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Hagy, Nutter combine for 20 blocked shots in Ridge victory
By BRANDON JUDEH
MINERAL RIDGE
The student section at Mineral Ridge high school was decked out from head to toe in holiday gear. Little did they know they were dressing for a block party.
Zac Hagy and Ryan Nutter each had 10 blocks to help the Rams deny South Range, 62-53, on Friday night.
Hagy was the catalyst for the Rams (4-1, 3-0 ITCL) all night, as he put on a show unlike most in attendance have ever witnessed. He stuffed the stat sheet by nearly recording a quadruple-double.
His line included 24 points, 10 blocks, seven rebounds, seven assists and five steals. Despite the incredible night, a humble Hagy says he never thinks in terms of how he does statistically.
“I never look at a win as if I personally won the game, I see it as a team thing,” Hagy said. “I happened to be hitting some shots in the first half and some rebounds were going my way also.”
Hagy’s show started in the first quarter as he blocked four shots by the Raiders (2-3, 1-2 ITCL).
Nutter complimented Hagy defensively as he swatted Raiders all night long. Nutter, who averages nearly 10 blocks per game, says that his team’s plan was to set the tempo early and keep it going throughout the game.
“We caused some early turnovers, which led to easy buckets for us,” Nutter said. “Blocking shots is a big thing for me and it helps get the crowd excited too, blocking shots and playing tough defense is what this team is about.”
Though the Rams dominated the first half, things changed drastically in the third quarter.
South Range used a 14-2 run to tie the game at 44, thanks in large part to the Rams’ tough 2-3 zone defense.
“At halftime we talked to our kids about playing it one possession at a time, getting some stops and then getting in transition off of that,” said Raiders coach David Purins. “Our guys are good kids, they have high character and I have to give them a lot of credit, they battled back.”
The final period was a back-and-forth battle that stayed even throughout most of the quarter, but in the end Mineral Ridge was able to prevail thanks to causing several turnovers.
Also helping steer the Rams to victory were Brandon Perkins with 15 points and Nathan Palmer chipping in with 12.
Garrett Anderson led South Range with 15 points and five rebounds while Tyler Beverly scored 13 and had a team high nine boards.
Hagy feels good about his team’s chances now that the Rams are 3-0 in the Inter-Tri County tier one league.
“It’s huge to get out to such a great start, we have been thinking about winning league ever since we were in junior high,” Hagy said.
Hagy also said there has been a lot of hype centered around his class since they were “tweens” and feels they are finally starting to prove all of the attention was warranted.