Zone leads to Indians to victory

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OLD TOWN – When Nokomis’ streaky shooters hit their first three 3-pointers against Old Town’s zone defense Friday, Indians coach Marty Clark called time out and asked his starters if they wanted to junk the zone in favor of man-to-man.

They decided to stay with the zone. The result was an 11-2 Old Town run that closed out the first quarter and gave the Indians a lead they wouldn’t relinquish in a 74-65 victory at a packed MacKenzie Gym Friday night.

Old Town evened its record to 2-2 while Nokomis of Newport is chasing its first win at 0-2.

“I said, `Listen, we can go five and stop the “3” or would you rather stay in the matchup and spread it more?’ And they said, `Spread it more,” said Clark.

The Indians’ refined 2-3 matchup zone defense made it harder for Nokomis’ shooters to get good looks at the basket. As a result, the Warriors’ long-distance shooting percentage began to plummet.

To understand what kind of game it was for Nokomis, you needn’t look any farther than guard Nate Davis’ line in the box score.

After hitting three of his first five 3-pointers, Davis went 2-for-10 the rest of the way and 9-for-26 overall from the field en route to 25 points.

“We had to have the bigger people kind of pinch out a little bit on Davis and put a hand up in his face and wait for the guys up top to slide over,” said Old Town guard Ryan Miller, who led the Indians with 17 points. “We had to extend it everywhere so it was almost like man-to-man.”

The slight defensive change and the inspired play of forward Brian DeGrasse in the second quarter (3-for-4 from field, 3-for-5 from line) made the difference. DeGrasse scored nine of his 14 total points and had three rebounds and an assist in the quarter.

“He plays so hard, he’s going to get the points and get the boards because he keeps battling,” said Clark.

DeGrasse wasn’t the only one pounding the boards. Center Chad Hayes pulled down 15 rebounds (12 defensive) and helped the Indians outrebound the Warriors 42-31.

Nokomis used its relentless brand of man defense all game and put together a 6-0 run late in the third thanks to a smothering press.

Nokomis closed the gap to five points (50-45) with a minute to go, but fouls and Old Town’s success at the line made sure that was close as the Warriors would get.

“We’d hit a big shot, but we were letting down on defense and got into trading baskets with them,” said Nokomis coach Jim DiFrederico. “We’d hit a `3′ and then they’d come down and hit one. You can’t do that when you’re trying to scrimp and scrape to get back.”

Old Town guard Jeremy Belyea hit his first 15 shots from the charity stripe and the Indians shot 76 percent from the line in the game.

“We’ve worked on it all week, so I’ve been shooting a lot better than what I usually do,” said Belyea.

Knowing Nokomis had to press hard, the Indians spread out the offense, drew fouls, and feasted at the line – sinking 12 of 17 foul shots in the final quarter.

“Coach wanted us to slow it down more, take our time, and limit turnovers,” said Miller. “Foul shooting won the game for us.”

Indians 74, Warriors 65

Nokomis boys (0-2) Old Town (2-2)

Name G AG F AF TP Name G AG F AF TP

Otis 1 7 0 0 3 Miller 7 16 2 5 17

Davis 9 26 2 4 25 Belyea 4 12 15 17 24

Grant 0 0 0 0 0 Dumont 2 6 0 0 4

White 0 1 0 0 0 Baker 0 4 0 0 0

Leadbetter 1 8 0 0 3 Hayes 5 10 5 6 15

Day 1 1 0 0 2 Yanush 0 0 0 0 0

Rouse 6 12 5 6 17 DeGrasse 4 6 6 9 14

Fernandes 5 7 2 4 12

Floyd 1 1 0 1 3

Totals 24 63 9 15 65 Totals 22 54 28 37 74

Nokomis 17 26 45 65

Old Town 22 38 54 74

3-pt. goals: Nokomis (8-27): Otis 1-6, Davis 5-15, White 0-1, Leadbetter 1-3, Rouse 0-1, Floyd 1-1; Old Town (2-6): Miller 1-5, Belyea 1-1

Attendance: 600

Preliminary: Nokomis 55, Old Town 51