Blanche Ely and Western advance to Big 8 semifinals
POMPANO BEACH — All Western coach Mike Hardy has emphasized in recent Wildcats practices is defense.
“For the last two weeks, we’ve just been working on defensive principles,” Hardy said. “We haven’t had any games, so I thought if we want to go far in districts and the Big 8, we’ve got to play defense. So that’s all we’ve been working on for the last two weeks: defense, no offensive principles at all.”
The practice paid off on Wednesday. Western held down Cardinal Gibbons and the Wildcats prevailed 55-33 in the first round of the Broward County Athletic Association Big 8 tournament at Pompano Beach High.
The Wildcats’ stifling defense prevented the Chiefs from scoring more than 11 points in any quarter. Western held Gibbons to only five points in the game’s final eight minutes. Meanwhile, the Wildcats steadily built a lead.
Western had an eight-point lead at the end of the first quarter, which grew to an 11-point lead at halftime. The Wildcats outscored the Chiefs 15-5 in the fourth quarter, pushing the final margin to more than 20 points.
Cardinal Gibbons senior Paxton Kafka led all scorers with 15 points, and freshman Casey Etienne Jr. added 12, but those two players scored nearly all of the Chiefs’ points.
Western had a balanced offense, with four scorers hitting double digits. Senior Gary Adams led the Wildcats with 11 points, while seniors Jack Anderson, Matthew Robinson Jr. and junior Landon Boggus had 10 points each.
“We do a great job at moving the ball around,” Hardy said. “I’ve got a lot of unselfish guys. So it’s actually a blessing. My team, they like playing together. They play the system, they get everybody involved, so we prevail. Honestly, I don’t think nobody could stop us from scoring too often. So I tell them games have got to be won on the defensive end.”
Blanche Ely 58, Boyd Anderson 51
Blanche Ely withstood a Boyd Anderson comeback attempt to beat the Cobras 58-51 in the first round of the Big 8.
The Tigers, who hadn’t played since Jan. 12 due to COVID-19, had a 16-point lead in the fourth quarter, but the Cobras went on a late 13-3 run to cut the deficit to five points late in the game.
“Stupid stuff,” Ely coach Brent Maffett said. “Inexperience, still chemistry. You know, these guys not playing together... So it’s all just a work in progress.”
Blanche Ely was able to withstand Boyd Anderson’s counterpunch because they had built a
strong lead in the third quarter. The two teams were separated by only one point at halftime, but the Tigers outscored the Cobras 19-7 in the third quarter. Eric Gurrier led the team with 21 points. Kenny Ermat led Boyd Anderson with 11 points.
“That’s what [Gurrier] should be doing every night,” Maffett said. “I tell him as a senior, he’s a four-year varsity player, he should be able to play a certain way, play at a certain level.”
The Tigers will play Western in the Big 8 semifinals on Friday.