The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
BAD 1ST QUARTER DOOMS PATRIOTS
Open Door beats John Hay over three quarters but early deficit was too much to overcome
Sometimes a team is not who you thought they were.
Open Door had one of its worst offensive shooting nights in recent years as they were outscored, 28-5, in the first quarter. The offkilter offensive performance spelled doom for the Patriots, as they were quickly left in the dust, 77-61, by a surprisingly hot-shooting and fast-paced John Hay in the opening round of the Gossman Insurance Holiday Tournament at Wellington High School on Dec. 28.
After the game, Patriots (6-2) coach Todd Wright took sole responsibility
for the loss.
“I just told our team, and I told them at halftime, the first quarter is on me as a coach,” Wright said. “We had watched a lot of film on these guys and scouted them quite a bit. We didn’t think they were that strong of outside shooters, so we played them that way. They (John Hay) came out and made some big shots in that first quarter.”
The Hornets (6-3), who hail from the Senate Athletic League, wasted no time as they blitzed the Open Door zone defense
blazing speed, led by senior sharpshooter Robert Toney and the versatile junior, Nigel Martin. The pair knocked down two 3s each in the first quarter, and combined for all six of John Hay’s 3s on the evening, finishing with 16 points and 26 points, respectively.
Martin snagged nine rebounds and was spectacular in patrolling the paint for the Hornets.
Hornets coach Christopher Sanders believes the strong showing is just a sample size of what Martin can do as the No. 1 option.
“The thing is, Nigel could be a potential Division I player. He is getting some looks from IUPUI and a couple other schools,” Sanders said. “The key factor for him is getting his teammates, who are seniors, to look and find him immediately.
“It’s a process that we are still fighting with now.”
After the nightmare start to the first quarter in where the Patriots went 2-of-14 from the field, Open Door tried to scrap and claw its way back. Junior sensation Trey Brooks was visibly frustrated, missing everything, including free throws and a pair of easy layups. John Hay’s hot shooting slightly cooled off, allowing Open Door to cut the lead to 41-21 at halftime.
After Wright spoke to his players at halftime, the Patriots came out with a new attitude, and a new defensive game plan.
“I told them, shame on
me for not trusting them to play man-to-man against a much bigger and athletic team. Clearly we outscored them when we went to man-to-man defense, even though there were some mismatches.”
While Martin was still racking up buckets, the adjustment worked wonders from behind the arc, slowing the Hornets’ 3-point shooting to 2-of-4 in the second half. They finished 6-of-10 from deep.
The hot shooting was a bit of an anomaly for John Hay.
“They’re inside pounders, they have height … Normally we’re a go inside team, but today I was happy they showed poise and took the outside shots and knocked them down,” Sanders said.
After a scoreless first half, Brooks broke through in the third quarter, tallying nine points as he became even more aggressive,
while mixing in some nifty passes as well. He finished with 12 points, one rebound, two assists and three steals.
The Patriots continued to gain momentum as the second half played out. The junior tandem of Carter Wright and Jared Bublinec found their rhythm, each knocking down a 3 in the third quarter. Wright finished with 19 points, including four 3s, while Bublinec notched a team-high 21 points, two assists and two steals.
Bublinec admitted the team played angry in the second half.
“It wasn’t as much confidence as it was anger,” Bublinec said. “We didn’t really like getting beat like that in the first quarter, so we came back with some fire, and that is what ended up winning us those quarters.”
After the defensive switch, the Patriots outscored the Hornets in the
last three quarters by seven points total, but it was to no avail.
Wright took away a major lesson from the loss.
“I have got to learn to trust what we work on,” Wright said. “We don’t play much 2-3 zone ever. We have been preaching man-to-man defense since the second we stepped on the court in November. We work half of our practice on that, and I have got to trust where the training has been, and that’s where it was tonight.
“I think we have got a pretty good squad,” Wright said. “We have to put it all together for four quarters, which we played three decent ones tonight. One not so much. But I think we are going to come back out and do that tomorrow.”
The Patriots will face Amherst in the Gossman Insurance Holiday Tournament consolation game on Dec. 29 at 4 p.m.