Whippets dunk Galion in MOAC play
Daily Globe Sports Editor
GALION — After a 20-day layoff, coach Nathon Loney expected his Whippet boys basketball team to be a little bit rusty in their Mid Ohio Athletic Conference opener Friday night.
If there was any rust, Shelby knocked it off quickly and rolled past Galion 76-24.
The outing was the first for the red and gray since their season-opening 70-49 victory against Mansfield Madison on Nov. 27.
Since then, the COVID-19 pandemic gripping the nation forced athletics in the school district to be paused, beginning on Dec. 3. A week ago the sports programs at Shelby were given the okay to resume practicing and this past Thursday were given the nod to resume competition.
“I was very pleased with how our kids played after being off for 20 days. Yesterday (Thursday) was our first real 5-on-5 practice. I thought for sure we would be pretty rusty and to come out and score 76 points, I was really pleased with that,” said Loney as his club moved to 2-0.
The Tigers, who remain winless at 0-4 in the MOAC and 0-6 overall, attempted to slow the pace of the game, but the Whippets would have nothing of that as their sticky man-to-man pressure tactics took their toll early.
“Galion tried to slow it down and was taking minute-long possessions and trying to slow the game down,” said Loney. Instead, SHS turned the Tigers over a number of times in the opening period and the visitors also controlled the defensive glass.
After Troy Manring’s bucket tied matters at 2-2 just 72 seconds into the game, Shelby ran off the next 18 points over the next 7:12. Andre Hill’s three-pointer — one of eight in the game by the red and gray — made it 20-2 with 7:36 until the intermission.
The defense of the Whippets blanked Galion during the final 4:15 of quarter No. 2 and the offense went into halftime on a 17-0 run to build a 41-9 lead.
Jeremy Holloway’s rebound basket in the first 19 seconds of the second half completed a 19-0 burst.
Three-pointers by Alex Bruskotter were sandwiched around a triple by Hill that pushed the SHS advantage to 58-20 heading to the final frame.
Brayden Stone tipin of a missed Shaun Carver free throw expanded the Shelby lead to 76-22 with time running down.
T.J. Pugh topped the Whippets with 19 points. A total of 11 players scored in the rout, including double-figure performances from Cody Lantz (12) and Marshall Shepherd (11). Brayden Eckels and Hanif Donaldson each tallied six for the Tigers.
Shelby is back in action Sunday night at Lima Senior and Monday evening the red and gray travel to Marion Pleasant.
Roberts 2 0 5, Hiatt 2 0 5, Shepherd 5 1 11, Pugh 7 3 19, Lantz 4 4 12, Hill 3 1 9, Holloway 2 0 4, Rob 0 1 1, Rank 1 0 2, Stone 1 0 2, Bruskotter 2 0 6, Totals 29 10 76.
GALION (24)
Manring 1 0 2, Eckel 2 2 6, Branstetter 2 1 6, Donaldson 2 2 6, Miller 1 0 2, Totals 8 7 24.
Shelby ............... 17241718—76 Galion ................. 2 7 11 4 —24
Three-point field goals — Roberts (S), Hiatt (S), Pugh (S) 2, Hill (S) 2, Bruskotter (S) 2, Branstetter (G).