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01-03-2009, 12:14 PM
After his team tallied just nine first-half points, Holy Cross boys' basketball coach Erik Goetz's locker-room message to his players was simple.
We've got them just where we want them.
The Indians, unranked in last week's Enquirer Northern Kentucky coaches' poll, used a deliberate offense and pesky defense to beat No. 3 Ryle 38-36 Friday night at Holy Cross.
Both teams struggled to score through the first two quarters. Leading 7-6 with 1:10 remaining in the first half, Holy Cross ran its offense in search of the final shot. With time winding down, Keith Egan made a jump hook from the block to give the Indians a Naismith-esque 9-6 halftime lead.
"That was huge," Goetz said. "... When we went into the locker room (winning) 9-6, Ryle's thinking, 'What the heck's going on?' Our guys are thinking it's another Friday night at the gym. We're accustomed to this."
Compared to the first 16 minutes, the second half featured prolific offense. Really, neither team could avoid improving.
Holy Cross was 4-of-16 from the field and didn't go to the foul line. Ryle was 2-of-17 from the floor in the first half and 1-of-7 from the free-throw line.
"We struggled the whole first half," Ryle coach Alan Mullins said. "We couldn't get the ball to drop. ... It's extremely frustrating, because we have a team that can shoot the ball."
Ryle spent much of the first half trying to exploit its size advantage by feeding the ball to 6-foot-7 center Tate Nichols. But the Indians, who don't have a player taller than 6-2, double-teamed Nichols every time he touched the ball and limited him to four points.
In the second half, the Raiders went away from the post game and came out of their zone defense. It allowed Holy Cross to go on a 9-4 run to start the second half and take control of the game.
"The only way we can win that game is get the lead and make those big bodies come out and chase our little guys," Goetz said. "... They have to think about at some point if they're willing to play a 9-6 game."
Holy Cross took a 13-point lead, its biggest of the game, early in the fourth quarter on a Brian Volpenhein layup. Ryle cut the lead to three points late, but Holy Cross made six of eight free throws down the stretch to preserve the victory.
The Indians are averaging just 50 points a game. The victory came on the heels of a 40-34 win over Oldham County.
The low-scoring style is a contrast from last season, when current NKU player Corey Sorrell led the area in scoring and helped the Indians score 61 points a game.
"Last year our offense was run-and-go with Corey," said Holy Cross senior guard Shina Giwa, who led all scorers with 18 points. "We don't have that go-to guy this year, so we have to take our time and break down the defense."
Goetz said Friday night's game gave the Indians a blueprint of how to win games in the 2008-09 season.
"If we play enough of them, we hope to get better at that style and pull out close games in the end," he said.
"... This is big for us because everybody's saying about how good Ryle is, and they are. I haven't heard anyone say that about Holy Cross. All I hear people say is, 'How come you guys can't score more than 40 points?' Come watch us play and maybe you'll figure it out."
Ryle (8-3) - Ahern 1 0 3, Butts 1 0 3, McLeish 4 0 10, Russell 2 1 5, Coleman 3 0 8, Stauffer 1 1 3, Nichols 2 0 4. Totals 14 2 36.
Holy Cross (9-4) - Volpenhein 1 0 2, Egan 1 1 3, Eastin 0 3 3, Sullivan 3 0 6, Trimpe 2 0 6, Giwa 6 5 18. Totals 13 9 38.
Ryle 3 3 9 21 -36
Holy Cross 4 5 14 15 -38
3 pointers: R 6 (Ahern, Butts, McLeish 2, Coleman 2); HC 3 (Trimpe 2, Giwa)
http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll...901030410/
We've got them just where we want them.
The Indians, unranked in last week's Enquirer Northern Kentucky coaches' poll, used a deliberate offense and pesky defense to beat No. 3 Ryle 38-36 Friday night at Holy Cross.
Both teams struggled to score through the first two quarters. Leading 7-6 with 1:10 remaining in the first half, Holy Cross ran its offense in search of the final shot. With time winding down, Keith Egan made a jump hook from the block to give the Indians a Naismith-esque 9-6 halftime lead.
"That was huge," Goetz said. "... When we went into the locker room (winning) 9-6, Ryle's thinking, 'What the heck's going on?' Our guys are thinking it's another Friday night at the gym. We're accustomed to this."
Compared to the first 16 minutes, the second half featured prolific offense. Really, neither team could avoid improving.
Holy Cross was 4-of-16 from the field and didn't go to the foul line. Ryle was 2-of-17 from the floor in the first half and 1-of-7 from the free-throw line.
"We struggled the whole first half," Ryle coach Alan Mullins said. "We couldn't get the ball to drop. ... It's extremely frustrating, because we have a team that can shoot the ball."
Ryle spent much of the first half trying to exploit its size advantage by feeding the ball to 6-foot-7 center Tate Nichols. But the Indians, who don't have a player taller than 6-2, double-teamed Nichols every time he touched the ball and limited him to four points.
In the second half, the Raiders went away from the post game and came out of their zone defense. It allowed Holy Cross to go on a 9-4 run to start the second half and take control of the game.
"The only way we can win that game is get the lead and make those big bodies come out and chase our little guys," Goetz said. "... They have to think about at some point if they're willing to play a 9-6 game."
Holy Cross took a 13-point lead, its biggest of the game, early in the fourth quarter on a Brian Volpenhein layup. Ryle cut the lead to three points late, but Holy Cross made six of eight free throws down the stretch to preserve the victory.
The Indians are averaging just 50 points a game. The victory came on the heels of a 40-34 win over Oldham County.
The low-scoring style is a contrast from last season, when current NKU player Corey Sorrell led the area in scoring and helped the Indians score 61 points a game.
"Last year our offense was run-and-go with Corey," said Holy Cross senior guard Shina Giwa, who led all scorers with 18 points. "We don't have that go-to guy this year, so we have to take our time and break down the defense."
Goetz said Friday night's game gave the Indians a blueprint of how to win games in the 2008-09 season.
"If we play enough of them, we hope to get better at that style and pull out close games in the end," he said.
"... This is big for us because everybody's saying about how good Ryle is, and they are. I haven't heard anyone say that about Holy Cross. All I hear people say is, 'How come you guys can't score more than 40 points?' Come watch us play and maybe you'll figure it out."
Ryle (8-3) - Ahern 1 0 3, Butts 1 0 3, McLeish 4 0 10, Russell 2 1 5, Coleman 3 0 8, Stauffer 1 1 3, Nichols 2 0 4. Totals 14 2 36.
Holy Cross (9-4) - Volpenhein 1 0 2, Egan 1 1 3, Eastin 0 3 3, Sullivan 3 0 6, Trimpe 2 0 6, Giwa 6 5 18. Totals 13 9 38.
Ryle 3 3 9 21 -36
Holy Cross 4 5 14 15 -38
3 pointers: R 6 (Ahern, Butts, McLeish 2, Coleman 2); HC 3 (Trimpe 2, Giwa)
http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll...901030410/
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01-03-2009, 09:43 PM
Very nice win for Holy Cross... congrats!
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