Dobson, DeJane key Springfield

The Tigers beat East Palestine for the second time for their seventh win.
By CHUCK HOUSTEAU
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
NEW MIDDLETOWN -- Springfield Local basketball guard Dane Dobson said the Tigers approached Tuesday's game against East Palestine with a lot of confidence.
"We beat them earlier this year," Dobson said, "and we came out here tonight thinking we were going to win this game."
Dobson was one of four Springfield players to score in double figures as the Tigers jumped on the Bulldogs early and coasted to an 82-66 win.
Springfield (7-3) defeated East Palestine earlier this season by 17 points.
The junior guard was a major catalyst in enabling Springfield to race out to a 12-point lead in the first six minutes of the contest.
Dobson hit a jumper with 2:05 left in the first period to give the Tigers an 18-6 and the Tigers never looked back.
"We were ready to play right from the get-go," Dobson said. "I haven't been hitting my shots lately so I spent a lot of time in the gym this weekend and tonight I felt good."
Dobson, DeJane key attack
Dobson scored 17 points and made six of his first eight shots in the first half, while 6-foot-7-inch Zach DeJane added a game-high 20 points to lead the Tigers.
Mike Kempfer also tallied 17 points while Andrew Schuler knocked in 12 points. Dave McClearn hit for eight points on two 3-pointers and Bobby Rogers came off the bench to score eight points and grab seven rebounds.
"It was a great team effort," Springfield coach Grant Spaite said. "We've been making strides and getting better and so we felt good coming into this game."
Springfield's three losses have been to very good teams like Canfield and Struthers of the Metro Athletic Conference, and Inter-County League rival Mineral Ridge.
"We were outplayed in all phases of the game," East Palestine coach Tom Bingham said. "They have so many weapons. I still think they are one of the favorites in the Inter-County League."
Tigers enjoy strong start
The Tigers never gave the Bulldogs a chance as they got off to the good start with a combination of strong outside shooting by Dobson and Kempfer and the inside work of DeJane and Schuler.
"Our ball movement was crisp. We were moving it around the perimeter and then moving it inside," Spaite said. "These guys are very unselfish. It's not a matter of who gets the points as long as the team gets a W."
After opening up the early lead, Springfield led 22-10 after the first quarter and continued to open up leads of 44-24 at half and 68-43 after three quarters.
The Tigers shot more than percent from the field through those first three periods and ended up shooting 35 of 61 for 55 percent for the game.
Bulldogs didn't quit
Despite the huge lead after three quarters, East Palestine didn't quit and made the fourth period interesting.
The Bulldogs got as close as 12 points, 78-66, on a basket by Jake Harvey late in the contest.
Travis Foreman had a tremendous game for the Bulldogs as he made 9-for-10 free throws in the final period and worked hard for inside baskets, while forcing Schuler and DeJane to foul out.
Foreman finished with 17 points and Dan Hanolt added 15 points and five rebounds.
DeJane led Springfield with nine boards as the Tigers held a 34-23 rebounding advantage.