McCallie dominated their Saturday matchup with Bledsoe Co., 62-27. The Warriors were simply outmatched in size and skill in the 35 point blowout.
The size difference will be a problem for about every team that plays McCallie this season thanks to seven-footer David Craig, but in this matchup, the size advantage for McCallie was across the board, one through five. Their size and length were evident, as the BlueTornado thoroughly dominated the offensive and defensive glass and forced countless turnovers on defense.
The game started out ugly. McCallie struggled to put the ball in the basket and committed many fouls on the defensive end. Bledsoe Co. failed to take advantage of the excessive fouls and failure to score from McCallie, and the score sat at 0-0 after four minutes of action.
McCallie Head Coach David Conrady felt his team had too much on their mind and forgot to just play basketball as they knew how.
“We focused a lot on trying to play the game the right way, being where we are supposed to be, and making the plays we are supposed to make, so I think early on we were hesitant. We needed to go play, and we were on our heels early,” said, Conrady
It took a slam from Craig to get the BlueTornado offense going late in the first quarter, but after that bucket, McCallie never looked back. Leading 12-2 after the first quarter, the Tornado offense surged. Point guard Collin Claridy ran the break to perfection on multiple occasions to help convert many looks similar to the ones missed early on.
“We really want him to get out so we can kick the ball ahead to him. That’s where we are most effective, and I thought our guys finally did a good job of getting him the ball where he needed it.” Said Conrady of the guard.
The game began to get out of hand at that point and a 30 point lead allowed reserve players to get minutes, and starters rest, as the half came to a close, 39-9.
To start the third quarter, McCallie rolled their starters back on the floor, and to no surprise, continued their utter domination, this time thanks to Craig. The big man dominated as he grabbed about every single miss on both ends for the beginning of the stretch. On offense, he finished almost every rebound with a layup or dunk, but when he didn’t, he was fouled and sent to the line.
His last minutes, along with the rest of the key players, were at the three-and-a-half-minute mark of the third quarter.
“We were finally doing what we wanted to do on both ends. We guarded them how we wanted to defensively, and offensively we finally settled down and shared the ball and got it into David.” Said the coach.
The rest of the game was the McCallie junior varsity versus the Warriors’ starters. The reserves not only played well but also hard. The effort put forth by the players who normally get a few minutes was truly a testament to the culture Conrady has been trying to build.
The highlight of the day was an incredible diving save from guard Will Kwasigroch to save an offensive possession. Kwasigroch saw a ball that easily could have rolled out of bounds for a turnover and kicked into another gear to save the ball and the possession.
Ultimately, the BlueTornado came out on top 62-27 after a few buckets from Bledsoe cut the lead down.
McCallie now moves up to 7-1 with a whopping average margin of victory
SUMMARY
McCALLIE 12 22 20 8 - 62
BLEDSOE CO. 2 9 7 11 - 27
McCALLIE (62) - Capazario, Parker Robison 11, David Craig 11, Stijepovic 8, Kwasigroch 8, Claridy 7, Grissett 5, Rankin 4, Salter 3, Bogaert 2, Elliott 2, Kennebrew 1
BLEDSOE CO. (27) - Boynton 6, Anderson 6, Tabor 6, Tharpe 4, Sweatt 2, Clark 2, Reece 1
3-POINT GOALS: McCallie 8 (Robison 3, Stijepovic 2, Kwasigroch 2, Grissett); Bledsoe Co. 0
(Email Jack Gold at goldj2002@yahoo.com)