Flyers falls short to Greyhounds
Published 3:32 am Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Three out of four ain’t bad, unless you’re playing basketball.
The St. Joseph Flyers played three solid quarters, but the fourth quarter proved to be their downfall as lost 66-53 to the Manchester Greyhounds Monday in the Ironton Basketball Classic.
The Flyers had a lead near the end of the third quarter, but they grew weary in the fourth quarter and were guilty of several turnovers as Manchester rallied to win.
“We have to learn to play for four quarters. We have to put four quarters together. We play well for a quarter or two, then we don’t play well for a while,” said Flyers’ coach Jeremy Williams.
St. Joseph (1-5) was led by Tanner Riley with 13 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists. Joseph Unger had 12 points and 8 rebounds while Payton Blair got 12 points and 3 steals.
Dylan Hanson had 18 points to lead four players in double figures. Travis Combs had 16, Dawson Little 12 and Mackenzie Smith 11 for Manchester (4-2) who played without injured 6-foot-6 center Blake Blevins.
Manchester took a 22-17 first quarter lead, but the Flyers rallied to take a 33-32 halftime advantage.
The Greyhouds regained the lead to start the second half but Riley converted a 3-point play midway through the third quarter and Anthony Whaley’s layup got the Flyers within 44-43 with just under three minutes on the clock.
A layup by Unger and a 15-footer from Blair gave the Flyers a 47-44 lead with 42 seconds left in the quarter.
Smith had two straight baskets to end the quarter and give Manchester a 48-47 lead at the end of the quarter.
The Greyhounds took advantage of four St. Joseph turnovers to open up a 58-47 lead midway through the fourth quarter. Riley’s 10-footer at the 3:25 mark ended the drought but the Flyers didn’t score again until Unger’s basket with 1:09 left that made it 62-51.
“We don’t know how to play ahead. That’s the first time this year’s we’ve been ahead at halftime. These guys are still learning how to play,” said Williams.
“We turned the ball over too much and got out of control. We had only 17 turnovers, but they came in bunches. We got a little tired in the fourth quarter. We played on that big floor and we’re not used to that. We play and practice on smaller floors, so it’s an adjustment.”
The Flyers play next Monday in the Coal Grove Tournament.
Manchester 22 10 16 18 = 66
St. Joseph 17 16 14 6 = 53
MANCHESTER (4-2): Dylan Ricketts 1-3 0-2 0-0 2, Jordan Perry 0-0 0-0 0-0 0, Josh Marshall 1-3 1-2 0-2 5, Eli Schwartz 1-1 0-0 0-0 2, Mackenzie Smith 5-8 0-1 1-3 11, Kyle Adams 0-1 0-0 0-0 0, Dylan Hanson 8-15 0-1 2-3 18, Dawson Little 5-5 0-1 2-3 12, Travis Combs 6-11 12- 1-2 16, Dilan Edwards 0-1 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 29-57 6-14 66. 3-point goals: 2-9. Fouls: 15. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 9 offense, 23 defense = 32 (Combs 9, Hanson 8, Smith 6). Assists: 17 (Smith 6, Ricketts 4, Marshall 3). Steals: 12 (Edwards 3, Ricketts 3). Turnovers: 18.
ST. JOSEPH (1-5): Payton Blair 6-10 0-1 0-0 12, Cody Blackburn 0-0 1-4 0-0 3, Spencer Schwab 0-0 0-0 0-0 0, Joseph Unger 6-11 0-1 0-6 12, Tanner Riley 5-9 0-4 3-4 13, Anthony Whaley 1-1 0-0 2-4 4, Justin Mahlmeister 0-1 1-3 0-0 3, T.J. Young 1-4 1-1 12- 6. Totals: 22-50 6-16 53. 3-point goals: 3-14. Fouls: 18. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 5 offense, 18 defense = 23 (Unger 8, Riley 5, Young 5). Assists: 10 (Riley 5, Blair 2). Steals: 8 (Blair 3, Riley 2). Turnovers: 17.