PLYMOUTH – It was another overpowering performance as Plymouth’s Pilgrims stayed unbeaten with a decisive 68-35 win over Knox at home.
It was the fifth win in a row for the Pilgrims that gave little for head coach Ryan Bales to be disappointed with.
“We got a little lackadaisical in the first half – had a couple of bad possessions on the defensive end,” said Bales. “Obviously night and day in the second half, and that was found in the rebounding numbers we were down one or two at halftime and ended up six.”
“They came out and they played hard, (Kooper Broeker) is going to be a great player. You can see what coach Krueger is trying to build there. They played to the final buzzer.”
The Pilgrims did end the night with a 25-19 rebounding edge a number that was a point of emphasis.
“I was glad to be see us be a little more aggressive tonight,” he said. “The other thing was the rebounding. We came in with 24 offensive rebounds, our opponents had 34 and we have to clean that number up a little bit.”
Another emphasis was defense in the post and while the intensity level was higher there was still room for improvement. Broeker – Knox’s oustanding sophomore – ended the night leading all scorers with 20 and added five rebounds.
“We talk about trying to build a great team defense,” said Bales. “We never want to take steps backward. Tonight we made an emphasis of trying to fronting the post and do a better job on the boards. We aren’t there yet. Offensively I’ve got no complaints we shot the ball well again tonight. We have a lot of guys that can play offense. We have a lot of guys that can make plays.”
The Pilgrims did spread it around with 10 players finding points for the night. Nick Felke and Josh Anders led the team with 13 each. Anders added six rebounds, and Cam Eveland and Jack Barron had outstanding floor games. Eveland had six assists, four steals and four rebounds. Barron followed his nine assist night against Rochester with four more to go with four rebounds.
Barron had eight points, Eveland added six.
“We’re looking for the right mind set,” said Bales. “For 32 minutes were looking for guys who are going to come out here and play extremely hard and play with a lot of energy and a lot of times whether your a good team or a great team are decided by those little things.”
Plymouth moves to 5-0 on the season while Knox is 2-3.
Score by Quarters
Knox 9 23 28 39
Plymouth 19 41 53 68
Knox (39) – Cade Krueger 1 0-0 2, Camden Krueger 1 0-0 2, Eian Coad 2 0-0 4, Arron Fletcher 0 0-1 0, Kooper Broeker 8 3-3 20, Brad LaRowe 4 0-1 8, Jonathan Tolson 1 0-1 2. Totals 17 4-6 39.
Plymouth (68) – Trevor Neidlinger 1 0-0 2, Jack Barron 3 1-1 8, Cam Eveland 3 0-0 6, Ryan Carmichael 2 0-0 6, Ryan Carmichael 2 0-0 6, Nick Felke 5 0-0 13, Travis Owen 0 0-0 0, Dylan Pavey 1 0-0 2, Josh Anders 5 3-6 13, Matt Friar 4 0-0 9, Braydon Davidson 1 0-0 3, Garrett Tharp 2 3-4 7, Ty Irwin 0 0-0 0. Totals 27 9-11 68.
Rebounds – Knox 19 (LaRowe 6), Plymouth 25 (Anders 6).
Assists – Knox 6 (Krueger, Coad 2), Plymouth 15 (Eveland 6).
Steals – Knox 2 (Coad 2), Plymouth 12 (Eveland 4).
Fouls (Fouled Out) – Knox 8, Plymouth 14
