Gallery by Heather Belcher
Following a grueling stretch that included seven games over 11 days, Shady Spring finally received a break in the scheduling gauntlet.
Monday night the rested and refreshed Tigers had their claws out from the opening tip.
Standing in its way was a PikeView team that had played Shady Spring tough two weeks back in Gardner. Unfortunately for the visitors, the previous matchup got the attention of the Tigers.
Riding a 23-2 scoring explosion in the first period, the Class AAA No. 2 ranked Tigers rattled PikeView 80-40 inside Dave Wills Gym.
After watching his team struggle at times on defense, based on its standards, Shady Spring head coach Ronnie Olson used the scheduling break to shore up some of the inefficiencies.
“Luckily we were able to practice and work on some of the things that we emphasize. We were able to do those things well tonight. That is what you want to see. The the things you work on in practice, you want to see that spill over into the games,” Olson said. “What we wanted to accomplish, we accomplished. Obviously there is still a lot to work on. At times we were still got passive in the zone, but they definitely got our attention.”
PikeView head coach Leslie Farmer had no delusions of grandeur when he brought his team to Raleigh County following the tough battle at home.
“I think we woke up the giant a little bit,” Farmer said. “We knew they would play us different here at their place. What have they won, like 48 games in a row here? Shady is that good for a reason.”
Already facing a tough task against the Tigers, PikeView also had to play without starting point guard Drew Damewood who was out due to an injury.
“We are trying to get healthy right now and the next couple of weeks is when we have to be better,” Farmer said. “Playing without our starting point guard put the ball in other peoples hands and they grew up tonight.”
Shady took the initial lead on a jumper in the lane from Brody Radford before the Panthers took their only lead of the contest on a traditional 3-point play by David Thomas.
A basket and a 3-pointer from Gavin Davis was sandwiched around two free-throws from Ammar Maxwell to give the Tigers a 9-3 lead.
A stickback from Jared Vestal trimmed the deficit back to four points before the flood gates opened and Shady Spring scored 16 straight points.
Radford drilled a 3-ball to ignite the run which was followed by a steal from Davis that turned into a 3-point play after he he was fouled on the layup.
Four straight from Maxwell preceded two triples from Radford for a 25-5 lead with 1:43 to play in the opening quarter.
The first long ball from Radford came via some crisp ball movement by the Tigers and the second was from a kick-out off an offensive rebound from Maxwell.
Shady Spring was active on the glass all night to frustrate the Panthers.
“We have been a good offensive rebounding team. Rebounding is about will. Our guys want to go get the ball,” Olson said. “They know the work on the offensive glass leads to easy points and defensive rebounds lead to transition points. They did a good job of that tonight.”
The Tigers led 27-9 after one quarter and only allowed PikeView to score seven points in the second stanza for a 40-16 lead at the half.
It was the defesnive effort that Olson has becomne acustomed to from his team, but one that had nort been there over the last few games as a whole.
“We didn’t shoot the ball well tonight and to put up the points we did was impressive. We were able to pressure, do a lot of things defensively and still put up a lot of points,” Olson said. “I can talk back about games over the last month where we have been defensively out of control, gambling and been out of position. That has led to open threes, layups and And-1’s. That is a recipe for disaster. Tonight we did a good job ramping up the defense and being disciplined. Our transition game was good as well.”
The home team did not let off the gas opening the third period on a 17-1 run.
“You won’t find pressure like this anywhere else,” Farmer said. “I felt like we settled down at different times in the game and guys got more comfortable with the ball in their hands. I told the boys we were going to be positive about tonight and that is all we can do.”
Maxwell led the Tigers with 30 points and 13 rebounds, while Davis finished with 16.
“PikeView does a good job with their zone, tracking Ammar,” Olson said. “He gets offensive rebounds and he slides between defenders for layups. Ammar is very tough to defend. He is like a grown man.”
While Shady Spring did not light it up from the field overall, Radford was the exception, also dropping in 16 points on the night.
“Brody shot the ball well. Offensively he has been that point guard guy and the facilitator. He is a great ball defender and is really under-rated for the size he is,” Olson said. “I thought he also did well on the offensive glass. He was able to drive the lane and he is very deceptive. When the other guys aren’t shooting it well, that is what I want to see. I don’t want to depend on one or two guys. Everybody has to go get it.”
PV: 9 7 9 15 – 40
SS: 27 13 21 19 – 80
PikeView
Austin Bennett 5, Chad King 4, Elijah Hall 6, Greyson Weatherly 2, Nate Vestal 5, David Thomas 3, Josh Davis 2, Jarod Vestal 10. Zach Rose 2.
Shady Spring
Jack Williams 5, Ammar Maxwell 30, Brody Radford 16, Gavin Davis 16, Rob Lynch 2, Jalon Bailey 6, Eli Jordan 2, Braedy Johnston 3.
