Big second half helps Poland roll

January 21, 2015 at 12:00a.m.

POLAND

Tate Duarte’s 18 points led three Bulldogs players in double figures as Poland ran past the Howland Tigers, 82-51 in All-American Conference, Red Tier action Tuesday at the Poland gymnasium.

Jared Burkert added 15 points and Kyle Dixon 12 as the Bulldogs (9-2, 6-1) outscored Howland 47-23 in the second half for their fourth straight victory.

It was Poland’s top offensive performance of the season.

“Coach [Ken] Grisdale told us at halftime that we weren’t playing up to our standards defensively, and to kick it up a notch,” Burkert said. “That’s exactly what we did and I believe that this is the type of defensive effort we’ll give the rest of the way. Controlling the boards is how you win games and we were able to do that in the second half as well.”

Grisdale said his team has been hurt by inconsistency at times this season.

“We asked the kids to be fundamental and assistant coach Chad Fender challenged them to step it up defensively at the half. We crashed the glass pretty hard after halftime and that was great to see,” Grisdale said.

Duarte scored six of his 18 points in the opening period. Burkert, Kyle Dixon and Matt Gajdos each adding a bucket from beyond the arc as Poland built a 27-17 lead after the first eight minutes.

Two triples by Howland’s Connor Antinone in the second frame helped the Tigers outscore the Bulldogs 11-8 as they cut the Poland lead to eight at intermission, 35-27.

Duarte then scored the first six points of the second half, keying a 17-0 run to start the period as Poland increased its lead to 52-28 at the 3:41 mark. The Bulldogs led 60-36 with one period remaining.

“The key in the second half was getting off to a quick start in both periods,” Duarte said. “We were able to control the offensive and defensive boards and also limited their second half chances. That wins games.

“We’re finally buying into the fact that we need to take ownership of our defense; take pride in it.”

Two more buckets by Duarte and a trey from Burkert keyed a 13-0 Bulldogs run to start the final quarter as they built a 73-36 lead with 4:28 to play.

Six points by Howland’s Michael Masucci and four more by Julian Lanier helped the Tigers end the game on a 15-9 run.

“I have a young group of players that were mentally on task in the first half. They sold out and that left their tanks empty in the second half,” Howland head coach Jason Lee said. “Poland did a nice job on both boards and they have an excellent in-out game. They took advantage of the opportunities that came their way tonight.”

Poland held a 32-26 rebound advantage with Dixon hauling down a game-high eight caroms.

The Bulldogs shot a sizzling 63 percent from the field (35 of 56) while holding the Tigers (3-9, 1-6) to just 17 of 46 (37 percent).

Poland also forced 23 Howland turnovers while registering 13 steals.