Spartans Boys sweep Gators entering holiday break

Thursday, December 15, 2011

@ SWMS

South Warren 40  Drakes Creek 32 (7th)

The South Warren Spartans were entering the Drakes Creek game on a current two game skid, in which they did not play well and were thoroughly beaten by Moss and Franklin. Coach Young challenged his players to pull together and get their momentum back as they headed to the Christmas break. "We know we can do good things, and we didn't show those the last 2 times out. We wanted to get back to the things we do well and we needed this victory to build on for the second half of the season, Young said". The first half was a very close ballgame in which neither team could really gain an edge. The Spartans kept a more of a speed up tempo that they tried to press and force the Gators into making mistakes. Drakes Creek used more ball control on offense and were able to stay within 16-12 by the end of the first half.  Midway through the 2nd quarter, Spartans leading scorer Ryder Litten went out with 2 fouls. Jaxson Smith stepped up South Warren scoring all seven points of the period for SW. "I told Jaxson it is time for him to step up and make those big plays for us throughout the games, Young added".  Smith and Litten would combine for 16 of the Spartans 24 2nd half points as the Spartans pulled out a 40-32 win over the Gators. Alex Fee (leading scorer for Drakes) was held to three points on the night. The Spartans played zone most of the night and did a good job keeping Fee from getting many good looks or hurting them on offensive rebounds.  Litten led the Spartans with 14 points and 5 rebounds and Smith added 13.  Collin Jackson led the Gators with 11 points.

The win moved SW to 8-5 on the season, while the Gators dropped to 3-5. South Warren will be off until Jan 5, when they will host Bowling Green Jr. High.

SW          9   -    7     -     15    -      9                 40

Drakes    7   -    5     -      9     -     11                32

SW:  Zenobi 1, Litten 14, Smith 13, Haynes 5, Beckham 2,

J. Vincent 5

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South Warren 40  Drakes Creek 18  (8th)

The South Warren Spartans kept on rolling, picking up its sixth win in a row with an easy 40-18 win over the visiting Drakes Creek Gators. The Spartans took control early on and a 14-0 second quarter put the game out of reach early on. Michael Hicks scored five points in the opening quarter to pace the Spartans to an early 11-5 lead. Davis Taylor scored all five of the Gator points in the opening period, and would lead the Gators in scoring with nine points for the game.  Pressure defense from the Spartans in the 2nd period stiffled the Gators, shutting them out and allowing the Spartans to take a 25-5 lead into halftime. Drakes Creek would never threaten in the 2nd half and the Spartans cruised to the 22 point win.

The Spartans were balanced in scoring and led by Brandon Stacker, who scored 11 points and added 8 rebounds.

It was a special night for Kosuke Nishibata, who was playing his final game for the Spartans. He will be traveling back to live in Japan over the next couple weeks. Nishibata ended on the right note, when he stepped to the free throw line with just 2 minutes left in the game. After missing the first free, Nishibata calmly knocked the 2nd free throw down. We wish Kosuke the best of luck in all of his future.

SW        11   -    14    -    8    -    7             40

Drakes    5    -    0    -    9    -     4             18

SW:  Nishibata 1, Kirtley 4, Heltsley 7, Stephanski 6, Cummings 6, Hicks 5, Stacker 11

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