SOUTH BEND — South Bend St. Joe has been playing like a team with something to prove and they proved it against Plymouth with an 85-35 win.
The Indians have now won three of their last four games by 45 points or more.
“They are definitely up there as one of the top teams we’ve faced all season,” said Plymouth head coach Ryan Bales. “They are at a different level. Their length clearly bothered us a lot. They cover so well for each other. They are going to be a tough out in the tournament.”
The length of 6’7″ J.R. Konieczny at the point and 6’5″ Jack Futa on a wing of the 1-3-1 full-court press made the evening a nightmare for the Pilgrims trying to get any sort of offense going as St. Joe jumped to a 20-2 lead and never looked back.
The Indians forced 14 first-half Plymouth turnovers on the way to a 51-12 halftime lead. St. Joe also cleaned up the boards outrebounding Plymouth 14-3 in the first 16 minutes.
“We were a step slow tonight but a lot of that is just them,” said Bales. “The shot is going up and we worried about blocking out and they are already going up for the rebound. We were throwing a pass and they were already in the lane.”
“They see the game a little bit differently right now,” he said. “You can tell they are a veteran group that has been around and played a lot of basketball together.”
The third quarter was a little brighter for the Pilgrims as Nolan Bales was able to hit nine of his team-high 14 points in the third quarter getting some open looks but that window closed.
“The times that he (Nolan) got shots the other guys were doing a great job,” said Bales. “Maybe it’s a pass fake or a great screen. He hit some shots but a lot of it was delivering the ball when he was open. There is a lot that goes into an open shot.”
“Little things here and there,” he said. “A great screen, snapping a pass, it’s amazing what happens when you do those things.”
Late in the game, the Pilgrims opened the bench getting some players minutes with an eye to the future.
“We are at a point that we are running some guys in and getting them some looks as well,” said Bales. “They’ve worked hard all season and we may as well see what we have.”
“We’ve seen good things from those guys in practice all season,” he said. “It’s an open door to whoever is playing well so hopefully we continue to see some positive things going down the stretch.”
The Pilgrims (2-18) will be in action again tonight at home against Penn.
•ST. JOE 85, PLYMOUTH 35
at St. Joe
Plymouth 7 12 26 35
St. Joe 26 51 66 85
Plymouth (35) — Caden Weidner 0 0-0 0, Cam Weidner 1 0-0 3, Bales 5 0-0 14, Yoder 1 0-0 2, Wray 2 0-0 4, Feece 1 0-0 2, Aker 0 0-0 0, Mills 0 0-0 0, Sheely 2 1-4 5, Hall 0 0-0 0, Walters 1 0-0 2, Lark 1 0-0 3, Creighbaum 0 0-0 0, DeLee 0 0-0 0. Totals 13 1-4 35.
St. Joe (85) — Litka 3 0-0 6, Konieczny 10 2-3 25, A. O’Dell 1 0-0 2, Futa 4 0-0 8, Terry 5 0-0 10, J. O’Dell 4 0-0 8, Quinn 8 0-0 19, Walsh 3 1-2 7. Totals 39 3-7 85.
3 Pt. FG — Plymouth 6 (Bales 4), St. Joe 6 (Konieczny, Quinn 3).
Rebounds — Plymouth 10 (Feece, Mills 2), St. Joe 33 (Terry 9).
Assists — Plymouth 8 (Bales 2), St. Joe 10 (Futa 3).
Steals — Plymouth 4 (Feece 2), St. Joe 11 (Konieczny 3).
Turnovers — Plymouth 21, St. Joe 8.
Fouls (Fouled out) — Plymouth 9, St. Joe 10.
