PLYMOUTH – Two teams with different scripts to start the new basketball season made their debut on Wednesday night and drew mixed reviews from the critics as Glenn took an opening night win over Plymouth 53-41.
“We were a little lax early, we haven’t played a game in nine months and obviously, they haven’t either,” said Glenn head coach Travis Hannah. “I thought it showed on both ends of the floor for both teams.”
“Offensively neither one of us were very crisp and we just found a way to hang in there,” he said. “I thought they (Plymouth) did a great job of game-planning for us.”
“That was a fun first half,” said Plymouth coach Ryan Bales. “It wasn’t fun just because of the scoreboard it was fun because our guys were playing their butts off and they were executing our defense.”
“This is a competitive group but I think that Glenn came out in that second half a little more focused, a little more intense,” he said. “We had a lot of empty possessions on offense. We had some breakdowns on defense. We gave up 21 points in the third quarter. We gave up 19 in the first half. That was a backbreaker.”
The Pilgrims did come out in a first half that couldn’t have been closer to script, holding a veteran Glenn squad in check despite some youthful errors including 10 first-half turnovers.
Glenn’s supporting cast got rave reviews as the Pilgrims were able to at least neutralize Glenn’s lead, Brycen Hannah.
“They had Brycen fronted in the post and somebody behind him,” said Travis Hannah. “We are going to see a lot of that this year.”
“We had guys step up and make shots,” he said. “Carter Yung played very well. Silas Kaser gave us a lot of energy, his defensive pressure really got us going there in the first quarter.”
“We need to be that type of team,” said Hannah. “If Brycen is getting doubled in the post, which is going to happen, Carter needs to have a game. Jack Porter didn’t shoot the ball that well tonight but he is capable. He is going to be that outside threat for us that we need, with Silas’s ability to penetrate. We have a good nucleus. It’s about getting depth and going to the bench and getting quality minutes there.”
While Plymouth was on point in certain parts of the performance, there were still some jarring notes.
“I thought we did a great job on Hannah overall,” said Bales of his team. “We made him work like crazy and did a great job of competing. We just have to take care of some of the other things. We expect our guys to respond and get better.”
“We didn’t play our best but we have some positives to build on.”
While Hannah was effectively neutralized in spite of seven rebounds, Yung stepped up with a double/double on the night (26 points and 10 rebounds) and Kaser had 13 with an outstanding floor game.
“Tonight their guard play, in particular, outplayed our guard play if I’m being very honest,” said Bales. “They (Glenn) stayed very composed, they played confident. They got some shots within their offense. We had a lot of turnovers with our guards.”
“We are going to keep saying that we are young, but at some point we are going to have to grow up,” he said. “We do have a coachable group so I would expect us to respond by the time we get to Saturday.”
One question unanswered was where points will come as the Pilgrims move forward.
“It could be a different guy any given night,” said Bales. “Some of these guys are getting their first taste of varsity action and it’s not like we are sending them out there for two or three minutes. We had a lot of guys play 25-30 minutes. They got a taste of it. We will keep showing growth and improvement. That’s the goal every day.”
Plymouth plays at New Prairie on Saturday. Glenn will take on Elkhart on Dec. 4
*GLENN 53, PLYMOUTH 41
at Plymouth
Plymouth (41) – Cam Weidner 1 2-2 5, Bales 3 2-2 11, Yoder 3 2-2 9, Wray 1 0-0 2, Strain 4 0-0 8, Feece 2 2-2 6, Mills 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 8-8 41.
Glenn (53) – Kaser 5 3-5 13, Yung 8 6-10 26, Delinski 2 0-0 4, Hannah 1 1-2 3, Porter 1 0-0 2, Frankiewicz 1 0-0 3. Totals 18 10-18 53.
3 Pt. FG – Plymouth 5 (Bales 3), Glenn 5 (Yung 4).
Rebounds – Plymouth 17 (Yoder 5), Glenn 25 (Yung 10).
Assists – Plymouth 5 (Wray 2), Glenn 2 (Yung, Hannah).
Steals – Plymouth 6 (Bales 3), Glenn 5 (Kaser, Yung, Hannah, Taylor, Frankiewicz).
Turnovers – Plymouth 17, Glenn 9.
Fouls (Fouled out) – Plymouth 21, Glenn 10.
