MORGANTOWN — Consider 20 minutes of Monday’s practice well spent for the University High boys’ basketball team.
The Hawks used a new matchup-zone defense, then weathered a furious second-half comeback to knock of visiting Bridgeport 67-53 on Tuesday.
Bridgeport shot 32 3-pointers in the contest and only connected on nine as this new UHS defensive look gave the Indians (1-1) just enough problems, especially early, for the Hawks (2-0) to pick up the victory.
“I’m surprised they didn’t shoot more (3-pointers),” UHS head coach Joe Schmidle said. “I’m also surprised they didn’t make more.”
Schmidle gave credit to his players and assistant coach Barry Sanders for implementing the defense during a short practice period on Monday.
“I was very concerned about their ability to shoot threes and we are primarily a man defensive team,” Schmidle said. “It was a variation of a matchup zone. That’s coach Sanders right there. It was a matchup zone that he used to run a lot at Preston. We had talked and we both thought that it would be a good idea for this game.”
University used that defense and an 18-6 run to close out the first quarter with a 22-14 lead and then pushed its lead to 42-20 early in the third quarter when Aaron Forbes scored back-to-back baskets inside.
But then the Indians had a defensive trick up their sleeve as well.
Bridgeport switched to a full-court pressure defense that forced the Hawks into 18 second-half turnovers.
“We were fortunate, we made them turn the ball over some – it kind of helped us get in the flow and get off our heels,” Bridgeport coach Dave Marshall said.
That pressure and a 10-3 run for the Indians cut the UHS lead to 52-45 but then the Hawks were able to gain composure and finish the game out strong.
“That was just lack of execution by my guards,” Schmidle said. “We don’t have good court awareness yet. We just have to do a better job at securing the ball. Our guards are talented enough to do it, they just aren’t paying attention to what is going on around them.”
Offensively the Hawks were led by Garrison Kisner who finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Forbes added 15 points and 14 rebounds while Elija Jackson connected on three 3-pointers and finished with 15 points. Grant Cavalier provided a spark off the bench with four points and five rebounds.
Kisner and Forbes, both listed at 6-foot-6, provided enough problems for Bridgeport on offense and defense. Marshall said his team just hasn’t faced teams with that much height in this young season.
“We don’t have a lot of size down low,” Marshall said. “We got some guys that can shoot. Taking the threes isn’t unusual for us, it’s that we took those threes so early in the possessions. You have to give credit to University because they were playing their zone and those two big guys in the paint provide some problems.”
Mitch Duez led the Indians with 13 points and four different Bridgeport players hit 3-pointers.
UHS returns to action this weekend when it travels to George Washington to take part in the Par Mor Holiday Classic. UHS faces Capital at 6:15 p.m. on Friday before playing GW at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.
— Story by Eric Herter
