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South Range too much for Crestview
By Lowell Spencer
BEAVER TWP.
The Raiders made the Rebels “walk the plank” as the South Range High boys basketball team pounded Crestview 78-41 in a key Inter Tri-County League Tier One match-up between second place contenders.
The Raiders (7-2, 4-1) jumped out early with a ferocious defense, and they continued to apply the pressure as they swelled their lead to 43 points at the 3:40 mark of the final period.
SDLqWe were both one game behind in the league and our guys knew this was a must win for us,” South Range coach Dave Purins said. “I couldn’t be more proud of our complete team effort tonight.”
Part of that came from the Raiders’ bench. In the first half, both senior starters Brandon Pluchinsky and Dan Good picked up three fouls apiece. So junior forward Tyler Beverly came off the bench and led the Raiders in scoring with 15 points.
“Tyler Beverly has been a real spark for us the last couple of games,” Purins said. “He’s maturing every game, and he’s doing well. I also want to compliment Isaac Shuster who had some really big plays, some key rebounds, and some key shots when we really needed them.”.
“I come out there and do my part, but I’d be nothing without them,” Beverly said of his teammates. “The good thing about our team is that we have a really deep bench, so if one of them [starters] gets in trouble we have the ability to cover for them.”
The game began with the two teams playing at a high tempo, back-and-forth pace. Midway through the first period, the Raiders started to take charge. They went on a 13-0 run to end the period, and held a 25-8 advantage. Baskets by Beverly, Good, and two 3-pointers by Pluchinsky helped to propel that charge.
“The biggest thing for us I think is that we come out and turn it over way too much early and create a big gap early on,” Rebels coach Herman Miller said. “We battled back a little bit in the second quarter, at least get it down to a gap where we get them in some foul trouble and we just don’t close the gap.”
The Rebels (6-2, 3-2) were playing without senior Adam Coppock, who got hurt Tuesday night. But Miller didn’t think that was a decisive factor in his team’s performance.
“I respect his ability as a four-year varsity player, calmness-wise, ball-handling wise,” Miller said. “Would he have helped us? Sure he would. But that doesn’t make up for our lack of stops; it doesn’t make up for other things.
“I want to give him credit for what he is due, but at the same time I’m not going to pin it on one player who would make any difference in this game.”