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Poland’s defense frustrates West Middlesex
YOUNGSTOWN
When he was preparing for West Middlesex High and its “man-child” down low, Trey Staunch, Poland High boys basketball coach Ken Grisdale didn’t know he’d be without one of his senior big men, Tate Duarte.
So what’d he do instead?
“We did a lot of praying,” Grisdale said with a smile.
“We challenged Danny [Black] and we challenged Jake [Burns].
“He’s the most physical kid that we see and we saw him as a sophomore and he’s a man-child — he really is. I thought Danny did a great job and I thought our guards did a really good job of digging down.”
The Bulldogs’ defense frustrated the 6-foot-5 Staunch, and ultimately the entire Big Reds team, in a 58-46 win Sunday night in the Lariccia’s See Them Rise tournament at the Covelli Centre.
Staunch finished with 14 points and eight rebounds, but the Big Reds shot just 4-of-17 in the second half and turned the ball over 11 times in the game.
“We haven’t been getting that lately and [Grisdale]’s been forcing it on us to want it,” Bulldogs guard Jared Burkert said of the defensive pressure and forcing turnovers.
“I thought we did a real good job with that.”
Burkert led all scorers with 16 points, including three of the Bulldogs’ seven first-half 3-pointers that helped build an eight-point lead at the break.
“We like to shoot the ball,” Grisdale said. “We thought coming in we’d be a really good 3-point shooting team and our percentage is really good from there.”
“We know we got some good shooters,” Burkert added, he being one of them.
With the Bulldogs (10-2) in control under two minutes, the junior put up a 3 from the corner after his teammates had just beat a press put on by West Middlesex. The shot clanked off the back iron and Grisdale screamed at him, “Are we losing?”
Burkert shook his head back-and-forth, receiving a glare from his head coach.
“Shooter’s mentality,” Burkert joked after the game.
This was the third year in a row the Big Reds (14-3) have played in the high school basketball showcase at the downtown Youngstown location. Two years ago they defeated Peyton Aldridge and LaBrae. Last year they fell in double overtime to Canfield.
“To play in this facility, it’s kind of like a simulation — if we’re lucky enough to get ourselves out of our district — of the Canton Civic Centre,” Grisdale said. “The kids look forward to it with the TV screens and it’s neat.
“I mean we were in the prime-time, big game and I thought we could only get better because of it.”
The challenge for Black and Burns of guarding Staunch will also better prepare them for what they could see come tournament time. Black stepped up with 14 points and four rebounds, while Burns battled down low for most of the game.
“Our big men fought hard — theirs did too — and they both played great games,” Burkert said. “I think the guards helped with some steals down low.
“It was a good team effort.”
The fear is that Duarte could be lost for significant time after injuring his ankle in Friday’s win over Austintown Fitch. The senior forward immediately went and got an X-ray, where they believed to have found a fracture.
“We’re praying that when he says his doctor tomorrow, that we’ll get good news,” Grisdale said.
The Bulldogs play Liberty Tuesday, before a rivalry game against Canfield.