Dock, Faith enjoying an early surge
Practice and preparation key in Pioneers’ seven-game win streak
Dock has won seven games in a row, and a key to that win streak is a passion for preparation.
“This team really practices well,” Pioneers coach Mike Fergus said Wednesday night, shortly after his team was impressive in a 75-43 win over Phil-Mont Christian Academy. “That’s the thing. Behind the scenes, these guys work at practice and they take what we do at practice into the game.
“I see moves that are being made by the guys and it’s not accidental — they work at it in practice and then they apply it to the game. That’s one of the reasons that this team has played so well.”
Dock (7-1) was simply dominant in its latest victory, running out to a 21-1 lead over the rival Falcons and getting double-digit points from five different players.
Balance and ball movement have been constants this year for Dock — 75 percent of their baskets have been assisted.
“They’re really unselfish,” Fergus said. “We pass the ball a lot and get a lot of assists every game.”
Miz Nyagwegwe racked up 21 points and led a defense that not only stopped Phil-Mont early but consistently took the ball away. Jackson Scialanca nailed four threes and finished with 16 points; Darius Ellis had a solid game inside with strong rebounding and 10 points; and Caleb Pfleiger gave Dock early confidence from the outside, hitting two firstquarter threes and finishing with 12 points.
Nolan Bolton continues to be a versatile weapon, in rebounds, assists, and as a defender that can take on anyone from a speedy point guard to a towering center or power forward.
It was Bolton’s job to guard Phil-Mont’s Lyle Tipton, a dangerous scorer, and Bolton limited
him to three points in the first half.
“A kid like him, he kind of epitomizes the way our kids play,” Fergus said of Bolton.
Dock looks to keep it going this weekend when it hosts the BAL Classic. Phil-Mont takes on Calvary Baptist at 4 p.m. and Dock will play Holy Ghost 7:30 Saturday night.
Faith’s defense puts on the squeeze
Faith Christian rolled to an 8-1 mark with its 8038 victory over Calvary Christian, thanks in part to a defense that is not letting opposing offenses get comfortable.
“Ball pressure will cause you to make mistakes and nobody notices it,” coach Tony DaCosta said after his team turned several takeaways into points Tuesday night. “It’s when you don’t have ball pressure that guys get open.
“I thought the guys did an excellent job with their intensity, making sure we come out the first three minutes of each quarter focused and ready to play.”
Faith will also be in action at the BAL Classic, taking on Plumstead Christian Friday night at 6:30. right here, selling for five, six times face value?” Khan said. “Our cheapest ticket is 300 bucks, standing room. Could you believe that happening in freaking Jacksonville?”
Kansas City, New Orleans and the Los Angeles Rams have only one title apiece, though the latter’s came during their two-decade-long stint in St. Louis. The Chiefs reached two of the first four Super Bowls, winning it all in 1970, but they haven’t been back since. The Saints won their lone Super Bowl appearance during the 2009 season.
“Once you get in, it’s wide open for anybody,” insisted Tennessee linebacker Brian Orakpo, a nine-year veteran who will play his first playoff game Saturday against the Chiefs. “Yeah, the Patriots and Steelers have a lot of pedigree, a lot of tradition, and you’ve got some young up-and-comers like ourselves that are hungry.”
Since the NFL went to a 12-team postseason format in 1990, the largest group of playoff teams without a Super Bowl title on their resume came 18 seasons ago. Kurt Warner and the highflying Rams were among eight squads that had never won the championship until they held off Tennessee in the title game, memorably stopping the Titans’ final play at the 1-yard line.
The only other times that the current playoff structure included as many as seven non-Super Bowl-winning teams were 2008 and 1996.
When it comes to postseason neophytes, the Bills are drawing much of the attention after reaching the playoffs for the first time since 1999 , snapping the longest dry spell in any of the four major professional sports. But Buffalo it still known for that unprecedented four-year run of futility in the Super Bowl, which began in 1991 with Scott Norwood missing a potential game-winning field goal in the final seconds and was followed by three straight double-digit blowouts.
“It’s time to create some other memories of the Bills,” Thurman Thomas, the Hall of Fame running back on those Super Bowllosing teams, told The Associated Press. “It’s not the squad that went to the four straight Super Bowls. It’s somebody else.”
The Vikings were the first franchise to lose four Super Bowls, accomplishing that ignominious feat in an eight-year span that ended in 1976. They haven’t gotten that far again, losing five times in the NFC championship game, most recently during the 2000 season.
Coach Mike Zimmer said it’s important to take advantage of a season such as this, when the Vikings defied expectations by claiming a first-round bye behind a dominant defense journeyman quarterback Case Keenum .
“A lot of young guys come in and they expect it’s going to happen every single year,” Zimmer said. “Really, you never know. The last time I won the Super Bowl was 1995 (as a Dallas assistant coach), so it’s been awhile.”
Receiver Adam Thielen isn’t fretting over all those Super Bowls the Vikings lost so many years ago.
He’s only concerned with the next one, which will be held at Minnesota’s home stadium.
“We’re not really focusing on what’s happened in the past,” Thielen said. “Every year is a totally different situation: different team, different types of players. Honestly, for us, we just know that we have a lot of confidence in the way that we’re playing football.”