East Canton 85, Woodridge 45

Game No. 13 At East Canton (Student Body Theme: Nerd Night)

What Happened: Domination, plain and simple

The Star: Zell Bradley - 18 points (8 in the second quarter) and 7 assists

The Co-Star: Sam Elseser – Season high in points with 13, including 6-6 on FTs

Highlight: Aaron Kennedy nailed a 3-pointer near the end of the game to make the Hornet lead 40 points even

Lowlight: In the 4th quarter, Whitacre pulled off a 3 step travel on a fast break. With the game out of reach, it became a comical moment. I'm fairly positive it would have even have been called in the NBA.

Tidbits

-East Canton went 24/28 from the free throw line. It's nice to have such a solid performance from the foul line since the Hornets have struggled as a team shooting fouls at other points in the season. Sam and Burfield both made all 6 of their attempts.

--85 points is East Canton's high for the year. Woodridge did not put a single player in double figures. This is also the first time the Hornets have not allowed an opposing team to put a single player in double figures

---East Canton forced 27 turnovers and only committed 10. The defensive intensity and commitment was relentless and undeniable.

----Burfield scored 22 points and 6 steals. 13 of his points came in the first quarter. Smith and Cartwright each contributed 9

-----With 5:07 remaining in the 3rd quarter, Bradley was fouled on a shot attempt. It resulted in him hitting the floor and a Woodridge player falling on top of him. The fall of the Woodridge player was actually more of a Yokozuna “Bonzai Splash.” Several East Canton players tried to help clear Bradley of the Woodridge player who took offense to being removed from the pile so quickly. The Woodridge player earned a technical for a petty shove but all the Hornets kept their composure.

------Coach Spurgeon was on "Stark Sports Talk Live"this morning. He referred to Smith as "The Master of The Half Inch" for his rebounding prowess and Burfield as a "five tool player"for his overall game improvement.

-------13-0. Tuslaw at home on Tuesday. Student body is having a "black out." Bzzzzzzzzzz


The JV was defeated 49-34. Shultz, Kennedy and Taylor all hit double figures in points

Editors Note: Look for Sam Gilbert in the background of the Bonzai video jumping up and down

A Free-Press article recapping the Waterloo and Woodridge games
http://www.the-press-news.com/news/slideshow/4762112

Recap: East Canton 67, Woodridge 62

Even though it seemed that East Canton dominated the majority of the game, it came down to the wire. The Hornets jumped out to an 11-0 lead to start the game and didn't give up a single point until 1:45 remaining in the first period. A run by Woodridge and a tight lid on the East Canton's goal let Woodridge get back in the game. Into the half the score was East Canton 24 to Woodridge's 23.

The Hornets came out strong in the second half with a 10-0 run to push their lead up to 11. But Woodridge made another run of their own to keep the game tight all the way until the finish. It came down to free throws and after shaky attempts by a myriad of Hornets, Joe Cartwright stepped up to ice the game with 3 of 4 in the clutch. Coach Spurgeon had this to say, "We left quite a bit of points at the free throw line tonight. We missed 3 front ends of 1 and 1's and didn't shoot with confidence late in the game until Joe did his thing."

Smith played a man size game when he wasn't in foul trouble, pouring in 19 points and 10 rebounds. The leading scorer for the game was Woodridge's Derek Morgan with 20. Burfield had a quite 16 points and did his best to hold together the team free throw performance by going 7 of 8. Bradley had a rough night from the field but contributed in other ways, getting his hands on countless passes and tough rebounds. He finished with 8 points, 7 assists and 7 steals.

The Jv lost in their 2nd consecutive outing. Leading the way in the 55-35 loss was Shultz with 14 and Taylor with 8.

Bits of Randomness
#21 for Woodridge swatted away plethora of Hornet attempts to score. He also wore Chuck Taylor shoes which I haven't seen personally in a high school game since... well, ever

Burfield got fouled on yet another 3 point attempt. My count has him being fouled on a 3 point attempt 3 times in 4 games

East Canton forced 4 turnovers by Woodridge to start the game. Their 11-0 run at the beginning of the 1st period was aided by allowing only 1 FG attempt in the first 5 possessions

Joe Carwright's one dribble pull-up move looked silky against Woodridge. This would be expected since he currently holds the Hornet practice title for "King of the Wing", a 1 on 1 drill played against the other Hornet wing players


Next up is Sandy Valley on Tuesday. Another away game for the Hornets.


Here is a picture Sam Gilbert submitted of himself modeling a pair of Chuck Taylor All-Stars during his playing days:


Thanks, Sam