Guard play sparks Flyers comeback win
Published 12:00 am Sunday, February 9, 2003
The guards turned it up, and then Western Pike turned it over.
Down 14 points entering the fourth quarter, St. Joseph guard trio of Danny Stack, Kyle Johnson and Matt Hornbeck began to force turnovers that propelled the Flyers to to a 51-44 win over Western Pike Saturday.
Western Pike led 40-26 after three quarters, but then Stack, Johnson and Hornbeck stepped up and got the Flyers going.
"We played as bad as we could for three quarters," Flyers coach Adam Simpson said. "Western packed it in and forced us to shoot outside, but we couldn't hit anything until the fourth quarter.
"That's when our guard play turned it on. Our guard play was the difference. They created all kinds of turnovers that led to easy baskets and got us going."
Shawn Hacker had 18 points , 12 rebound and eight blocked shots for the Flyers (8-10). Stack finished with 13 points and Hornbeck had 10 points. Chris Laber pulled down 11 rebounds.
Chad Williams scored 14 points, Josh Fields 12 and Anthony Penwell 10 for Western.
Fields had 7 points and Williams 5 as Western took a 16-11 first quarter lead. Stack hit a pair of 3-pointers to keep the Flyers close.
Robbie Ryan and Penwell scored 6 points each in the second quarter as Western extended its lead to 31-21 at the break. Hacker and Stack combined for 8 of the Flyers 10 points in the quarter.
Williams got 7 points in the third quarter to outscore the entire St. Joseph team, but the Flyers weren't ready to quit.
Hornbeck scored 10 points in less than a 3-minute span during the furious fourth quarter comeback and Hacker also scored 10 points.
The Flyers, who missed 10 foul shots including four one-and-ones the first half, connected on 10 of 13 from the line in the fourth quarter.
"Our defense got our confidence back up and got us back in the game and we were able to get the points we needed," Simpson said.
St. Joseph hosts Portsmouth Notre Dame Tuesday and Sciotoville East next Saturday to wrap up the regular season.
Western161594--44
St. Joseph1110624--51
WESTERN PIKE:
David Cox 1 0 0-1 2, Chad Williams 4 2 0-0 14, Josh Fields 3 2 0-0 12, Robbie Ryan 2 0 2-2 6, Anthony Penwell 4 0 2-2 10. Totals: 14
4
4-5
44. Fouls: 22. Fouled out: Penwell.
ST. JOSEPH (8-10):
Danny Stack 0 3 4-8 13, Kyle Johnson 2 0 1-2 5, Matt Hornbeck 2 1 3-3 10, Chris Laber 1 0 3-8 5, Shawn Hacker 8 0 2-6 18. Totals: 13
4
13-27
51. Fouls: 13. Fouled out: None.