PLYMOUTH – It wasn’t a thing of beauty but it was win for Plymouth’s Pilgrims as they got past New Prairie in their home opener by a 57-36 score.

 

“U-G-L-Y that spells ugly but you have to give (New Prairie coach) Derrick (Deshone) credit you can see the signs of the program he’s trying to build there,” said Plymouth head coach Ryan Bales of the opening night win. “His demeanor on the sideline and how his kids played and competed. New Prairie kids are traditionally very hard nosed kids. I’m sure that’s going to be a great fit for him.”

 

While it may not have been the way the Pilgrims drew it up there were things that come away a positive in the victory.

 

It was not very pretty at times but tied at 25 all we go on a huge run,” said Bales. “We have some guys step up and make some great plays for us and the timely scoring that Jack Barron brought to us was much needed, It’s probably the quarterback in him. He’s the ringleader and tonight he brought a little more energy for us whether things were going good or bad and we need that.

 

A big man off the bench also gave Bales a reason to smile.

 

“Garret Tharp led us with rebounds and I thought he gave us some great minutes,” said Bales. “For a big man he moves really well. He does a great job on the boards and he’s starting to figure out the defense which is really good. He’s made some great strides from last season and a lot of that is him putting time in and getting better.”

 

“Matt Friar came on when Josh (Anders) had that ankle and was part of that big run. We went to some other guys in that last quarter and we were able to put them away a little better than we did earlier this week which is good for us.”

 

Barron led all scorers with 15. Nick Felke had an outstanding game with 13, five streals and three rebounds.

 

“There’s a thousand things we need to get better at,” said Bales. “A lot of that tonight was New Prairie they were able to get some shots at the perimeter. There were times when we were able to play very solid defensively but we weren’t able to finish with a good rebound which is very disappointing. I would say defense and rebounding are things we continue to need to get better on. The second half we started to get stops the offense is a lot easier.”

 

Plymouth is now 2-0 on the year and travel to Triton on Tuesday.

 

Score by Quarters

New Prairie 9 17 29 36

Plymouth 14 25 40 57

 

New Prairie (36) – Kody Webb 0 0-0 0, Dylan Kegley 0 0-0 0, Justin Baltes 4 0-0 12, Garrett Ruiz 3 0-3 8, Bryce Bloode 1 0-0 2, Michael Forrester 2 0-0 5, Aidan Cotter 0 0-0 0, Tynam Williams 2 5-6 9. Totals 12 5-9 36.

 

Plymouth (57) – Trevor Neidlinger 0 2-3 2, Jack Barron 5 2-2 15, Cam Eveland 0 2-2 2, Ryan Carmichael 1 0-0 2, Nick Felke 6 0-0 13, Kadin McCrammer 1 0-0 2, Josh Anders 5 1-2 11, Matt Friar 2 2-2 6, Garrett Tharp 1 2-4 4. Totals 21 11-16 57.

 

3 Pt. FG – New Prairie 7-27 (Baltes 4), Plymouth 4-10 (Barron 3).

Rebounds – New Prairie 24 (Williams 7), Plymouth 22 (Tharp 7)

Assists – New Prairie 9 (Webb 5), Plymouth 12 (Eveland 7).

Steals – New Prairie 4 (Webb 2), Plymouth 14 (Felke 5).

Fouls (Fouled Out) – New Prairie 16, Plymouth 14.