Minutemen get past Lancers

LAKEVILLE — It was the 1993-94 season when Concord last visited Dale E. Cox Gymnasium on the campus of Laville High School for a basketball game. Concord is now directed by former Laville HS basketball assistant coach Derrick Deshone and he brought his Minutemen team back to Lakeville Saturday with some size and athleticism to challenge the Lancers.

Laville, fresh off a run at its fourth Hoosier North athletic Conference title, was on the back end of a doubleheader weekend. Concord was able to utilize its height, length and a little more quickness to come away with a 54-45 victory over the Lancers.

The duo of Payton Fish and Zaven Koltookian proved tough for the Lancer defense for much of the contest. Fish, the 6-foot-6 senior, along with Koltookian, the 6-foot5 junior, combined for 34 points.

“The strength and size of their interior play was the biggest difference,” said Laville head coach Michael Edison. “We did a pretty good job on their guards out front, but their big men down low were just a little too much for us.”

The Minutemen to an early 8-2 lead, but the Lancers were energized by seniors Bobby Good, Leyton Czarnecki, and Dill to take a 14-11 lead.

“They had pretty good ball pressure, but we had a lot of stretches where we had good looks and just didn’t convert on open shots,” said Laville coach Michael Edison. “That was one of the stretches during the game where we actually knocked in shots and were striking on all cylinders. It did not last as long as I would’ve liked for it to.”

It was Concord’s defense that pushed Laville away from the basket with pressure on the ball, deflections, and just flat being stingy with each LHS possession. Concord came into the contest allowing 49 points per game and was 8-2 when allowing 49 points or less so far this season.

The Minutemen defense forced Laville into a 7-minute, 16-second dry spell that turned that Laville lead into a 21-14 Concord advantage. Ultimately the CHS lead hit 24-16 as Jack D’arcy drilled a 3-point basket as the second quarter buzzer sounded.

“They did not do anything extraordinary, but rather we just did not convert on offense,” Edison said when asked about the dry spell. “It is amazing how knocking shots down makes a team look so much different.”

Fish finished with 10 of his game-high 18 points coming in the first half.

Dill was a spark for the Laville offense hitting several big buckets, including four 3-pointers,

but Concord closed the third quarter with a 41-28 lead.

“We tend to have a better chance if Leyton, Andrew, and Bobby all have fairly good games,” said Edison. “Andrew is a great shooter and it was nice to see him get going a little bit. We will definitely need him going down the stretch in order to make a good tournament run.”

In the final quarter, when Laville would put together any kind of scoring streak, Koltookian was there for an easy basket or offensive put-back. Koltookian finished with 12 of his 16 points in the second half.

One other aspect that Laville was not counting on was a fine 12-point performance by Amarion Moore.

Concord runs much of the same offense that Laville runs so the difference was ultimately execution.

“The conversion on easy baskets was a big key,” said Edison. “Interior play was another, and our execution on offense throughout much of the game was very poor. Leyton did a nice job on D’arcy, containing him and doing his best to keep him from going nuts on us offensively. We just could not contain Koltookian or Fish.”

Laville moves to 12-8 overall and will close the 2020-21 regular season at Dale E. Cox Gymnasium on Tuesday.

Concord evens its record at 9-9 overall and will play Glenn Feb. 23.

Czarnecki had 14 points for LV, while Good added 10 points. Czarnecki snagged five rebounds, while Good and Dill checked in with four boards each.

• CONCORD 58, LAVILLE 42 At Lakeville

Concord 11 24 41 58

Laville 14 16 28 42

CONCORD: Jack D’arcy 4, Andres Dixon 8, Amarion Moore 12, Payton Fish 18, Griffin Swartout 0, Zaven Koltookian 16, Gavin Smith 0. Totals: 25 5-12 58

LAVILLE: Ayden Doyle 0, Ryan James 0, Leyton Czarnecki 14, Bobby Good 10, Andrew Dill 16, Garrett Wagoner 0, Alec Coleman 2. Totals 15 7-8 42

3-point field goals: Concord 3 (D’arcy, Dixon, Fish), Laville 5 (Dill 4, Good).

Total fouls (fouled out): Concord 10 (none), Laville 13 (none)