Poor shooting from perimeter and free throw line plague Wildcats
| BataviasBest.org
Tuesday, March 3, 2015
Wheatland-Chili was ousted from the Section V Boys Basketball Tournament last night, as the Lyons Lions were able to outlast the Wildcats after a back-and-forth first half. Here is a breakdown of the Class C3 semis:
Lyons | 16 / 17 / 21 / 16 – 70
Wheatland | 14 / 18 / 15 / 11 – 58
Game Stats
Check out our Monday Scoreboard
Game Notes
First Quarter
-Throughout the first half whistles were abundant as each side had 5+ fouls after just the first few minutes of the game. By game’s end, each side had shot a total of 46 combined foul shots
-Wheatland’s Rodney Roberts shot 15 of them – making 9
-During the first quarter Lyons knocked down 4 three-pointers – which I was certainly not expecting going into the game. I believed them to be a relatively-average shooting team
-It wasn’t only Hunter (who had 2 first quarter threes) connecting from long range, but VanBuskirk and McDonald also were able to drain one perimeter shot a piece during the first eight minutes
Second Quarter
-The second was back-and-forth throughout, as it seemed whenever one side would score, the other
would answer – including a stretch midway through the frame where it seemed Rodney Roberts and Damon Hunter were playing 1 on 1
-To end the period, Lyons’ VanBuskirk was able to finish a layup at the buzzer in order to send his team into the halftime break with a slim one-point lead
-Prior to the last-second layup, Wheatland’s Tyler Roberts scored with 11 seconds left to put his team ahead – however, the Wildcats’ defense was unable to hold the Lions on the other end
Third Quarter
-The third is when it all came crashing down for the Wildcats – and it happened immediately
-With the Lions receiving possession to begin the third quarter, they immediately struck with a layup to open things up. Following which, they went on to cause about five-straight Wheatland turnovers – which catapulted them to an eleven-point lead with 5:58 left in the third
-If you look back at my pre-game prediction for the game, I believed whoever wound up winning the turnover battle (and defensive rebound battle) at game’s end would win this one. Well, lets just say the Lions’ third quarter performance solidified the win for them as far as turnovers were concerned
-Following the three minute onslaught from the Lions, Wheatland would rebound and remain in the game, but took a deficit of seven points into the fourth quarter
-In addition the falling behind during the third, Wheatland had also watched Tyler Roberts pick up his fourth foul midway through the period
Fourth Quarter
-During the fourth quarter Wheatland continued to plug away (despite T Roberts beginning on the
bench), but after falling behind by the eleven-point margin to begin the third, things were never really in reach for the Wildcats, as it was simply too much for them to overcome
-Also, Lyons’ Hunter scored 12 points during the fourth which basically put the game away for his team
-Wheatland did a poor job of stopping him all night long, perhaps due to early foul concerns
Post Game
-At game’s end, I believed these two teams to be fairly evenly matched, with the Lions possessing more depth as a whole. However, with Wheatland possessing two of the top three players in yesterday’s game, I truly believed they would be able to outscore their opponent prior to the matchup. However, with Lyons getting hot immediately from the outside, and the Wildcats struggling mightily from the perimeter throughout, this was just not their night
-In addition to what was included in my scouting report:
-I believed Wheatland would have a favorable chance to win if the combination of Rodney and Tyler Roberts could contribute 50 points total, which hasn’t been such an outlandish stat line for the duo throughout this season (they scored 43 combined yesterday)
-I also believed it would be vital for the Wildcats to hold Hunter to less than 25 points (he scored 35)
-With each of these failing to come to fruition, it was no surprise at the conclusion of the contest that the Lions were indeed the team advancing to the finals. They were simply the better team on Monday night
Wrap-Up
Quotes from the Head Coach
Wheatland’s Scott Lund on Damon Hunter’s incredible performance:
“We didn’t do a great job on Hunter; that’s on me. Seemed like every time we missed a jumper they would make one coming back the other way.”
The Wildcats’ HC on how his team’s third quarter turnovers hurt their chances of walking away with a win:
“We threw a few bad passes on top which got them layups. They hurt us.”
Lund on his team’s overall effort during the game:
“I’m proud of the effort the kids showed. It was a nice season with the trip to Cleveland and a League Championship.”
Lund expanding on his thoughts on the year his team endured:
“I enjoyed working with this group of young men and I am excited for what the future holds for our graduating Seniors as well as our returning players.”
My Final Thoughts
All in all, yesterday was a great basketball game for about three and a half quarters.
While it is certainly sad to see a local team bow-out of the Sectional Tournament, one must tip their hat to the Lions, as they came to play for all 32 minutes against Wheatland – and deserved to win the game.
Although the Wildcats’ hustle and desire were certainly not lacking against Lyons, one thing that they seemed to lack an abundance of in my opinion, was confidence.
Overall, I truly saw the Lions as the more-aggressive, more-confident team in this game and I viewed the Wildcats as the team who seemed more-timid throughout (primarily during the second half).
I believe this is what truly hurt them during the third quarter, as a few turnovers began to snowball and before they knew it they were trailing by double-digits. Amidst the turnover spree, it seemed as if the Wildcats began to second-guess much of what they were doing offensively (as a triangle and two put them out of sorts) – allowing the Lions to seize complete control of the momentum and the game.
This apparent lack of confidence was also displayed through their poor shooting percentage from both the free throw line and beyond the arc – which also tuned out to be huge factors in the game, especially down the stretch.
In the closing minutes, each team looked for big shots from their top players in order to continue to push for the win. However – different than what I believed pregame – it was the Lions knocking down shot, after shot (mainly Hunter), while the Wildcats were the team struggling with inconsistencies.
Adding to their strength down the stretch, this sign definitely didn’t hurt the Lions’ chances…
Next up for Lyons will be a controversial RCMCS team in the Finals of Class C3 – taking place this weekend at Blue Cross Arena.
RCMCS has been brought to my attention by a few local coaches who seem to be questioning the team following an abbreviated 14-game regular season schedule, as well as their failure to submit a regular season roster to the Section V Committee.
However, the kids on the RCMCS team seem like good kids who perform with quality sportsmanship (based on what I saw of them vs Naples last night) and I am not suggesting anything should be taken away from their efforts.
Anyway, congrats to the Wildcats on a great season, and good luck to Lyons and RCMCS in the next round.
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Stay tuned for coverage of the Batavia and Notre Dame semifinal games.
Other articles you may like:
Above the Fold: Here are a few storylines to watch for during Wheatland-Chili vs Lyons
Section V Boys Basketball Tournament COMPLETE Scoreboard with STATS – Monday (3/2/2015)
Section V Boys Basketball Tournament Headquarters – Everything you need to know, right here
