Local Sports

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Division IV Boys District: Carey benefits in big way from 19-0 run

By JAMIE BAKER

Staff Writer

WILLARD -- The matchup on paper between Carey and Lucas wasn't one coach C.J. Kin was looking forward to.

And the scrappy Cubs, who withstood the turmoil of a midseason coaching change, hung in there for awhile before Carey used a 19-0 first-half run to take control on its way to a 71-57 win in a Division IV district semifinal boys basketball game at Willard Tuesday night.

With the win, Carey (17-5) advances to take on Wynford (15-7), a 63-51 winner over New London, in the district final Friday at 7 p.m.

Assistant Andrew Molyet took over as head coach at Lucas when the school board decided to reassign then head coach Zach Kantouros after an 0-10 start to the season. Since then, the Cubs finished the season a respectable 5-7.

"They have been playing some pretty good basketball in the tournament and they came in here with nothing to lose," Kin said. "Plus, their guards are very quick and sometimes we have trouble matching up with a team like that. We tend to play well against bigger teams, who are closer to our own size."

Early on, he was right.

Lucas (5-17) jumped out to a 9-2 lead four minutes into the game before the Blue Devils scored 19 unanswered points over the next 9:58 to take control.

"Once we were able to figure out how they were going to attack us, we made a few adjustments and I thought we did a nice job from then on out," Kin said.

Lucas' Zach Moffett drove the lane for a bucket to end the Cubs' nearly 10-minute scoring drought.

But a pair of inside buckets by Carey's career scoring leader, 6-foot-7 senior Michael Dennis, and another by Cy Strahm helped the Blue Devils go into the lockerroom with a 27-19 halftime lead.

It was more of the same in the second half as the Cubs had no answer for Dennis, who finished with a game-high 30 points and now unofficially has 1,516 career points for the Blue Devils.

The Cubs were able to the lead to 54-44 with 5:42 remaining in the game on a Tyler Westfield 3-pointer, but they could get no closer the remainder of the contest.

Dennis wasn't the only standout for Carey as Strahm, a senior, and junior Mason Tong chipped in 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Up next for Carey is a return date with Wynford Friday night. The Blue Devils knocked off the Royals 79-77 in overtime back on Dec. 12.

Kin knows his squad will have to take care of several mistakes the Blue Devils made down the stretch against Lucas if they entertain hopes of beating Wynford and earning a spot in next week's regional tournament.

"It took us 25 years to beat them once. That was the last time we beat them until we beat them at home earlier this year on a last-second shot," Kin said. "It's going to be tough to beat them again.

"They are a veteran team. They're tough, they're a big team, they're physical and they execute very well. We just have to do those things well late in that game that we did to win that night. It's going to be a great game."

Tickets for the district final contest will be available in the high school office Wednesday through Friday during school hours.

LUCAS (57)

Westfeld 7-5--24, Sauder 4-0--9, Bays 0-0--0, Aberts 3-1--7, Foss 2-1--5, Porter 1-0--2, Moffett 4-0--8, Stone 0-2--2, Stepp 0-0--0, Baldridge 0-0--0. TOTALS: 21-54 9-14--57.

CAREY (71)

Strahm 4-5--14, Orians 1-4--6, Vaughn 1-0--2, Dyer 0-0--0, Tong 5-0--11, Dennis 12-6--30, Chapman 4-0--8, Smith 0-0--0, Niederkohr 0-0--0. TOTALS: 28-44 16-25--71.

Lucas 9 10 14 24 -- 57

Carey 10 17 20 24 -- 71

3-POINT GOALS: Carey 1-5 (Strahm); Lucas 7-19 (Westfield 5, Sauder 2).

TURNOVERS: Lucas 16, Carey 15.

REBOUNDS: Carey 24 (Dennis 6, Strahm 5); Lucas 26 (Stone 7).

Baker: 419-427-8409,

jamiebaker@thecourier.com

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