LC tourney speed too fast for ’Jackets

By RANDY CAVIN
Press Sports
Lake County was too much for Greenfield to handle in the District 14A Tournament boys’ quarterfinal game in Greenfield on Tuesday.
The Falcons (5-20) took the sting out of the Yellowjackets (16-8) in eliminating them from postseason play with a 68-51 win.
The Falcons were strong under the basket and got some key perimeter shots — including a half-court shot by Zay Coleman as the halftime buzzer sounded.
Coleman finished with a game-high 34 points, and Devon Jones was underneath the basket when his shots failed to go in for the offensive boards and putbacks. Jones scored 19 points with most of those coming under the basket on offensive rebounds.
“Coleman was unstoppable tonight,” Greenfield head coach Peter Angelos said. “Rebounding just killed us tonight. It seems like whenever they missed a shot, Jones got the ball.”
Lake County ended up with 17 offensive rebounds. The Yellowjackets also helped the Falcons out by turning the ball over 15 times, 10 coming in the second half.
“That is 32 extra possessions they got,” Angelos said. “You cannot give that many extra possessions to a good team like that.”
The Falcon did not play like a No. 7 seed against the second-seeded Yellowjackets. Angelos believes Lake County would have been a No. 4 seed if the Falcons were not forced to forfeit some games this season because of an ineligible player on the team.
“If they had not of forfeited those games, they would have been fighting for a four-seed,” he said. “It was kind of bad luck on our part to pick them up in this round. We beat them twice in the regular season, but tonight they were the better team.”
Both teams started the game by swapping baskets until Jones went on a seven-point scoring spree to put the Falcons up 11-6 midway through the first period. Greenfield got within four on Jeremy Lannom’s short jumper with about a minute to play. Coleman put LC up by seven on a layup to end the first period.
Coleman gave LC a 29-19 lead on a put-back with 3:35 to play in the half. Hunter Crouse got the ’Jackets back to within five with a shot under the rim to make it a 31-26 game. The ’Jackets attempted to play for the last shot of the half with Lake County leading 33-26, but the ball got away from Greenfield and Coleman picked up the loose ball. He got to midcourt and heaved the ball as the buzzer went off to give LC a 36-26 halftime led.
Neither team could get anything going in the third period as both were sloppy with ball-handling. Both teams turned it over five times in the period, while the Yellowjackets also got into some foul trouble. Lannom picked up his third foul with just over five minutes to play in the period, and Crouse picked his third foul at the 3:55 mark.
LC led by as many as 13 when Coleman scored on a layup with 2:12 to play in the period. Miles Cavitt got Greenfield back to within 10 on a pair of free throws with 32 seconds to play in the period. Justin Kimble put LC back up by 12 on a layup to end the third and begin a 10-run that went into the final period.
Robinson ended Lake County’s run on a jumper with 6:42 to play, but by that time the Falcons were already up 54-38.
Robinson led the ’Jackets with 14 points in his final game for Greenfield. Crouse scored 13 in his final game. Zac Grooms was held scoreless in his final game as a Yellowjacket.

Published in The WCP 2.14.13

Print