Double threat: Big man's versatility helps Glenwood basketball to CS8 win

ROCHESTER — Strong starts to each half propelled Chatham Glenwood to a 53-37 win over Rochester at the Rochester Athletic Complex on Tuesday in a Central State Eight Conference matchup.

Glenwood senior Wes Anderson scored 21 points — including 15 in the second half, which allowed the Titans to pull away from the Rockets.

“He does a good job against zone teams,” first-year Glenwood coach Kody Kirkpatrick said of Anderson. “He does do a good job passing in the middle. He's got enough size to kind of see over the top and find open cutters. And then if they kind of try to guard him one-on-one, he can do a good job scoring the ball.”

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Anderson, the 6-foot-5 forward, scored Glenwood’s first six points then passed to find Jack Dettro for an open corner 3-pointer as Glenwood took a 9-2 lead midway through the first quarter.

Aside from being one of the tallest players on the court, Anderson is impossible to miss on the floor with his blonde hair.

Anderson said his passing skills allow him to thrive either scoring or finding open teammates and the Glenwood offense creates plenty of open teammates from which he can choose.

“You're supposed to slip down there (off the screens) and it opens it up,” Anderson said. “My ability to pass opens up shots and then when I'm scoring, the passes are open, so that works out pretty well.”

Anderson went into his playbook for Tuesday's game with layups, mid-range jumpers, shots from the baseline and a one-handed hook shot from near the basket. He's also as adept passing over a defender as he is finding a teammate with a bounce pass.

Titans capitalize, Rockets respond

After Darrias Christmon scored on Rochester’s first possession for a 2-0 lead, the Rockets’ next six possessions ended in turnovers. That allowed Glenwood (10-6 overall, 7-3 CS8) to go on a nine-point run. Early in the second quarter, Rochester found itself down 17-4.

“I think we came out just almost lackadaisical and Chatham’s very well coached and I think they were ready to play,” Rochester coach Tony Gavin said. “And they turned us over a few times.”

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Rochester (7-12, 3-6) closed out the final 5 minutes, 28 seconds of the half by outscoring Glenwood 12-5 to pull within 22-16.

In that span, the Rockets got two buckets from Hank Beatty, three from Canon Bruce, two each from Christmon and Henry Buecker and one from Adam Anderson.

“I did think we could have packed it in at that point (but instead) we played really hard,” Gavin said. “I think we played really hard in the second quarter and that kind of changed things around.

“I mean, we got after him defensively a little bit … and it really got us back in the game.”

Wes Anderson said the Titans didn’t panic but did focus on defense in the second half.

“Well, the halftime talk was about defense stepping up the intensity man-to-man,” Anderson said, “and just having pride and guarding.”

Defense keeps Glenwood on its toes

Rochester limited its turnovers to just three in the second quarter after seven in the opening period. But once again, Glenwood’s defense flummoxed the Rockets into six more in the third.

“Getting up in the gaps and not letting them have the easy pass caused a lot of turnovers,” Anderson said.

Eli Curtis added 10 points for the Titans.

But Glenwood also committed 16 turnovers to Rochester’s 17. Kirkpatrick said that Gavin’s Rockets continued to change the look of their defense and it bothered the Titans.

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“They kind of extended their zone and you know really kind of forced us into some mistakes where we just turn the ball over — throwing to the wrong team — but they did a good job of extending and in different ways,” Kirkpatrick said.

“They trapped us at half court a couple times. That kind of mixed up a 1-3-1 and then a 2-3 where they jumped us a half court they kind of trapped in the short corners.

“It wasn't just that they were doing the same thing. They did a good job of mixing up the pressure.”

Christmon and Bruce led Rochester with eight points apiece.

Contact Ryan Mahan: 857-246-9756, ryan.mahan@sj-r.com, Twitter.com/RyanMahanSJR.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Glenwood senior leads Titans past Rockets in CS8 basketball game