Wildcats claw past Commodore boys

By Jim Metcalfe, The Delphos Herald
Published:  Tuesday, January 1, 2008 (2 years, 2 months ago)
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PERRY TOWNSHIP — For Jefferson head boys basketball coach Marc Smith, there was one major difference between his team’s recent 3-game losing streak and Tuesday night’s 48-39 victory over non-conference foe Perry: shooting.
“We had been below 35 percent in those three losses and shot almost 50 percent tonight. We were in control in the paint and finished our layups,” he observed. “We got good shots. That in turn made Perry double-down on our posts and they unselfishly kicked it back out. We hit four 3s and every one of them was on a kickout.”
The Wildcats (3-3) connected on 48.6 percent of their shots (18-of-37, including 4-of-14 downtown).
Still, they had to overcome a slow start, falling behind 17-7 after eight minutes of action.
“We got down in the first quarter and didn’t panic. We were methodical in coming back,” Smith said. “They tried to make it an up-tempo game with full-court pressure defense and we made them pay. When we broke the press, we attacked. They had to go away from it the second half and that made it a half-court game; we felt we were the better team in a half-court game.”
The Wildcats, behind 15 markers from senior Matt Antalis and 9 from classmate Matt Gerdeman (6 boards), began the slow climb out of the hole by outscoring the Commodores 10-7 in the second period to only trail 24-20 at the halftime intermission.
“We played good defense; that has been a given all season. For the most part, we’ve taken good care of the basketball,” he continued. “We just weren’t scoring. We tinkered a little bit last week with trying to up-tempo more; we figured there’d be a few more turnovers but we had 25 against Ottoville. That’s just too many possessions to give away, no matter how well you rebound.”
Turnovers were not a problem for the visitors in this one, registering only nine to the hosts’ 16. Senior Josh Miller and sophomore Logan Bonifas — promoted up from the JV squad — had two steals each of the team’s total of eight.
That Jefferson defense further gummed up the Perry works in the third stanza, limiting their foe to a mere 6 counters. On the other end, the Jefferson squad went past their opponent with 13 points to secure a 33-30 edge entering the finale.
In that fourth period, the Wildcats refused to let the Commodores rally, hitting key free throws down the stretch to snap that 3-game losing streak (LCC, Kalida and Ottoville).
“We made plays today, particularly down the stretch. Craig (Carder) and Jordan (Jettinghoff) hit 3s to start the third quarter,” Smith concluded. “Perry tied it once in the third but we went into the fourth up by 3. We hit 8-of-10 free throws (80%), almost all of them in the final minutes.”
The Wildcats won despite being outboarded 26-19 (14-10 on the offensive end). Carder led the team total of 15 assists with four dimes.
Perry was led by lone double-digit scorer Cody Riepenhoff with 10. They downed 15-of-36 from the field (41.7%), including 2-of-11 beyond the arc, and 7-of-10 charity throws (70%).
The Wildcats (3-3) host Lima Temple Christian for a 6:30 p.m. JV start Saturday in another non-league game.