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Indian Creek holds off Brooke to get to 2-0

WELLSBURG — Indian Creek didn’t exactly stage a free throw shooting clinic during the fourth quarter inside Brooke’s Wellness Center Tuesday.

The Redskins, however, canned just enough to earn a 48-43 victory and spoil the debut of Cam Koehler as Brooke’s coach.

Creek, now 2-0, hoisted 19 foul shots during the final eight minutes, knocking down nine. Joe Dunlevy’s club scored its final six points from the line. Its only field goal during the quarter was a three-ball by Austin Judson.

“I want to compliment both teams on their efforts,” Dunlevy said. “We played hard and Brooke played hard, it was just a nice high school game.

“We made just enough foul shots down the stretch.

“We made them when we needed them the most.”

The Bruins held at 39-36 lead after three and went up 41-37 early in the fourth on a put back by Evan Cuomo, Brooke’s only points from the floor. Two Greg Wade free throws and Judson’s triple put the Redskins ahead to stay with 2:25 left.

Wade would then go one for two from the stripe but Austin Yaich grabbed an offensive rebound. Seconds later, Judson was fouled but misfired on both attempts, Andy Waggoner going up to collect another board for the Redskins. He would make it 45-41 with a free throw make.

Brooke’s Nick Leonard drained both ends of a one and one to pull the hosts closer. Two Judson freebies and another Wade make closed the scoring.

“We’re not the biggest team around but those rebounds — that’s all about heart and effort,” Dunlevy stressed.

Early on, it appeared the teams were heading for a huge point total. Brooke, thanks to seven points by Justin Shelton, led 19-17 after one. The defenses stepped up in the second and the score at the break was 28-28.

In the decisive fourth frame, neither squad could buy a hoop. The Bruins were one of nine and Creek just one for six.

“When they started making a run and chipping away at our lead, our guys seemed to tense up some and began rushing their shots,” Koehler stated. “We began settling for shots we didn’t take in the first three quarters and the rebounds weren’t going our way.

“That’s another thing that comes along with experience. I only have one guy who actually played varsity minutes last season. So I basically have a totally new team that’s inexperienced at the varsity level.”

Creek’s patented defensive pressure also caused Koehler’s crew major issues. Brooke finished with 16 turnovers, six taking place in the fourth.

“It was good to get the first game under our belt, obviously we were hoping it was a W,” the new Brooke boss noted. “I was impressed with the guys’ effort and intensity for most of the game. We made some mistakes on straight possessions and that finally caught up to us at the end.

“Pressure up front in our scrimmages gave us some headaches. We’re getting better with it. Hopefully as the season goes on, we’ll learn from those mistakes, develop some solid guard play and bust that pressure.”

Yaich and Judson had 12 points each to pace Creek, which entertains East Liverpool Friday. Yaich also grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.

For Brooke, which will host the Potters on Saturday, Shelton netted 11. Cuomo, who snared 11 boards, and Leonard evenly divided 16.

“We have scored 48 and 48 and we’re 2-0,” Dunlevy commented. “That’s because of the way we play defense. Our kids have always had big hearts and you have to have big hearts to play defenses and that’s what they did. Nothing was going in, nothing was going right, but we played great at the defensive end.

“We play nine guys and we got contributions tonight from all play. I’m happy that we have depth.”

Indian Creek 48, Brooke 43

Creek      17  11  8 12–48

Brooke     19   9 11 4–43

INDIAN CREEK (2-0): Wade 1 5-9 8; Norris 0 0-0 0; Freshwater 0 1-2 1; Eakle 1 3-3 5; Yaich 5 0-0 12; Judson 4 2-4 12; Crawford 0 1-2 1; Pugh 1 0-0 2; Waggoner 0 7-12 7. TOTALS: 12 19-32 48. 3-pointers: Yaich 2; Judson 2; Wade; Rebounds: 26 (Yaich 9); Turnovers: 11.

BROOKE (0-1): Shelton 4 2-3 11; Yachini 2 2-5 6; Cuomo 4 0-0 8; Spitak 0 0-0 0; Leonard 2 3-4 8; Pennybacker 1 2-2 4; Tirabassi 0 0-0 0; Pauls 0 0-0 0; Georgy 2 0-0 6. TOTALS: 15 9-14 43. 3-pointers: Georgy 2; Shelton; Leonard; Rebounds: 23 (Cuomo 11); Turnovers: 16.

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