ELKHART – It was another masterful performance by Plymouth’s Pilgrims on the road in taking a 61-40 NLC win over Elkhart Memorial.
The Pilgrims jumped out to an early lead but as the Chargers chipped away in the first quarter the Pilgrims got a lift from the bench.
“Our player of the game in my mind was Brayden Davidson,” said Plymouh head coach Ryan Bales. “The fact he was willing to step in and take charges really got our team going. It really woke us up. Obviously his shooting and the fact he can hit three’s. There’s no doubt he’d be one of our zone busters. I thought we needed some shooters out there and he’s obviously one of our best.”
Davidson hit a pair of crucial threes and more importantly stopped Elkhart Memorial cold by stepping in front of driving Chargers to pick up the offensive foul and the turnover.
It was another night of solid play on both ends of the floor for Plymouth.
“I thought we had great execution tonight once we got the ball into the elbow and get it into the paint,” said Bales. “There were some possessions where we were definitely tentative. Some of that was them and the way they play you so you have to give them credit but we had some guys ready to play tonight.”
In particular a veteran guard who is having an outstanding season.
“I told Jack (Barron) I had a lot of respect for him at halftime,” said Bales. “He could have given Elkhart Memorial two easy layups. We’ve been stressing not to give up any easy layups. He gave himself up for two fouls and then he’s got to come over to the bench, but the fact he was willing to give himself up to not let them get that shot off – those are things we’re looking for out of our upper classmen.”
There were some notes for practice though on the defensive end.
“I got a little frustrated at the end there because A.J Gary is so fast,” said Bales. “We’ve been working really hard on our one on one defense and early contact is the key. If they get to the paint and we don’t have a body on them yet it’s not going to be good for our defense. When we do it right it also opens up our rebounding. It’s funny how that goes together.”
“It’s just a good team win tonight.”
Plymouth moves to 8-3 on the year 1-1 in conference play and will be in action tonight at Tippecanoe Valley.
Score by Quarters
Plymouth 16 31 49 61
Elk. Mem. 10 16 27 40
Plymouth (61) – Neidlinger 0 0-0 0, Barron 1 2-2 4, Eveland 2 0-0 6, Carmichael 2 0-0 4, Felke 4 0-0 10, Pavey 0 0-0 0, Anders 9 0-0 18, Friar 3 2-2 8, Davidson 3 1-1 9, Tharp 1 0-0 2, Irwin 0 0-0 0. Totals 25 5-5 61.
Elkhart Memorial (40) – Long 1 0-0 2, Swartz 0 2-4 2, Grose 1 0-1 2, H. Smith 5 3-4 15, Gary 4 2-3 11, Sellers 0 0-0 0, Smith 1 0-0 2, Bailey 1 0-0 2, O’Toole 1 0-0 2, N. Grose 1 0-0 2. Totals 15 7-12 40.
3 Pt. FG – Plymouth 6-13 (Eveland, Felke, Davidson 2), EM 3-13 (H. Smith 2).
Rebounds – Plymouth 28 (Anders 6), EM 18 (Gary 5).
Assists – Plymouth 11 (Felke 5), EM 2 (B. Grose, H. Smith).
Steals – Plymouth 2 (Anders, Davidson), EM 7 (J. Smith, N. Grose 2).
Turnovers – Plymouth 14, EM 10.
Fouls (Fouled Out) – Plymouth 18, EM 7.
