VERNON — A strong first quarter helped propel Badger to a 59-55 victory over Maplewood on Friday. The Braves got revenge for a 60-48 defeat at the hands of Maplewood from early in the season.
“That’s always important, for us to start a game quick,” Badger coach Josh Upshire said. “We’ve always said the games where we’ve won and we’ve done really well, we started off quick. We’ve had some games where we weren’t starting quick and not making shots early. But fortunately, tonight was one of those nights. It’s funny, coming out before the game, I said that something just feels good about tonight. I don’t know if it’s the energy, the atmosphere, but something felt good tonight.”
That good feeling extended to the Braves’ players, who hit five 3-pointers in the first quarter to give Badger a 25-13 lead after one quarter.
Slowly but surely, the Rockets fought back, cutting into the lead. By the fourth quarter, the teams were neck-and-neck.
Maplewood isn’t a team you can give anything to, because they’ll make you pay. Staying fundamentally sound was crucial.
“They do the little things well, they’re very fundamental,” Upshire said. “They don’t make mistakes that hurt themselves, so that was the key for us.”
A big part of that came from Steve Manes, who scored a team-high 12 points. Containing Manes was essential for the Braves if they were going to win.
“We knew that Manes loves to shoot the ball, so we made sure we kind of stayed on him a little bit,” Upshire said. “We lost him there in the first half a little bit. He made those four threes, but some adjustments at halftime, to just stay on him a little bit further out, so he wasn’t getting threes. When you have a Lewis Flowers on your team that can pressure the ball like he does, it’s fun to watch.”
Tyler McWilliams led the way with 25 points, 18 of which came in the first half. Jack Harnett added 12.
Maplewood coach Marty Urchek was unavailable after the game for comment. The Rockets (9-7, 7-5 NAC) host Lordstown on Feb. 6. The Braves (7-8, 6-5 NAC) play at Lordstown on Tuesday.
Friday’s game was “Autism Acceptance Night”, with proceeds going toward families in need.
“I’m a special education teacher, so this is something that’s near and dear to my heart, being able to help out families that may not be able to get the funding that they need to help out. For us to have a great crowd here tonight to help us raise money was awesome,” Upshire said.
Hence then, the article about badger avenges previous loss to maplewood was published today ( ) and is available on TribToday ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Badger avenges previous loss to Maplewood )
Also on site :