PLYMOUTH – It was the tale of two halves as Plymouth’s Pilgrims returned home looking to get back in the win column and did just that as they took an NLC win over Wawasee by a 62-42 final.

 

While the Pilgrims had a nine point lead at the break it was the Warriors that went in to the locker room feeling good about themselves. Plymouth took that away quickly in the second half. The Pilgrims force 11 second half turnovers and made Wawasee pay for nearly every one.

 

“Our assistant coaches – Coach (Carl) Davis made a great call,” said Plymouth head coach Ryan Bales. “It was just a little thing about being in the right position on the defensive end I think a big reason why we are getting beat on the defensive boards is we’re getting out of position defensively so we’re scrambling a little bit.

 

“We made a point of emphasis being up the lane and it seemed to make a huge difference in the second half and the other part is post defense. I thought we competed a lot better there in the second half. Jack Barron was guarding the post and Matt Friar goes down and digs. That’s something we talked about at halftime. They were 0-4 from three in the first half, we weren’t forcing them to kick it back out. I have to give our assistant coaches credit and our players listened. It led to a big second half for us.”

 

While defense was adjusted the offense needed very little tweeking as the Pilgrims were able to put together solid possessions nearly every time down the floor.

 

“I thought we had outstanding offense in the second half,” said Bales. “Cam Eveland was very aggressive, really got us going in the second half. Nick (Felke) had a really great floor game and Josh (Anders) had 16 (points) and 10 (rebounds) again he has a big night.”

 

Bales had high praise for Eveland who continues to a key part of the Plymouth attack.

 

“We constantly preach you play like you practice, he had a great week,” said Bales. “He really stepped up and made some plays it was really great to see him have the kind of game he had tonight.”

 

There was also some solid play from the bench as Garrett Tharp had a solid game and Ryan Carmicheal continued to develop confidence.

 

“Ryan Carmichael played better tonight came off the bench and gave us great minutes,” said Bales. “He got a couple of steals being in the right spot defensively at the end – I’m proud of our whole group everybody stepped up especially in the second half.”

 

Plymouth is now 11-4 and is at home next weekend against Northridge and Mishawaka. Wawasee is 1-11.

 

Score by Quarters

Wawasee 11 23 33 42

Plymouth 20 32 48 62

Wawasee (42) – Wegener 1 0-0 2, Miller 0 0-0 0, Smith 2 5-7 9, Boyer 0 2-2 2, Hand 1 0-0 2, Boatwright 5 1-3 11, Hatfield 1 0-0 2, Coleman 0 0-0 0, Rookstool 4 0-0 8, Pearish 3 0-0 6. Totals 17 8-12 42.

 

Plymouth (62) – Neidlinger 0 0-0 0, Barron 0 2-2 2, Eveland 5 1-1 11, Carmichael 2 0-0 0, Felke 9 3-5 22, Anders 7 2-3 16, Friar 2 0-0 4, Tharp 1 0-0 2. Totals 26 8-11 62.

 

3 Pt. FG – Wawasee 0-7, Plymouth 2-13 (Carmichael, Felke).

Rebounds – Wawasee 26 (Rookstool 6), Plymouth 25 (Anders 10).

Assists – Wawasee 7 (Smith, Boyer 2), Plymouth 11 (Eveland 5).

Steals – Wawasee 7 (Smith, Boatright 3), Plymouth 12 (Eveland, Felke 3).

Turnovers – Wawasee 19, Plymouth 9.

Fouls (Fouled out) – Wawasee 14, Plymouth 12.