Huskies claw Bruins, 59-41
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WELLSBURG -- Harrison Central boys basketball head coach Justin Clifford borrowed a play from the Jim Boeheim playbook and switched to a 2-3 defense against Brooke, and it made all the difference.
The Bruins shot the ball well early on, and the game was tied in the second quarter before the Huskies pulled away in the second half, en route to a 59-41 victory Monday night inside the Brooke Wellness Center.
"We started in man, but we could not guard anyone," Clifford said. "I don't know if we were feeling sorry for ourselves or if it was because it is the holidays, but we did not come out with a lot of energy. They put us back on our heels. They were running good offense."
The score was tied at 22 in the second, but Harrison Central (5-2) went on a little spurt to the end the half, as it took a 31-26 lead into the locker room.
The Huskies went on to out-score the Bruins, 28-15, in the second half, including 15-5 in the fourth.
"I saw them play the other night," Brooke (0-4) head coach Mel Coleman said. "We knew they were going to press us. We knew they were going to go zone. They went to a 2-3 zone and to a 1-3-1 zone. We have seen them before. We just didn't execute. That's basketball."
Coleman has met and discussed basketball with Boeheim.
"Jim Boeheim told me how to beat the 2-3 zone -- you have to move the ball, move the ball, move the ball," he said. "You cannot hold the ball. We were holding the ball. I told them that we are not taking pictures today. A human can not catch up to the ball if you move it. If you hold it against the zone, players are able to regroup and catch up.
"You have to move the ball. You want to get the ball into the high post, turn around and make shots. We made some shots, but we did not make enough shots."
Four players scored in the game for Harrison Central led by standout Kobe Mitchell. For the Huskies, it was just another case of Mitchell being Mitchell.
"Kobe makes a shoot, and you look up and he has 30," Clifford said. "I don't like to say it, but we expect that to happen every night."
Jon Vermillion tallied 19 points to help the Harrison Central cause.
"Jon Vermillion gave us a boost," Clifford said. "He played with energy. He got loose balls. He got rebounds. We got beat the other night in the Buckeye 8 challenge. We lost to a good team, but he has come a long way in the last two games."
Alex Isinghood and Andrew Coursin each collected double digits in points for Brooke. Isinghood delivered a team-high 12, while Coursin contributed 10.
The Bruins made five 3-pointers in the loss, while the Huskies made two, both by Mitchell.
Brooke hit two 3-pointers in the first quarter, as the hosts took a 14-12 lead into the second quarter.
The Bruins also nailed two 3s in the second, but the visitors were able to gain a little bit of breathing room late in the quarter. Mitchell buried a 3 at the buzzer to give his team a five-point advantage at halftime.
"They do what they do, and we do what we do," Clifford said. "They made shots. We adjusted and went to zone. We made an adjustment. I told them that it is not always going to work out how you draw it up. Sometimes, you are going to have to make adjustments."
Mitchell tallied 15 points in the first half.
The Huskies added to their lead in the third quarter. Harrison Central pushed the lead out a little bit, but Brooke battled back and kept the score close. After out-scoring Brooke, 19-10, in the second quarter, the victors outscored Brooke, 13-10, in the third to take a 44-34 lead into the fourth.
Harrison Central pulled away in the fourth, en route to securing the double-digit victory.
"They hit shots," Coleman said. "They hit a lot of key shots. We missed a lot of key shots, and we could not recover. We were not able to score enough in the second half. I don't know how many points we had in the second half, but we did not have too many in the second half.
"They changd their defense. They went to a 1-3-1. It should not have been a problem. We just didn't move the basketball. We did not score. Basketball is a game where you have to be persistent. You can not have one good half and then have one bad half. Basketball games are 32 minutes long. You can not have a good first half and then disappear in the second half. We lacked execution, and fouls did not help us either."
GAME NOTE
The Bruins won the JV game, 50-39. Nate Taylor tallied a game-high 22 points to lead Brooke, while Joenus Jones netted a team-high 14 points for Harrison Central.
UP NEXT
Both teams are scheduled to return to the floor Friday in holiday tournament action. Harrison Central is slated to play Marietta at 7:45 p.m. down at Marietta College. Meanwhile, Brooke is scheduled to face Buckhannon-Upshur at 8 p.m. in the Brooke Holiday Tournament.
Harrison Central 59, Brooke 41
Harrison Central 12 19 13 15 -- 59
Brooke 14 10 10 5 -- 41
HARRISON CENTRAL (5-2): Mitchell 11 6-7 30; Capers 1 0-0 2; Mazeroski 0 0-0 0; McAfee 0 0-0 0; Vermillion 8 3-5 19; Santille 4 0-0 8. TOTALS: 24, 9-12: 59
BROOKE (0-4): Anderson 1 0-0 3; Brown 0 0-0 0; Buchmelter 2 0-0 6; Isinghood 5 2-2 12; Sperlazza 0 0-0 0; Lilly 2 1-2 5; Silver 2 0-0 5; Coursin 4 1-1 10. TOTALS: 16, 4-5: 41.
3-POINT GOALS: Harrison Central 2 (Mitchell 2); Brooke 5 (Buchmelter 2; Anderson; Silver, Coursin).