first offensive possession, they pulled four offensive rebounds and could not score in five tries. Rashad answered with a soft four footer, but NR's Tim Ink scored an old-school three pointer, fouled by Lucas Isaza. Ink would lead his team with ten points on the night.
New Riegel attempted a press, but Marcus beat everyone to the hoop on a a coast-to-coast layup. Danny Hazimah entered the game, which meant that MV began their pressure defense. After a Blue Jacket airball, Maumee Valley's Rashad Woodley scored on a beautiful Danny Hazimah pass
a couple of empty possessions later, Rashad hauled in this rebound and Solomon Collins was hammered on the offensive end...
...in the midst of a 10-3 Hawks and the home team was struggling to keep up in its man-to-man defensive setup. FIrst year head Coach Dave Losey took a time out to switch his team to a 2-3 zone, which is pretty much where they stayed for the rest of the evening.
But NR couldn't hide from the MV press. Danny Hazimah stole the ball and fed it to Solomon for two points. The Jackets scored back, then Truth Foreman hit this two point twister...
Maumee Valley continued to force the action until the very end of the quarter when Truth picked the pocket of NR's point guard and scored with time running out
MV was off to an 11 point lead.
Second Quarter - MV 14 - NR 12
The Hawks second quarter start reflected the frigid conditions outside, as they committed a turnover and missed on their first two attempts. New Riegel's Jake Dreyfuse and Tim Ink scored the first four points of the quarter to cut the lead to seven. Dreyfuse would match his 2012-13 average with eight points in the game. Truth Foreman answered back with a putback off a rebound. MV's aggressive play put the hosts in the bonus at 6:41 and NR 2 capitalized on a 1-1, cutting the lead to seven, 18-11.
The teams traded baskets, then Truth Foreman hit a three, then made one of two free throws. Thad Woodard converted on a steal and the Hawks had run off five quick points. The teams traded baskets again, then Thad nailed a three-ball with two seconds to go to give MV a 30-17 halftime lead.
Third Quarter - MV 11 - NR 7
Both teams traded two empty possessions to start the second half. New Riegel was struggling underneath with Rashad's long defensive reach, but the visitors scored the first five points of the frame, deeply cutting into the Hawks' lead. MV needed 4:15 to get on the board, Thad Woodard hitting two free throws to up the visitors lead to 10. Coach Arthur put the heat back on after the free throws, and the visitors began to perk up. Here's a Rashad block / Solomon fast break / Thad score for the Hawks:
Danny Hazimah scored next on a fast break...
... then Thad Woodard sent his defender to the floor on a fake and hit a three to put his team up 14, 39-24. MV would finish the quarter in style with it's traditional two guard back door cut to the basket with six seconds left.
With eight minutes left, it was Visitors 41 - Home 24
Fourth Quarter MV 16 - NR 8
New Riegel started the quarter off with an 8-3 run and cut the lead to 44-32. In a critical juncture of the game, MV was called for palming, one of their only unforced errors of the night. But MV got the ball back and Keith McClure scored a big basket on a coast to coast run. That play sparked the Hawks. Thad, Keith and Truth combined for the next five points. Rashad blocked the next shot, and the Hawks ran clock until he was fouled at the other end.
Truth provided the icer with this three pointer
It was 54-32 Maumee Valley. The teams combined for an 0-7 stretch until Thad sunk two free throws with 1:24 left to finish off the game. The bus warmed up for the satisfiying ride home and the Hawks enjoying a 54-32 road victory.
Next up, its those geriatric giants, the MVCDS alumni in the Holiday Hoops Classic on December 28 at the Varsity Gym
Scoring
Truth Foreman 15
Danny Hazimah 2
Marcus Knabbs 4
Keith McClure 7
Nick Towns 1
Thad Woodard 16
Solomon Collins 8
Rashad Woodley 4
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