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Hot-shooting Poland wins dogfight
CORTLAND
It may have lacked the Valentine weekend spirit, but the Poland-Lakeview game didn’t lack a robust flavor that produced 43 free throws in Poland’s 84-52 All-American Conference non-tier game.
Jared Burkert had 20 points, which included six 3-point goals for Poland (17-2), which extended its winning streak to 12 games. Tom Bell’s 15 points and eight rebounds paced Lakeview (9-9), which struggled after giving the visitors a competitive first quarter.
After Poland’s slow start, the lid came off.
“He can flat-out shoot and he doesn’t need a lot of space,” Poland coach Ken Grisdale said of Burkert. “When he’s on, it’s going to the bottom of the net — he doesn’t even need a rim. We hit a few of those and then [Matt] Baker came off the bench and we were able to stretch it.
Baker finished with 15 points.
Uncharacteristically, Poland had 10 first-half fouls, which, Grisdale said, put his Bulldogs in a different attack plan.
“It’s a tough place to play because the Lakeview kids are physical. Larry’s [Lakeview coach Herrholtz] got them on the right track.”
Grisdale said the win helped prepare Poland for the Howland game — the second of two remaining AAC Red Tier opponents.
“You’ve got to win on the road and we’re going on the road to Howland on Tuesday and then Canfield on Friday, so, coming here set the stage for next week.”
Herrholtz gave a simple explanation for Poland’s dominance.
“Our guys played hard from the beginning and our guys are a very confident basketball team, but [Poland] shot 64 percent from the field,” Herrholtz said. Still, I think our guys have turned the corner and we believe we can play with anybody. But it’s hard to overcome 64 percent in the first half.”
Herrholtz said that Lakeview’s game plan was to guard Poland’s 3-point line.
“You can see how difficult it is against a Poland team that’s well-coached,” said Herrholtz, who noted that his players, when on defense, were over-helping off their man and leaving other Poland players open.
A late highlight was when subs entered in the fourth quarter.
For Poland, sophomore William Aey had his first varsity points on a 2-point goal.
“He works so hard in practice and has to go against Jacob Burns and Dan Black,” Grisdale said. “The guys were so happy for him.”
Aey got a standing ovation frpm the Poland bench.
Lakeview freshman T.J. Lynch got his first varsity points on a 3-point goal.
“He’s only a freshman, but we’re expecting big things from him,” Herrholtz said.