Sams I am

Sophomore's two late free throws lift Bobcats to upset win

By Josh Glitz

15 January 2008

greatlakeshoops.com

Grand Blanc--I almost didn’t go to this game tonight.

Along with most people I thought that Grand Blanc had no shot at beating a heavily-favored Carman Ainsworth at Grand Blanc. The Cavaliers simply had too much depth, size, skill, and athleticism for Grand Blanc to handle, or so we all thought.

“I always thought we could win,” said Bobcat senior Adrian Hunter after the game.

It turns out he was right, as Grand Blanc overcame a 21-point halftime deficit to beat the Cavaliers 47-46.

The game started as most expected it would. Carman-Ainsworth came out shooting it well and Grand Blanc came out struggling.

By the end of the first half the score was 31-10 in favor of the Cavaliers.

Grand Blanc was having problems scoring on offense and was missing on the open opportunities it did have. The Cavaliers, on the other hand, were shooting 67 percent from deep.

In the first half the size of C-A simply proved to be too big of a hassle for the Bobcats. It looked like the game was going to be the blowout we all expected.

Then the second half began.

C-A came out lazy and made a couple mistakes that gave Grand Blanc some life, and some confidence.

“Everybody started feeling confident. The coaches told me they would follow their leader, so I kept my head up,” said Hunter.

Behind Hunter and sophomore guard Will Sams, Grand Blanc cut into the C-A lead. By the end of the third, the score was 39-31.

Though Grand Blanc had cut into the lead, it still did not seem possible that they could actually win. That was until Hunter came out and started the fourth with a 3-pointer, trimming the lead to five points.

“I kept telling the guys that the game is not over; I must have said it 30 times,” explained Hunter.

He was right, the game wasn’t over.

The Cavs never adjusted to the man-to-man defense that Grand Blanc switched to, and as a result could never get any offense going. On the other end, Sams and Hunter were taking over cashing in tough basket after tough basket.

Grand Blanc was able to tie the game at 43-43 with just over two minutes to go, and was able to take the lead on a tough finish by Sams, 45-44, with around 30 seconds left.

Jon Lee got the final basket for C-A on a great finish in the lane to put the Cavs up one with 12 seconds to go.

Sams took the ball to the rim at the other end and was fouled. He hit both free throws to put Grand Blanc up for good.

C-A was not able to get a final shot off, and the biggest upset in mid-Michigan this year was complete.

Game Notes

-    The Carman players did not play well, but they were not terrible. The offense was stagnant in the second half because it simply was not working against the man-to-man defense of the Bobcats, and they failed to adjust. The players made a few execution errors, but when it is being consistently shut down, the coaches needed to adjust and they did not.

-    If Carman Ainsworth is going to live up to its potential, coach Bob Root is going to have to be a little more creative. He is truly holding them back right now. On offense he is handicapping his players. They have five players who are great offensively, however the offense that they run does not show it. There is no excuse for a team with as much skill and talent as C-A has to score only 15 points in the second half. Defensively running a 2-3 zone makes no sense. A 2-3 zone is great if you lack depth and athletes. C-A has an abundance of both. If there is any team in the state that should be pressing and running a man-to-man defense it is C-A. In fact, Grand Blanc was expecting a press tonight as Hunter pointed out in a post game interview: “ I was surprised that they didn’t press, we were expecting it and ready for it.” The players respect Coach Root and for this reason run what he prescribes. The only problem is that it cost them the game tonight.

-    One more thing about coaching: I have seen all the top teams in the state so far, with the exception of Ann Arbor Pioneer. I have no doubt that C-A is as talented, athletic and skilled as all of these teams. In fact, only Saginaw High can equal their talent and depth, in my opinion. The difference is that Coach Dawkins runs an offense and defense that take advantage of his players' skills. The whole of Saginaw is much greater than the sum of its parts. Coach Root does less with more skill than any other coach I have seen. For C-A the whole is much less than the sum of the parts. Give Coach Dawkins this team and they win every game by close to 20 points against most any team in the state.

-   This team also misses the toughness of junior Terrance Keaton. Keaton really brings a refuse to lose attitude to the team, but was suspended for an altercation at school.

-    The leading scores for the Cavaliers tonight were Dee Chapman and Kieon Arkwright who both had 12, while Reggie Stallings pitched in with nine and Jon Lee seven.

-    Unlike C-A, Grand Blanc had a great effort by both the players and coaches tonight. This was a great win for the team. They deserve all the credit for the way they played. While Hunter was clearly the leader of the team, it was a true team effort tonight. They showed that they don’t need a huge game from Hunter to compete with some good teams out there.

-    Coach Chris Belcher deserves quite a bit of credit for the win in this game. After struggling in the first half, he made the necessary coaching adjustments to allow his team to come back and win tonight. Offensively they exploited the weak spots in the Carman zone, and the switch to man-to-man defense didn’t allow the Cavs to get comfortable.

-    Jacob Pilarski gave it his all tonight. He did a good job defending Jaylen Larry in the post and came up with a couple huge steals on defense and put-backs on offense. He is not all that skilled or talented but he works his butt off and is a great effort player. He was rewarded for all his effort tonight.

-    Will Sams played a great second half for the Bobcats. He showed the ability to get to and finish at the rim. While he may have a high dribble, he protects the ball well enough to prevent it from being stolen most of the time. Without his incredible effort in the second half, Grand Blanc does not win this game. The future looks safe in the hands of Sams and fellow sophomore Tony Jones. Sams finished the game with 13 points, with almost all of them coming in the second half, and none bigger than the two free throws to win the game.

-    Adrian Hunter showed what it means to be a leader tonight. Forced to play out of position the entire second half, Hunter did all the little things that matter in this game. On defense he was forced to guard Dee Chapman for most of the game, a clear mismatch, but one he handled well. Whenever Chapman would put the ball on the floor, it seemed that Hunter was able to poke his hand in there and cause a turnover. On offense he was forced to play down low. Without the ball in his hands he fought hard came up with a couple huge offensive rebounds. When he was able to get the ball on the perimeter he was able to convert on big shots. A lot of top players would not be willing to sacrifice as much as Adrian did for his team. He is willing to do whatever is necessary to allow his team to win. A lot of players will say this but not live it; Adrian talks the talk and walks the walk. Without Adrian and his leadership, this win is not possible. Hunter finished with 18 points on the night.