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| 2/22/2009 12:20:00 PM | Email this article • Print this article | USV wins local contest with HN
By Virginia Bandy
Ada Herald Editor
USV Head Coach Mike Bollinger, who is now working without former team members Troy Summa and Wes Krummery, said that he asked his team to give him their hearts for 10 days. "There was no shoe-in tonight, Hardin Northern was capable of beating us. The league they play in is tougher, they've been competing, and instead of losing by 50 points like we do, they only lose by 20."
Both squads made mistakes on the floor, from bad passes to traveling to missing easy lay ups. USV showed decent defense in the first half, and held HN to only five points in the first quarter.
Incomplete shooting continued throughout the game, and the Polar Bears stepped it up a little bit towards the end. Shooters Bobby Steiner and Steven LaRue were fouled repeatedly during the match as they tried to earn points for their teams. Steiner was four of eight at the line, while LaRue was eight of 13.
Head Coach Mark Thompson commented that "We can't come out and start the way we started. We had open shots and we just didn't knock them down. You get yourself behind the eight ball that way and when you're a team that's struggling anyway, you need to make those shots. We did better in the second half...we're young, we've got a lot to learn."
Gaining 16 points for the Rams was LaRue. Derek Mullett earned 13 and Ryan Sparkman scored 10.
3-pointers: LaRue (2), Mullett (2) and Jake Nelson (1).
"Tommy Prater and Ryan Sparkman stepped up for me tonight," Coach Bollinger commented. "Ryan looks for the open man, and he made some clutch points for us tonight. We moved Colby Salyers up; he's a great leaper and a quick leaper."
Top scorer in the game was Hardin Northern's Tommy Wheeler with 19. Team members Steiner and Joe Walter both earned 10 each.
3-pointers: Wheeler (3) and Walter (1).
Coach Bollinger explained, "There was more pride out there tonight. We still make dumb mistakes, we threw the ball away. I believe in these guys...I think these last few days will show a different team."
1 2 3 4 F
HN 5 14 15 23 57
USV 14 18 19 16 67
The USV reserve squad also prevailed over HN, 47-33.
Both teams suffered losses Friday night. Hardin Northern was outscored 79-57 by Leipsic. Steiner earned 16 points while Wheeler netted 13. "We'll turn around and face Cory-Rawson on Tuesday. We try to get better every game," Coach Thompson concluded.
Perry captured the NWCC win as they doubled up on USV, 90-45. The only scorer in double digits was Sparkman with 10 points. Prater earned eight, Salyers gained seven and Brett Wodarski scored six.
USV plays at Ridgemont on Wednesday night and hosts Arlington Thursday evening. Coach Bollinger commented "We've got two more games left and then we play Allen East in the tournament, who we beat once, but once again, it's not a shoe-in. We've got to keep our turnovers to 15 or less with Arlington; they compete and they play hard."
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