News > Boys Varsity
03.10.08
East can't stop Niagara Falls offense
BUFFALO — When the shots didn't fall for East High's basketball team this winter, the Orientals relied on something else.
"Defense," coach Darrell Barley told his players over and over, "doesn't have an off night."But even East High's best, the defense that overwhelmed much of the tough City-Catholic League and Section V Class AAA champion Rush-Henrietta, wasn't good enough on Sunday to keep pace with the type of offensive night Niagara Falls had at Buffalo State.
The Orientals were blitzed early and battled back, but Section V's top team never truly recovered and lost, 82-67, in the Class AA state quarterfinals.
The Wolverines (24-1), who also topped East 72-68 in 2005, will play Section VII's Baldwin (18-8) in Saturday's semifinals at 12:30 in Glens Falls.
"I didn't know they could shoot the ball as well as they did," Barley said after watching Niagara Falls beat up his team early from behind the 3-point line then late in the paint.
"We thought we could play a zone. It was difficult for us because at first we tried a man-to-man (defense) and they were going right by us."
The zone didn't work either, especially in the second quarter.That's when guard Davon Marshall, a sophomore with the type of swagger you expect from a Falls player, lit up East (23-2). Marshall, who scored 16 points, came off the bench to bury four 3-pointers and the Orientals trailed 44-28 at halftime after being outscored 25-12.
East had recovered nicely after an early 13-2 deficit to trail just 19-16 after one quarter.
As if what Marshall did to the Orientals during the first 7 minutes and 59 seconds of the second wasn't enough, his bank shot from mid-court as the halftime horn sounded was another kick to the gut."Davon Marshall is a phenomenal player," Falls forward Michael Crumpton said.
Senior guard Bobby Bell scored 17 of his 22 points and hit five of his six 3-pointers in the second half to try to bring East back. Senior swingman Reuben Balkum added 17 points."They hit all their open shots. They didn't miss any open 3s," a dejected Balkum said. "They were making everything."
But to its credit, East didn't go south in the third quarter. It fell behind 50-31, but then Bell drilled three quick 3-pointers during a 12-2 run and Niagara Falls' lead was under 10 points."We knew we had to come out strong in the third quarter and play 'D,' but they were hot all night," Bell said.
Senior guard Rashon Tabb scored 13 of his 23 points in third quarter.The Orientals trailed 67-52 early in the fourth quarter, but then Jerrold Brooks and Bell connected from 3-point range. Bell's 3-pointer with 5:09 left to play made it a 69-62 game, but Crumpton answered with a putback. The 6-foot-5 junior scored 10 of his 12 points in the fourth.
The East deficit was never single digits the final three minutes.
"Good teams don't turn the ball over and miss free throws when you're trying to come back," Barley said. "But down 16 at half, the guys still played hard and made it a game again. But then we became stagnant and relied on the (3-pointer) too much."JDIVERON@DemocratandChronicle.com
source: http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080310/SPORTS08/803100321/1026