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Timeout talk lifts Poland to victory
By Joe Catullo Jr.
POLAND
Although it was early during Tuesday night’s contest, a timeout with 7:04 remaining in the second quarter was just what Poland High needed after a strong start from Streetsboro.
The Rockets scored 19 points in the first 8:56 of the game. Poland coach Ken Grisdale huddled his Bulldogs, asking a decisive question.
“‘Is this who we are?’’ Grisdale asked his team. “They decided that they were going to pick it up a little bit.”
From that point on, nothing interfered with Poland’s determination and willingness and the Bulldogs went on to win, 72-46.
After a 17-point first quarter, the Rockets (12-7) mustered just six in the second quarter, four coming after the first timeout. In fact, from the 7:04 mark in the second quarter, Streetsboro managed to score just 27 more points and committed 15 turnovers (17 total).
“We didn’t match the intensity from, basically, halfway there in the second quarter,” Streetsboro coach Nick Marcini said. “I thought, for the most part in the first half, we missed a lot of point-blank shots and a couple of free throws.”
Besides defense, Jacob Wolfe paced the Bulldogs (16-2) in the first half while his teammates struggled. Wolfe scored 13 points and collected nine rebounds in the half. He finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds, both game highs, overall.
“He’s a kid that when things aren’t going real well, he’s got to make things happen for us,” Grisdale said. “I thought he did a good job of that. He rebounded really well the other night. He hasn’t been shooting the 3s that well as of late, but I think tonight he felt pretty comfortable.”
With the defense coming into its own, Poland made the Rockets’ matters worse offensively. The Bulldogs scored 55 second-half points with 27 beyond the 3-point line. Poland made seven 3-pointers in the second half after making two on nine attempts in the first. Six players hit at least one 3-pointer.
“We actually shot way too many 3s in the first quarter and into the early parts of the second quarter,” Grisdale said. “They were open shots, but we were kind of settling for that. I think we started getting some more penetration. Their defense was collapsing, and that’s when you’re going to get your open 3s.”
Out of the six Bulldogs with at least one 3-pointer, four finished in double figures, including Wolfe. Dan Black scored 12 points while Jared Burkert and Kyle Dixon each had 10.
Reggie Dublin led the Rockets led with 10 points. Daniel Sapp scored nine points, Paul Jenkins had eight and Jerry Judd finished with seven.
Tuesday marked the first of three games in four days for Poland. The Bulldogs played their JV and bench players toward the end.
“They [the starters] were kind of mad that they had to come out,” Grisdale said, laughing.
Poland faces LaBrae at home tonight and then plays at Howland on Friday.