PLYMOUTH – The weather was cold and so was the shooting of Whitko’s Wildcats as Plymouth took a 15-0 first quarter lead and never looked back in a non conference 51-21 win on Friday night.
“In the locker room before the game we talked about us setting the tone with the intensity,” said Plymouth head coach Ryan Bales. “I really thought our guys brought a good level of intensity that first quarter. Whitko has been through a tough season to this point. We had to come out and set the tone.”
That they did as Jack Barron hit four quick points and Plymouth forced eight turnovers in shutting out Whitko for eight minutes. Defensively the armor cracked a bit in the second quarter but not much.
“Whitko responded in the second quarter they got in the lane and hit a few shots,” said Bales. “I wasn’t very happy with our offensive execution in the first half I thought the second half was much better. I thought our screening and spacing on offense was a lot better, our cutting was a lot sharper. I was happy our kids were able to make the halftime adjustments and do everything a little better in the second half.”
Tom Felke led all scorers with 16 points and added four assists. Barron added five steals to go with 10 points and Cam Eveland and Tyler England had three rebounds each.
“In this type of game it would have been easy to play to the scoreboard,” said Bales “In this community it is an expectation, as a coaching staff it is an expectation that we expect to have five guys out there competing, we expect to have five great team mates and guys off the bench will bring an energy level. We still have so much to prove and this is an important stretch for us.”
Plymouth moves to 4-3 on the year with a game at Northside Gym in Elkhart next week against Elkhart Memorial. Whitko is now 1-8.
Score by Quarters
Plymouth 15 31 42 51
Whitko 0 11 17 21
Plymouth (51) – Matt Flynn 1 0-0 3, Jack Barron 5 0-1 10, Cam Eveland 0 0-0 0, Nick Felke 3 0-0 6, Nick Bayley 0 0-0 0, Reis Yoder 0 0-0 0, Max Holloway 0 0-0 0, Trent Briles 2 0-0 4, Tom Felke 7 1-1 16, Scott Carmichael 0 0-0 0, Tyler England 3 3-4 9, Matt Friar 1 1-2 3. Totals 22 5-8 51.
Whitko (21) – Nate Walpole 2 2-5 7, Seth Patrick 3 1-2 8, Dylan Cumberland 3 1-2 8, Devon Adkins 0 2-4 2, Roger Helbig 0 0-0 0, Kyle Whelpley 0 0-0 0, Danny Zawlocki 0 0-0 0, Tyler Baugher 0 0-0 0, Ian Keim 0 0-0 0. Totals 6 7-13 21.
3 Pt. FG – Whitko 2-8 (Walpole, Cumberland), Plymouth 2-11 (Flynn, Felke).
Rebounds – Whitko 14 (Cumberland 4), Plymouth 20 (Eveland, England 3)
Assists – Whitko 4 (Walpole, Cumberland, Whelpley, Keim), Plymouth 11 (Tom Felke 4).
Steals – Whitko 6 (Walpole, Cumberland 2), Plymouth 12 (Barron 5).
Turnovers – Whitko 18, Plymouth 12.
