WC Hoops v. Carthage

With football now behind us for the year basketball season is in full swing - as a matter of fact local high school teams are just past the mid-point on their schedules already.

Last night was the renewal of the age-old rivalry between WC and Carthage that seems to translate to all sports - I'll bet those kids don't like each other much in soccer, swimming, or track either. With both schools joining the COC, instead of a home & home only one game per season is scheduled. This year it was in Carthage - it was even homecoming. So there we sat, packed like sardines into what I can't believe passes for a high school gym. I can't wait until the Tigers get moved into their new facility so we don't have to go to the old one anymore.

The game? It reminded me of last year's game a little. Webb would get up, but couldn't seem to deliver the knockout blow and Carthage just kept coming back and keeping it close enough to be a game. Webb had several leads of 9 or more points including at 10-1 in the first. But in the fourth, Carthage started firing three pointers and managed to convert 5 3-point plays (including one guy hitting 3 free throws after Austin Daniel blocked - cleanly - his 3-point attempt and Scott Roderique got called for the foul - Scott was across the floor from where it happened).

Carthage got as close as 2-points and pulled within 3 a couple of times in the last 2 minutes. As I recall, Carthage even got the ball back once when they were down by three, but turned it over without getting a shot to tie.

Webb was Webb - they made the plays they needed to in order to finish the Tigers off - hitting 6 of 8 free throws and forcing 2 turnovers late. It wasn't pretty, but when it comes to playing at Carthage you have to be fairly satisfied with a win even if it's only 6-points.

I wrote last year about Webb City's basketball squad being physically superior to their opponents and not being coached to use that advantage. Even with losing 4 very talented senior starters, when the Cards take the floor it's like watching a varsity squad line up against a freshman squad in a lot of cases. They're just bigger. Case in point. Austin Lepper. I can't think off hand what his height/weight are, but he's a big guy. He walks past me every Sunday at church and he's just a big guy - probably 6'3" and 210, not sure. He's the 3rd biggest starter for WC. No really. Parker Graham is 6'8" and Trey Laveroni is 6'5" and both are strong guys - not wiry like some of the post players Webb faces from time to time. My point here is that WC, top to bottom is a big team (at least their starting 5 is, they are much smaller coming off the bench).

One difference I see from last year's team is a more consistent aggressive attitude in the paint. You don't see Parker Graham or Austin Lepper getting pushed around inside like we suffered through at times last year. I have to think that is caused by some combination of coaching and the individuals involved. These two guys - and the rest of the team - go after rebounds and in most cases take it hard to the rim.

Last night, I think we were in the 3rd quarter before I saw WC get a foul without at least one Carthage player hit the floor. Look, here's the deal, if you're going to foul someone you've got to get your money's worth. Now before someone accuses me of wanting people to play dirty, that's not what I'm talking about. I'm just talking about making sure that the fouls you do get are because you're being aggressive and not because you're being lazy and reaching instead of moving your feet on defense. If you're going to foul someone, foul them and don't give them the 3-point play unless they earn it. Why?

Because you're the bigger team and opponents ought to think twice before coming at you with the ball, not because you're a bully, but because they are a buck-thirty-five-soaking-wet and are going to go flying if you even reach in their direction.

The very last thing we ought to see is teams trying to push WC's big men around inside. Why? Because it's like children trying to push their parents around, it can only happen if the parent allows it. The down side is that when the bigger player stands his ground he's going to get the foul a lot of the time because he's easier to see. But you've got to set the tone. Put a couple of guys on the ground early and they'll probably find something else to do other than drive the paint the next time.

But hey, I already admitted I missed football season, so maybe I'm just missing watching WC backs run over defenders.

I also want to give a shout-out to the Cards for playing a lot of tough minutes. WC only willingly goes about 7-deep. They've got some other players that are developing, but are much stronger when they stay with their top-7. This means the starting 5 are playing a lot of minutes. I'm pretty sure Patrick Drake (brother-in-law) didn't sit down until the middle of the 4th. Pat didn't score a ton of points last night, but played well on defense, holding Trey Derryberry and other Tigers in check throughout the game. Derryberry had 11 points, at least 8 of which looked like something I did in a pickup game once upon a time. He's either a lot better than he appears or he got lucky on a couple of really ugly looking shots. Maddy Johnson has come along quickly, looking much more confident with the ball than a few weeks ago. He knows the game and can handle the ball. Austin Daniel shoots the ball well when WC needs him to and is good on defense. Not unlike football, he's a good player that the opponent probably wasn't paying attention to on film because of the others on the team.