Moriah's transition game tops Beekmantown, 65-43
Feb. 21—BEEKMANTOWN — "The undefeated season means nothing," Moriah head coach Brian Cross said. "It doesn't matter what we did during the regular season. A new season started tonight."
These are the words said after the Vikings humbled the Eagles, 65-43, Saturday.
While Beekmantown tried to keep up, the transition game of Moriah was too much.
"We got off to a good start, which we haven't done lately," Cross said. "Lately, we've gotten off to slow starts, but tonight we played good defense and got some easy looks in transition. The guys played together like we've done all year."
The hot start from the Vikings saw them race out to an 11 point lead before the Eagles could figure out what happened.
Just halfway through the first quarter, Josh Burgin would get Beekmantown's first points from the charity stripe.
But, it wouldn't slow Moriah down as the first ended with a 14-point lead, 24-8.
It would be a different story at the start of the second as the Eagles started on a 6-0 run, before closing the game to five with 2:34 remaining in the period. It would be the closest they would get.
"Our press and 3-point shooting got us back in the game," Beekmantown head coach Gary Castine said. "However, our continued outside shooting went cold from there. We needed to get the ball back inside. I've told the guys before, the 3 pointers can shoot us into the game, but it can also shoot us out of the game. And that's what happened."
After a quick timeout, Moriah gathered itself and blew the game back open.
The Eagles went cold and over the last two minutes of the half, the Vikings continued their transition game to push the lead back to 14, 37-23.
Moriah was excellent at finding the open man in breaks. An extra pass led to an easy layup and easy bucket.
"They're a good group of kids," Cross said. "They look for each other and I mean (Rowan) Swan is probably the most unselfish player that I have. You know, if somebody's open, he'll get them the ball. I mean, that's what makes it rolling"
Swan was close to a triple double with 11 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists.
The second half started and it was more of the same story. Moriah started on a 6-0 run, pushing the lead to 20, realistically ending any hopes of a Beekmantown comeback.
Burgin was the only Eagle to score in the third period as the Vikings held a 17-8 advantage in the quarter.
"Moriah is well-balanced and they don't get rattled," Castine said. "They also share the ball, hit the boards, and have good balance. The first time we played them, Rowan Swan and Joe Pelkey did us in. Tonight, it was Cooper Allen, 24 (points) and Brady Olcott (16) that did the most damage."
Allen's 24 points were a game high.
With the regular season over, both teams are now ready for sectionals, which start in over a week from today.
Neither coach has doubts their team will be ready.
"We have a good scrimmage lined up for Tuesday," Cross said. "We have North Warren, and they're a good (Class) D school from section two. So, you know, that'll help too but we're still gonna have like a week and a half after that. But, you know, these kids, they're hungry. I won't have any problems getting them motivated.
Castine the game against Moriah gave his team a good tuneup.
"We couldn't have asked for a better opponent," he said. "Hats off to Coach Cross and his team. They truly deserve to be number one in our league. We only wish we could have given them as good of a challenge"
—
Moriah 65, Beekmantown 43
MCS (65)
Fleury 0-0-0, B. Olcott 6-2-16, Swan 4-3-11, Whitman 0-0-0, Pelkey 1-0-2, Allen 10-3-24, Gilbo 0-0-0, McGinness 1-0-2, Demarais 5-0-10, Sherman 0-0-0, Ovelette 0-0-0, D. Olcott 0-0-0, Scoresome 0-0-0. TOTALS: 27-8-65
BCS (43)
Mosley 1-0-2, Viau 1-0-2, Sorrell 0-0-0, Francois 0-2-2, Beebe 0-0-0, LaBorde 0-0-0, J. Sand 0-1-1, Mannix 0-2-2, Dixon 0-0-0, Parliament 5-0-12, Beauregard 1-0-2, Burgin 8-4-20, N. Sand 0-0-0. TOTALS: 16-7-43
Halftime- Moriah, 37-23
3 point goals- Moriah: (3) B. Olcott — 2, Allen; BCS (2) Parliament — 2.
