SOUTH BEND – In a game that was far from a work of art, Plymouth’s Pilgrims fell in their final game of the season at St. Joe by a 57-44 final.
It was a sloppy game by both teams as turnovers were the name of the game for St. Joe in taking the win. The Pilgrims had difficulty handling the basketball all night long. Plymouth committed a very uncharacteristic 16 turnovers, a big part of the reason for the loss.
“Just a bad not all around on both ends. Obviously a lot of careless turnovers and just appeared shaky with the ball at times,” said Plymouth head coach Ryan Bales. “Not real assertive and bottom line we didn’t execute. On the defensive end we got beat a few times one on one, we got beat in the post one on one, we lost those one on one battles we’ve been winning.
“It’s been a good run here, we want to keep it in perspective you have to give St. Joe a lot of credit we knew they were a dangerous team coming in and they showed some of that potential tonight.”
The Pilgrims seemed out of sync for the entire night struggling to find any combination to give a spark. They led only once in the game in the second quarter but a three by the Indians erased that lead that they would never get back.
“We couldn’t find a rhythm, we couldn’t find a group that clicked tonight,” said Bales. “We’d get a big play and then miss a free throw. We’d get a stop and they’d get an offensive rebound. We had fumble fingers all night. We couldn’t grasp those big rebounds we’ve been getting. They (St. Joe) were the more aggressive team tonight and the more aggressive team won.”
St. Joe got points in the paint from Muhammad Shabbazz with 15 and points on the perimeter from Brady Powers who ended the night with 14. The Pilgrims won the rebounding battle 32-20 but couldn’t make it pay as the easy points off turnovers were too much to overcome.
“St. Joe turned it up, they switched defenses at times,” said Bales. “We kinda caved in to what they were doing and their game instead of staying focused. We’ll regroup, we’ll recover. It just wasn’t our night.”
Plymouth was led by Nick Felke’s 13 points. He also led the team with seven rebounds.
Plymouth ends the year at 13-9 with a game Tuesday at South Bend Washington against the host school in first round sectional action. St. Joe ends at 6-14, they have a game Friday at Mishawaka.
Score by Quarters
Plymouth 11 19 33 44
St. Joe 14 26 42 57
Plymouth (44) – Benji Nixon 1 0-0 2, Clay Hilliard 3 0-0 7, Cam Dennie 2 0-0 5, Ryan Carmichael 2 0-0 4, Nick Felke 4 4-10 13, Nathan Patterson 2 0-0 4, Travis Owen 0 0-0 0, Kadin McCrammer 1 1-1 3, Dyllon Pavey 0 0-0 0, Cole Filson 1 0-0 2, Payton Skirvin 0 0-0 0, Tyler Games 0 0-0 0, Garrett Tharp 1 2-2 4. Totals 17 7-13 44.
St. Joe (57) – Joey Clark 2 -1 5, Cam Watt 0 0-0 0, Brady Powers 4 5-9 14, Hunter West 1 3-4 6, Muhammad Shabazz III 6 3-3 15, Alex Voss 1 0-0 2, Michael Manion 3 0-0 8, Gunner Sadowey 2 1-2 5, Ben Terry 1 0-0 2. Totals 20 12-19 57.
3 Pt. FG – Plymouth 3-19 (Hilliard, Dennie, Felke), St. Joe 5-18, (Manion 2).
Rebounds – Plymouth 32 (Felke 7), St. Joe 20 (Powers, Shabazz 4).
Assists – Plymouth 9 (Hilliard, Dennie, Felke 2), St. Joe 12 (Clark 3).
Steals – Plymouth 3 (Hilliard, Games, Tharp), St. Joe 9 (Clark 4).
Turnovers – Plymouth 16, St. Joe 8.
Fouls (Fouled Out) – Plymouth 17, St. Joe 11.
