Singleton cousins spark huge second half to pace Meadowbrook over Steubenville
STEUBENVILLE -- The Steubenville boys basketball team held its own and was ahead by one at halftime during Tuesday's contest against powerhouse Meadowbrook, a squad who reached the regional tournament last season.
The Colts did not adjust much at the break. They simply started hitting their shots, kept their defensive pressure up and ran away with a 72-53 victory as part of the Watt/Nese Holiday Basketball Classic.
"I don't think it was so much what they did. It's what we didn't do," Big Red head coach Mike Haney said. "We had the ball coming out of halftime and thew it away. Once we did that, they scored and went on a little run. They were making shots, and we didn't respond."
Meadowbrook (6-1) began pulling away midway through the third quarter. Steubenville (3-3) grabbed some momentum as the quarter wound down, but a half court 3-pointer from Jake Singleton with no time left took the wind out of its sails.
Big Red missed a corner 3 with seconds remaining. Singleton then hit that shot for a 54-44 advantage. What could have been a four-point deficit turned into a double-digit disadvantage.
"We got more consistent at making shots. I don't know what we shot in the second half, but we were getting our shots and making them," Meadowbrook head coach Lou Tolzda said. "We missed a lot of layups in the first half. I can't doubt our effort -- we were just missing them.
"Steubenville will make you do that. We were really concerned watching them on film. They just go after the ball. They're athletes and will win a lot of games."
Steubenville also had no answer for the Singleton cousins, combining for 45 points and 14 rebounds. Jake Singleton, who was named the game's MVP, had game-highs with 26 points (18 in the second half) and nine rebounds, along with three assists. Davis Singleton, who started at forward but moved to point guard in the second half, produced 19 points (10 during the final two quarters), five boards and two dimes.
"We knew those were their two scorers we had to limit," Haney said. "You can let one guy score but not both. We only had one guy in double figures, and they had two. Davis beat us to the bucket, which shouldn't have happened."
Another factor came at the charity stripe. Meadowbrook was 18 of 33 from the foul line, while Big Red was 7 of 10.
"Our defense played really well. We really didn't do anything different (in the second half). We were worried about handling the press and rebounding," Tolzda said. "We watched (Big Red) against St. Clairsville, and I thought they hit the boards as hard as anybody I've ever seen."
The Colts grabbed 28 rebounds overall, one more than Steubenville.
Zion Sawyer led Big Red with 17 points, three rebounds and three assists. Phaeton Hill contributed eight points. Quinn McCoy nearly had a double-double with seven points (all in the first half) and eight boards.
TOURNAMENT UPDATE
The boys basketball contest between Bellaire and Catholic Central at 4 p.m. today has been canceled due to COVID-related issues within the Crusaders. They, along with Indian Creek (the two played against one another on Saturday), are quarantined for the next two weeks.
UP NEXT
Meadowbrook: Tentatively travels to River View next Tuesday.
Steubenville: Tentatively concludes the tournament at 7:30 p.m. today against East Liverpool.
"You want to come back as quick as possible to get another game. We have to lick our wounds (Tuesday) and come back ready for (today)," Haney said.
Meadowbrook 72, Steubenville 53
Meadowbrook 13 16 25 18 -- 72
Steubenville 12 18 14 9 -- 53
MEADOWBROOK (6-1): Webster 0 2-3 2; Todd 4 0-4 10; McCall 1 2-3 4; J. Singleton 8 8-9 26; D. Singleton 8 2-5 19; Lacey 1 0-3 2; Team 2 4-6 9. TOTALS: 24, 18-33: 72.
STEUBENVILLE (3-3): Kernahan 0 0-0 0; Sawyer 5 5-5 17; Gresko 2 0-0 4; Hill 3 0-2 8; McCoy 3 1-2 7; Zimmerman 3 0-0 6; Buggs 0 0-0 0; Jones 2 1-1 5; Rook 0 0-0 0; Jackson 0 0-0 0; Thompson 1 0-0 2; Drakes 0 0-0 0; Feaster 0 0-0 0; Hopkins 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 21, 7-10: 53.
3-POINT GOALS: Meadowbrook 6 (Todd 2, J. Singleton 2, D. Singleton, Team 1); Steubenville 4 (Sawyer 2, Hill 2). REBOUNDS: Meadowbrook 28 (J. Singleton 9); Steubenville 27 (McCoy 8). ASSISTS: Meadowbrook 13 (J. Singleton 3); Steubenville 14 (Gresko 4). TURNOVERS: Meadowbrook 11; Steubenville 16.