Shooting blanks: Buctown falls in 'C' final

Kalamazoo Christian too deep, disciplined

By Andrew Bolton

15 March 2008

greatlakeshoop.com

East Lansing--For the better part of three quarters, Kalamazoo Christian was well on its way to an easy victory. The Comets were pounding it inside on Beecher, using their considerable size to get easy baskets while limiting Beecher on the defensive end. So when Beecher picked up the intensity, the Comets were caught a little off-guard. After watching a double-digit lead evaporate in a matter of seconds, however, the Comets found a little extra to regain the lead and momentum. Aided by a series of mental mistakes by Beecher players and coaches, the Kalamazoo Christian Comets are the Class C champions, winning by a final score of 54-51.

The first half belonged completely to the Comets. After taking a four-point lead in the first couple of minutes, the Bucs went ice-cold from the field, which allowed the Comets to gain the upper hand in the contest. Despite leading by only one point after the first, it was obvious that the Comets were on the brink of breaking the game open. This they did in the second quarter. Beecher simply could not buy a basket from anywhere, and they wound up scoring just six points in the entire second period. The Comets rolled into halftime with an 11-point lead.

The third period saw no change in the shooting woes of the Bucs. It was due to their defense that they were able to keep close with the Comets, who appeared to be on cruise control. The lead fluctuated between seven and nine points for much of the third, until a layup by Jarell Brown with seven seconds left in the period cut the Comets’ lead to six going into the fourth.

Even with the momentum, Beecher could not make any headway against the Comets at the start of the fourth. KC would increase the lead back to double digits, 42-32, within the first two minutes of the period and once again looked poised to run away with the game. But Beecher has been living right in the fourth quarter during this title run, and today was no exception. Propelled by their press, Beecher forced four straight turnovers, all of them steals, which helped them put together a 14-2 run to not only get back in the game, but also reclaim the lead, 46-44. The Comets tied it on their next possession, and once Beecher got the ball back, they...stalled.

With just under four minutes still left to go in the game, the Bucs were content to hold the ball out near half court, and the Comets, still reeling from the Bucs’ run, were more than willing to let them. For a minute and 15 seconds, the Bucs held the ball, until Janero Walker drove to the basket and put up an airball. After trading turnovers, Beecher wound up with the ball again, with the game still tied and over two minutes left, and proceeded to...stall. This time, when Edward Cold finally drove to the hoop with 1:15 left in the game, he threw the ball away. The Comets went down and scored on a perfectly-executed out-of-bounds play, and then they got a steal and layup to go up four, and that was it for Beecher, as the Comets sealed the game at the line.

Game and Player Notes

–Stat of the Game: Beecher Three-Point Shooting–1/13

–Beecher is not known for their shooting prowess as a team; for that reason, can you think of any good reason why they would take 13 threes? The only one they made was at the very end of the game when the outcome was decided. With the way they were shooting, every shot outside of five feet was a bad shot. In fact, they might have made four shots outside of that range, and I think that estimate is a little high.

–As you may be able to tell from the recap, I have a little bit of a problem with the Bucs going to a stall with nearly four minutes left in a tie game. All told, they ran over two minutes off the game clock and got absolutely nothing to show for it. I bet they wish they had that time back when they were scrambling to come back at the end. They have been doing this throughout the playoffs, and while you can get away with it sometimes, in a tie game with that much time left you can’t hold the ball. I have never heard of that ending well, and it didn’t today.

–Beecher was led by Dominique Allen, who shot 7-15 from the floor en route to 15 points. He also added seven rebounds, five blocks, and two steals. Taron Boose added 11 points and five rebounds. Janero Walker had four points, six rebounds, seven steals, and three assists, but he shot just 2-12 overall with an especially bad 0-5 performance from three-point range.

–The Comets were too big and strong for Beecher to handle in the post, and Beecher’s length and athleticism, while able to impact the game in the fourth quarter, was ultimately not enough to offset the size advantage. Stephen Gould (6'8" and big) and Travis Hilton (6'3" and big) shoved around the much slimmer Beecher players all afternoon. If not for foul trouble for Gould, this game would not have been close. David VanderHorst led the Comets with 12 points. Travis Hilton had 11 points and eight rebounds, while Stephen Gould added eight points, six boards, and three blocks.