Gallery by Tina Laney
Just over two weeks back, Shady Spring head boys basketball coach Ronnie Olson was not pleased with the defensive effort of his team.
Olson wanted to see his team get back to the basic defensive principle of making teams uncomfortable.
Friday night when county rival Independence came to town, Shady Spring not only made the Patriots uncomfortable, but miserable as well.
Holding Independence to six points in the second half, the Tigers hammered the Patriots to the tune of 98-26 on Senior Night.
“We just picked up the pace. Coach wants us to work on our pressure and pressure teams,” senior Ammar Maxwell said. “Coach wanted us to make them feel uncomfortable and wanted us to get them out of there. We just had to go out there and play our game and do what we usually do.”
No one inside Dave Wills Gym could foresee what was about to transpire over the final three quarters when the Patriots trailed 21-12 after the first quarter.
“We came out a little flat-footed. We weren’t expecting them to come out as hard as they did,” senior Gavin Davis admitted. “That is all on us, but we all knew what we had to do. We sat down on defense and held them to (26) points the entire game.”
The game quickly spiraled out of control in the second period when a stickback and a triple from Davis ignited a 16-2 burst for the Tigers.
The run was capped by a five straight points from Maxwell which included a steal and the first of three dunks on the night.
When the halftime horn sounded, Shady Spring led 45-20.
“You can look at college basketball and the good teams. You don’t have to blow people out in the first quarter. Obviously you want that, it is a perfect storm,” Olson said. “Your relentless pressure will wear on people. Do we want to explode in the beginning? Yes. They did a good job and we made some mistakes. It is tough to play four quarters of pressure like that. It wears on you. It doesn’t matter if it comes in the first second or third (quarter).”
Following an impressive defensive effort in the first half, the Tigers never backed off, outscoring Independence 26-2 in the third quarter.
Shady opened the quarter with a stickback from Jack Williams which was followed by a steal and a dunk from Maxwell.
Jalon Bailey followed with a steal that resulted in a layup and added a pair of free-throws for a 53-20 advantage.
Bailey ended the night with 19 points and seemed to thrive in the heated environment of the Indy-Shady rivalry.
“Jalon definitely has a chip on him. He loves stuff like this. The thing about tonight was he kept it under control,” Olson said. “He was going to take it out on the guy he was guarding and he wreaked havoc up top. He was so active tonight. That is what he does and he a big factor up top.”
Deegan Williams scored to snap a five-minute drought for the Patriots, only to see Shady end the quarter on an 18-0 run for a 71-22 lead after three quarters.
The highlight of the run was a steal from Williams that ended with a drop-off to Maxwell for his third jam of the game.
“I really wanted him to throw it off the backboard if I’m being honest, but a behind the back pass worked too,” Maxwell said, smiling.
The play from Williams was one of many assists on the night by the Tigers who moved the ball well to create open looks all across the floor.
“A lot of coaches might say they have an unselfish team, but we do. We have really been preaching for the next step, lets share the ball. We started like that, but we got away from it,” Olson said. “Sometimes things come easy to us on the offesnive end and it messes us up when we play the best teams in the state, hopefully. Sharing the ball is a big part of winning a state championship, winning a sectional, or winning a regional. We have to do things like to to beat teams.”
Maxwell ended Senior Night with 26 points, while Davis scored 16 points.
“How dependable (Ammar) has been and how healthy he has been over his career is amazing. He gives you (maximum) effort,” Olson said. “I said it when Gavin signed (for football with Glenville State University) that he is a part of what Shady Spring basketball is about. The grind, the effort and the relentlessness. Willing (to make) personal sacrifices for the bigger goals of the team and the bigger goals of the program. Sometime things are not going to go as you planned, but they still give (maximum) effort. “I know these two will by highly successful after sports.”
The win for the Tigers secured the No. 1 seed in the sectional tournament where Shady will run it back by battling Independence for a third time.
“It will not look like this in the sectional. We play them first now. I know (they) will have a better game plan,” Olson said. “We are not overlooking them. We don’t want to get upset in the sectional. This is the toughest section and region we have had in a long time and I will not take Independence lightly. That is not in my vocabulary.”
I: 12 8 2 4 – 26
SS: 21 24 26 22 – 98
Independence
Chris Lilly 2, Sylas Nelson 9, Logan Mink 6, Deegan Williams 3, Carter Hajash 1, Ethan Williams 5.
Shady Spring
Jack Williams 8, Ammar Maxwell 26, Brady Radford 7, Gavin Davis 16, Khi Olson 4, Jalon Bailey 19, Eli Jordan 3, Braedy Johnston 15
