MBB: Bobcats secure 22-1A opener, 78-29
Beckville's Cesar Loredo during Friday night's game in Bobcat
Gymnasium. (Photo by John Krueger)
GARY, Tx -- The Gary Bobcats turned up the defensive intensity in the second half of Friday night's District 22-1A D-I opener here in Bobcat Gymnasium, holding Beckville to no field goals in the first quarter and only six in the second half as the Bobcats outscored BHS 48-16 in the final two quarters of a 78-29 homecoming win.
Gary score more than 70 points for only the second time in the three-year tenure of Bobcat head coach Tony Wood, which pleased the coach as his team not only improved to 11-9 on the season, but grabbed a share of the league lead with a 1-0 mark.
GHS is tied with Tenaha (8-3) and Timpson (5-13) with 1-0 records. Tenaha won its league opener with a 62-22 victory over Garrison (1-4, 0-1 district) on Friday, while Timpson bumped Shelbyville (3-11, 0-1), 56-49.
In upcoming district games on Tuesday night, Shelbyville will travel to Beckville as both teams look to pick up their first district wins, while Gary hosts Garrison and Timpson travels to Tenaha. Coming up on Friday, Garrison will host Beckville, Gary will visit Timpson and Shelbyville will be at home to host Tenaha.
The Bobcats struggled early on, quite possibly suffering from homecoming jitters, as they had numerous opportunities to score under the basket, but were unable to finish their shots. Despite their shooting hardships, Gary held Beckville to just three first-quarter points as the Bobcats built a 13-3 lead at the end of the opening period and a 30-13 lead at the break.
"There were several guys who had great opportunities to score early on, but they were just too keyed up and didn't finish their shots," said Wood after the game. "I just think there was too much adrenalin early on and they were putting a little too much on their shots.
"I was happy, though, with our defense. We talked about defense before the game and at halftime and I hope our team prides itself on the defensive end. We feel like we have to keep teams from scoring because we only average about 47 points a game.
"And since we had a double-digit lead at halftime, we talked about keeping them from scoring in the second half and getting the win. We got good looks in the first half, we just hadn't been putting the ball in the basket, so I knew if we kept up the pressure defensively the offense would come."
Wood said things began to open up offensively for his squad in the second half, and it was evident in the 48 points and 24 points in the paint in the final two periods. Gary also only turned the ball over only five times, finishing the game with 10.
"Connor Coligan led our defensive game in the second half," Wood added. "He's been our defensive leader the last couple of years and we put him on (Rain) Rieke in the second half because we knew he was their main scoring threat.
"On the offensive end we had a pretty good second half. They were giving us some back cuts because they were coming out so hard on us and we shot the ball better in the second half. I guess we got the homecoming excitement out of us by then."
In addition to committing just 10 turnovers, the Bearcats were forced into 10 first-quarter turnovers and 24 for the game. Beckville did not score any points in transition or off Bobcat turnovers.
Rieke led the Bearcats with 14 points on the night. Will Watson added six, Jesse Sipes threw in four, Juan Self chipped in three and Haston Adams scored two points.
The Bobcats hit 26-of-59 (44%) from the field and 24-of-33 (72.7%) from the line.
Levi Cohorst posted 12 rebounds on the night and added eight points to go with it. Four other Bobcats scored in double figures, led by Colton Coleman's 15 points, including 7-of-9 at the stripe. Matt Wood converted 5-of-9 field goals and scored 14 points, as did Coligan. White chipped in 10 points, with Josh Bowen scoring five, Luke Thornton and Trevor Liles each chipped in four and Jade Greer and Teddy Rotramel each finished with two points.
Gary finished the game with 36 rebounds, In addition to Cohorst's total, White pulled down five and Wood and Coligan totaled three.
Cohorst handed seven assists for the Bobcats, with Wood adding six to the team's total of 19. Bowen and Thornton each had three steals.
After falling behind 3-2 at the 4:37 mark of the opening quarter of a low-scoring period, Gary scored the final 11 points in the final 4:23 to grab a 13-3 after the first. Gary, which scored 10 of its 13 first-quarter points in the paint, added eight more points in the lane in the second stanza as GHS moved out to a 17-points lead at the break.
The second half was all Gary. The Bobcats hit 13-of-19 free throws in a 27-point third quarter as Gary pulled out to a 57-20 lead entering the final period.
The Bobcats then forced nine turnovers in the fourth quarter, while giving the ball up only twice on offense as they coasted to the easy league-opening win.