Grace's Mason Long (3) drives against Silverdale's Cam Mullins (10) as fellow Seahawk Houston Holland (13) looks on. Silverdale won the contest, 68-54, behind Brett Wright's 20 point performance. Long finished with 13 points.
photo by Dennis Norwood
Silverdale Academy basketball coach Slater Belew understands the ups and downs of having so many contributing underclassmen to a Seahawks team winding its ways towards the postseason.
Belew sees the good and he credits his coaching staff for its diligent work in correcting the not-so-good.
And Tuesday night inside the Seahawks sparkling new gymnasium, Belew basically got a microcosm of the up-and-down season wrapped up in four eight-minute quarters. On this night, with rival Grace Academy fighting to the very end, SBA had a near-perfect 1:58 late in the second period that produced a 12-0 run which translated into the difference in a 68-54 win over the visiting Eagles.
“Sometimes people look at nothing but the victory, but we sweat the small stuff. We preach the most important part of a game is the first four minutes of each half, and that was disappointing tonight. It’s not just about winning a game. Honestly, I saw this coming tonight because we played here on Friday in front of about a thousand people and tonight we didn’t have that, but we have to learn to bring our own energy,” Belew said moments after the game.
The Seahawks (11-9) struggled in that opening stanza, turning the ball over 11 times in the opening frame, including doing so in six of seven possessions during one particular bad segment. But as bad as that opening stretch was, SBA was every bit as good in the second quarter, scoring 26 points, hitting nine of 13 shots, including five of seven 3s to open up a 38-28 halftime lead.
The Seahawks most lethal stretch came during a 12-0 run to break away from a 22-all tie. It started with a Bryson Cline and ended with back-to-back treys from Houston Holland, and that brought a smile to Belew’s face.
“It was nice to see Bryson and Houston hit those shots. It really opens up things for us when we can hit those kinds of shots. If we are going to play to our standards those are the type things we have to do. If we can put together a full stretch, a full game like that, this is a very dangerous team,” Belew admitted.
And what makes it especially dangerous is the play of sophomore Brett Wright. Wright is the kind of player opposing teams’ game plan to stop, and the youngster has seen just about every defense imaginable this season. For the Seahawks to prosper the rest of the way, and for Wright to continue to dice up the opposition, the play of Holland, Cline and Sam Brambrey behind the arc is the key.
Together with the all-around play of Cam Mullins, who finds open shooters off the drive, SBA was able to hold off a strong effort from the Eagles.
“I thought Cam Mullins had a really good game, but the key again was hitting the open shots. We just have to get better every day, and I have to shout out our coaching staff. They do such a formidable job getting them ready. I have to credit Grace for being so scrappy tonight, but yeah, that second quarter stretch is what we are looking to build on. That was the difference in the game,” Belew noted.
SBA hit five of its eight treys in the period, but to Grace’s credit, the second half was pretty much a draw thanks to strong efforts from Eli Ibrahim, Pierce Smith and Mason Long. Ibrahim and Smith each hit for 15 and Long added 10 as the Eagles shot 45 percent from the floor (22 of 49). SBA hit at a 52 percent clip (23 of 44) as both squads shot it well when they weren’t turning it over. The Seahawks finished with 21 turnovers while the Eagles turned it over 22 times in a chaotic reckless affair at times.
“We know it’s important to hit those open shots when we get them. We have to put pressure on teams from more than Brett (Wright), and in turn, it will make him even more of a force for us. It was nice to do that tonight,” said Holland, who finished with 10.
Wright was his usual stellar self, dunking and driving his way to a game-high 20 points. Cline chipped in another 10 with seven of them coming in the final period to help stave off the Eagles. Mullins had seven, and probably that many assists and floor burns. Bambrey added eight as well as SBA moved to 3-2 in district play to remain within striking distance of Notre Dame and Boyd Buchanan in what should be a nice race to the finish line.
Silverdale girls 52, Grace Academy 14: The Lady Seahawks shot the ball from downtown especially well, canning 11 3s on the evening, including four from Kelsie Johnson. Grace played them tough for a quarter, but SBA turned the defensive screws tight, limiting the Lady Eagles to three baskets over the final three quarters after an 11-7 first quarter lead.
Lauren Kugler hit a trio of treys in scoring 11 points and Kennedy Stinson made three for her nine points to compliment the game-high 18 from Johnson.
GIRLS SUMMARY
GRACE ACADEMY 7 3 2 2 – 14
SILVERDALE ACADEMY 11 17 16 8 – 52
GRACE ACADEMY (14) – Rush 3, Englebrecht 3, Adams 3, Moch, Gaby 4, Waldron, Cherwanuk 1, Biggs.
SILVERDALE ACADEMY (52) – Owen 2, Canter 3, Bledsoe, Stiner 4, Lauren Kugler 11, Olson, Sullivan, Stinson 9, Gibson 3, Chastain, Kelsie Johnson 18, Cline, Hensley 2.
3-point goals: Grace Acadmey 1 (Rush); Silverdale Academy 11 (Johnson 4, Stinson 3, Kugler 3, Canter).
BOYS SUMMARY
GRACE ACADEMY 12 16 14 12 – 54
SILVERDALE ACADEMY 12 26 16 14 – 68
GRACE ACADEMY (54) – Knecht, Mason Long 13, Pierce Smith 15, T.Parrott 5, Ivarson 3, Eli Ibrahim 15, Goins 3, Worley.
SILVERDALE ACADEMY (68) – Botts 4, Richardson, Okpara 8, Bryson Cline 10, Mullins 7, Gibson, Brett Wright 20, Houston Holland 10, Hardaway 1, Bambrey 8.
3-point goals: Grace Acadmey 3 (Ivaarson, Ibrahim, Goins); Silverdale Academy 8 (Cline 3, Holland 2, Bambrey 2, Wright)
(Contact James Beach at 1134james@gmail.com)