Linsly tops Harrison Central in Buckeye 8 Challenge finale
CADIZ -- The Linsly Cadets triumphed in the nightcap of Saturday's Buckeye 8 Challenge against the hosting Harrison Central Huskies, 77-44, in a two-way effort spearheaded by senior point guard Will Taylor.
Taylor, named the game's MVP, scored 24 points while shooting 9/12 on the day and nabbed five steals on defense. He added two rebounds and three assists.
"I know everybody's going to look at the 24 points, but he's really matured into a really solid point guard," Linsly head coach Dave Wojcik said. "I'm asking him to guard their best player on defense too. He does a heck of a job of getting over ball screens, pressuring the ball.
"He's just doing a really good job on both ends of the court, maybe even more so on defense than offense. He's shooting the pull-up a lot better, he's shooting the 3 better and he's worked on that over the summer and it's paying dividends."
Linsly was putting pressure on the Huskies from the opening tip, applying a full-court press and stepping out all the way to the logo to pressure ballhandlers in the halfcourt. While that style did lead to some fouls, it also kept Harrison Central off-balance and limited their offense.
"Our mindset was just to be aggressive, try to wear them down and get after them early," Wojcik said. "Pressure the ball and make them make plays under duress and I thought our kids did a good job of that the start of the game."
Mykel Quito scored seven points in the first quarter for the Huskies, but Harrison scored nine points as a team and Linsly built a 19-9 lead going into quarter No. 2.
A Taylor 3-pointer put the Cadets ahead 29-14 partway through the second, but the Huskies got back into the game by tightening up their possessions, while Linsly's own play became a bit looser. Quito handled a pass off a sharp cut to the basket for a lay-in at the 3:00 mark which put the lead back to 10, 31-21, the closest Harrison had gotten since the start of the quarter.
The Cadets led 35-23 at halftime.
D'arrae Goodwin scored 11 of his 13 in the first half, making shots from every area of the court. The senior made three shots from the interior- including a poster dunk in the fourth quarter- two long-2's and one 3-pointer in the game.
Goodwin also grabbed six rebounds, tied for the game-high, with four steals and a block.
The Huskies got it within single digits a minute into the third quarter, 35-27, but it was all Linsly from there. Taylor, Luka Kecman and Jonah Vaysbakh each hit 3-pointers in the third quarter as the Cadets clamped down on defense and doubled their lead to 20 points going into the fourth, where the deficit only grew.
"I thought we were a little bit more efficient with our passing, sharing the ball," Wojcik said of his team's second half. "We've got some depth, so I thought our depth gave us a lift in the second half, we didn't get that in the first half. They came back in the second half, made some shots, made some plays."
Uros Petrusic scored eight points for Linsly while Luka Kecman added seven. Petrusic and Naseef Lubowa each threw down a pair of dunks Saturday.
Jonah Vaysbakh dished a game-high five assists for the Cadets.
For Harrison Central, Quito scored 16 points while Hayden Cassidy scored 15.
Linsly next plays Fairland on Dec. 21 at Ironton High School. Harrison Central travels to face Union Local on Dec. 19.