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MOUNT PULASKI — A third-quarter run helped Mount Pulaski close the gap, but Calvary’s strong opening half and pedal-to-the-floor finish helped the Saints close out a 78-54 nonconference boys basketball win at Ed Butkovich Gymnasium on Tuesday.
Calvary senior Luke Blackford led all scorers with 24 points while junior Antione Hunter finished with 23.
Calvary (18-7) shot better than 50% from the field (32-for-58, 55.2%) and, of the Saints’ 26 misses, plus four missed free throws with rebound opportunities, Calvary came down with a whopping 19 offensive rebounds. Blackford grabbed 14 boards to finish with a double-double, while Hunter was one rebound shy of that feat.
Calvary opened the game by hitting 11 of its first 14 shots. With 2 minutes, 57 seconds left in the first half, Josiah Reynolds, a senior, had a putback bucket to give the Saints a 38-18 lead. It was the largest of the game until the final minutes.
“We were hitting our shots well, and we were able just to find open guys; we were able to get on a roll early,” Blackford said, adding it was a welcome change from how the team’s recent games have begun. “We've been struggling; we typically start off the first quarter kind of slow. It was very nice to be able to, for the first time in a while, be able to get going early so we didn't have to play catch-up the entire game.”
Mount Pulaski (14-9) tried to change its offensive pace in the second half and cut Calvary’s lead down to 47-35 when Braden Olson, a junior, had back-to-back baskets, including the second off a steal. Franklin Wade then helped make up for a three-point play he gave up on a foul of Blackford with two free throws of his own, followed by a layup, midway through the third to cut the Calvary lead to 50-39.
The Hilltoppers never got closer.
“The big thing is they beat us in transition, and we just didn't get back,” first-year Mount Pulaski coach Lyndon Jason said. “They had a lot of easy baskets early, and then we're trying to stop (Blackford), so we're trying to face guard him and help on him. A couple other kids hit some 3s on us, and . . . we didn't run a very good offense.
“We were in way too big of a hurry. They sped us up a little bit because of their length and quickness, and that kind of led to some open 3s. They shot the ball well, but it kind of started with their transition. They just got way too many easy baskets, and then the other thing is . . . we just could not rebound with them, and that's been one of our bugaboos.”
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With five more games left in the season for Calvary, the Saints’ first-year head coach still has some things he’d like the team to clean up before his team begins its postseason run.
“We finally got everybody healthy and just been in the gym, getting repetition, repetition, and we're starting to light it up,” Anderson said. “Biggest thing is we've got to get better on defense. Every practice, every week, we look at the film, and the one area we struggle in is defense. I'm stressing that, like, ‘Defense, defense, defense.’
“We've got to get better if we want to make a run to state.”
Reynolds added 11 points for Calvary and was one of four Saints to hit a 3-pointer. Calvary was 6-for-12 from behind the line.
Wade led the Hilltoppers with 12 points before he fouled out in the fourth and fellow junior Keoni Charron had 10 before he, too, fouled out. Mount Pulaski was 20-for-52 shooting but made 40% (4 of 10) of its 3s.
More: Basketball's a Peach for Springfield High with this senior
Calvary also out-rebounded Mount Pulaski 44-24. Hunter had seven offensive rebounds, more than a third of the Saints’ total.
“We work on (offensive rebounding) every day at practice,” Hunter said. “It should be a, we always do it type of thing, and obviously I always have to crash the boards just in case nobody else gets it. That's kind of just our main focus: get rebounds and get out in transition.”
Contact Ryan Mahan: 788-1546, [email protected], Twitter.com/RyanMahanSJR.
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: IHSA boys basketball: Calvary gets 47 from Blackford, Hunter in win
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Calvary senior Luke Blackford led all scorers with 24 points while junior Antione Hunter finished with 23.
Calvary (18-7) shot better than 50% from the field (32-for-58, 55.2%) and, of the Saints’ 26 misses, plus four missed free throws with rebound opportunities, Calvary came down with a whopping 19 offensive rebounds. Blackford grabbed 14 boards to finish with a double-double, while Hunter was one rebound shy of that feat.
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Calvary opened the game by hitting 11 of its first 14 shots. With 2 minutes, 57 seconds left in the first half, Josiah Reynolds, a senior, had a putback bucket to give the Saints a 38-18 lead. It was the largest of the game until the final minutes.
“We were hitting our shots well, and we were able just to find open guys; we were able to get on a roll early,” Blackford said, adding it was a welcome change from how the team’s recent games have begun. “We've been struggling; we typically start off the first quarter kind of slow. It was very nice to be able to, for the first time in a while, be able to get going early so we didn't have to play catch-up the entire game.”
Mount Pulaski (14-9) tried to change its offensive pace in the second half and cut Calvary’s lead down to 47-35 when Braden Olson, a junior, had back-to-back baskets, including the second off a steal. Franklin Wade then helped make up for a three-point play he gave up on a foul of Blackford with two free throws of his own, followed by a layup, midway through the third to cut the Calvary lead to 50-39.
The Hilltoppers never got closer.
“The big thing is they beat us in transition, and we just didn't get back,” first-year Mount Pulaski coach Lyndon Jason said. “They had a lot of easy baskets early, and then we're trying to stop (Blackford), so we're trying to face guard him and help on him. A couple other kids hit some 3s on us, and . . . we didn't run a very good offense.
“We were in way too big of a hurry. They sped us up a little bit because of their length and quickness, and that kind of led to some open 3s. They shot the ball well, but it kind of started with their transition. They just got way too many easy baskets, and then the other thing is . . . we just could not rebound with them, and that's been one of our bugaboos.”
More: Lincoln basketball's Neil Alexander joins Illinois' 1,000-win coaching club
With five more games left in the season for Calvary, the Saints’ first-year head coach still has some things he’d like the team to clean up before his team begins its postseason run.
“We finally got everybody healthy and just been in the gym, getting repetition, repetition, and we're starting to light it up,” Anderson said. “Biggest thing is we've got to get better on defense. Every practice, every week, we look at the film, and the one area we struggle in is defense. I'm stressing that, like, ‘Defense, defense, defense.’
“We've got to get better if we want to make a run to state.”
Reynolds added 11 points for Calvary and was one of four Saints to hit a 3-pointer. Calvary was 6-for-12 from behind the line.
Wade led the Hilltoppers with 12 points before he fouled out in the fourth and fellow junior Keoni Charron had 10 before he, too, fouled out. Mount Pulaski was 20-for-52 shooting but made 40% (4 of 10) of its 3s.
More: Basketball's a Peach for Springfield High with this senior
Calvary also out-rebounded Mount Pulaski 44-24. Hunter had seven offensive rebounds, more than a third of the Saints’ total.
“We work on (offensive rebounding) every day at practice,” Hunter said. “It should be a, we always do it type of thing, and obviously I always have to crash the boards just in case nobody else gets it. That's kind of just our main focus: get rebounds and get out in transition.”
Contact Ryan Mahan: 788-1546, [email protected], Twitter.com/RyanMahanSJR.
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: IHSA boys basketball: Calvary gets 47 from Blackford, Hunter in win
Continue reading...
