LaGRANGE – It was a strange, long day but at the end of a crazy, eventful Tuesday, Plymouth’s Pilgrims were two victories richer sweeping a pair of games in the Westview Shoot Out – held at Lakeland High School.
Plymouth 42, Westview 30
It was a fitting end to the wild day that Plymouth’s solid execution would give them a second win taking the final game of the day over Westview.
The host Warriors started the day with a power outage at Westview High School which necessitated the moving of the day’s games down US 20 to Lakeland High School. Even after that there were more events in store as the Pilgrim bus was delayed as that same US 20 was closed between Mishawaka and Elkhart due to a severe accident involving a semi which sent the team bus on a detour across southern Elkhart county looking for a way back onto the highway.
Obviously the Pilgrims recovered. After a tough loss a week ago it was a welcome sight to their head coach.
“We obviously had a tough loss last week against Riley,” said Plymouth’s Ryan Bales. “We’ve had some time off. Sometimes it’s good to get back in it right away but sometimes it’s good to get some perspective. I thought today we came out and competed. We had a productive practice over the weekend.
“I get excited watching us play defense like we did tonight (vs. Westview). Just seeing guys playing exactly the way we want them to play. Obviously the rebounding was a big concern in our halftime talk but I think we won the rebounding in the second half.”
Rebounding was an issue. In spite of nearly flawless execution by the Pilgrims, Westview was able to grab 11 first half offensive boards. The good news – the Warriors got just two more for the game.
“It’s not easy to play against them,” said Bales. “They are well coached, disciplined. To come over here and come out and play two games in a day and play with the energy and tenacity we played with on the defensive end is great.”
Bales had high marks for his guard play on the day.
“Nick Felke had an outstanding day, He showed a lot of toughness getting to the basket. He played with a lot of composure, a lot of confidence,” said Bales. “Cam Eveland did a great job today facilitating, did a great job seeing the open guy. Barron had a tremendous day. I think with him to come out and play the way he did with a lot of confidence offensively I think that really woke us up.”
It was a final message from the coach that summed up the day.
“The last thing I told them in the locker room is that I was very excited to see us play defense the way we did.”
Plymouth is 7-3 on the year and returns to NLC play at Elkhart Memorial on Jan. 8.
Plymouth 66, Lakeland 44
With a lot of drama to start the day – about location of the game and time of arrival – Plymouth’s Pilgrims left no doubt about where their heads were coming out and dominating Lakeland’s Lakers from the opening tip in game one of the Westview Shoot Out.
Jack Barron was red hot early and poured in 23 points to pace the Plymouth offense, hitting four three pointers and three of four from the line. Fellow guard Nick Felke was equally as inspired with 17 points but even more importantly six assists and six steals to complete an outstanding floor game.
“It’s always a concern (how you respond to adversity) but we’ve got a veteran group and there’s a lot of trust there,” said Plymouth head coach Ryan Bales. “The loss last week (against South Bend Riley) left a sour taste in everyone’s mouth. It’s all about response. The main thing is that we only talked about moving forward. I think it carried over to today.”
Josh Anders added 14 points in the win and led the team in rebounds with five.
“We still have some work to do but it’s great to come over here and play well,” said Bales. “A lot of it had to do with us. When we we can frustrate an opponent and get them out of their game a little bit, that’s a great moment for us and we should be proud of that.”
Game One
Score by Quarters
Plymouth 16 34 49 66
Lakeland 5 21 36 44
Plymouth (66) – Neidlinger 0 0-0 0, Barron 8 3-4 23, Eveland 1 0-0 2, Carmichael 0 0-0 0, Felke 7 1-3 17, Anders 5 4-5 14, Friar 2 0-0 4, Davidson 2 0-0 6, Tharp 0 0-0 0. Totals 25 8-12 66.
Lakeland (44) – B. Isaacs 2 5-5 9, N. Issacs 2 0-0 4, Riehl 0 0-0 0, Harp 4 2-3 12, Holt 1 0-0 3, Patrick 0 0-0 0, Bontrager 6 1-1 16. Totals 15 8-9 44.
3 Pt. FG – Plymouth 8-14 (Barron 4), Lakeland 6-17 (Bontrager 3).
Rebounds – Plymouth 21 (Anders 5), Lakeland 15 (Harp 5).
Assists – Plymouth 13 (Felke 6), Lakeland 10 (B. Isaacs 4).
Steals – Plymouth 12 (Felke 6), Lakeland 2 (N. Isaacs, Harp).
Turnovers – Plymouth 12, Lakeland 17.
Fouls (Fouled Out) – Plymouth 15, Lakeland 8.
Game Two
Score by Quarters
Plymouth 12 22 35 42
Westview 6 13 20 30
Westview (30) – Miller 3 1-1 8, Hales 1 0-3 2, D. Yoder 0 0-0 0, Brandenberger 0 0-0 0, Collyer 3 1-2 7, A. Yoder 6 0-0 13, Hostetler 0 0-0 0, L. Yoder 0 0-0 0, Rensberger 0 0-0 0. Totals 13 2-6 30.
Plymouth (42) – Neidlinger 0 0-0 0, Barron 2 0-0 5, Eveland 2 0-0 5, Carmichael 0 0-0 0, Felke 2 1-1 5, Anders 5 4-5 14, Friar 2 0-0 4, Davidson 1 0-0 3, Tharp 3 0-0 6. Totals 17 5-6 42.
3 Pt. FG – Westview 2-8 (Miller, A. Yoder), Plymouth 3-8 (Barron, Eveland, Davidson).
Rebounds – Westview 25 (Collyer, Hales 4), Plymouth 17 (Eveland 6).
Assists – Westview 5 (Hales 3). Plymouth 13 (Felke 6).
Steals – Westview 10 (Collyer 3), Plymouth 11 (Felke, Friar 3).
Turnovers – Westview 15, Plymouth 12.
Fouls (Fouled Out) – Westview 7, Plymouth 12.
