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Poland wins dogfight against Lakeview
Poland vs Lakeview
Gallery
By MIKE McLAIN
POLAND
To Poland Bulldogs basketball coach Ken Grisdale, a 66-55 win over the Lakeview Bulldogs on Friday was a pretty sight.
However, under the close inspection of Grisdale, the art critic, the win had a few imperfections.
“We worked hard. We don’t do it pretty sometimes,” Grisdale said. “I told them when we came in, ‘This piece of work isn’t going to go to The Louvre.’ It’s a work in progress. That’s why you have a 22-game season. You can pick some things and try to get better at it.”
Poland improved its record to 3-1 and 1-0 in the White Tier of the All American Conference. Lakeview is 2-4 and 1-2 in the AAC.
It was a Poland performance that has become typical of the program, which is to say it moved the ball well, hustled for loose balls and rebounds, and defended well. Inexperience surfaced in the fourth quarter in the form of impatience.
“The way they played us forced us to have to grind a little bit, and we’re not grinders yet,” Grisdale said. “We’re competitors, but we’re not grinders. You saw at the end where we should be trying to kill the clock, [but] we’re still trying to score.”
Sophomore Dan Kramer had a well-balanced game for Poland, scoring 18 points and grabbing 10 of the team’s 39 rebounds. Braeden O’Shaughnessy added 16 points and eight rebounds, and Kyle Patterson had 15 points.
It was important for Poland to bounce back after a close loss to Boardman last Saturday.
“We played tough after a rough loss,” Kramer said. “We came back ready to play and to get our first league win in our first league game. We had to get the win.”
Poland never trailed, although the game was tied at 15 late in the opening quarter before Poland took a 19-18 advantage into the second period. Poland appeared primed for an easy win when it opened a 31-19 lead in the second quarter and a 34-24 halftime edge.
Poland stretched its lead to 51-35 through three periods, but Lakeview played an inspired fourth quarter. Chris Muir, who scored 19 points and grabbed nine rebounds for Lakeview, tallied eight points in the final session.
Second-year Lakeview coach Ryan Fitch is attempting to instill a winning culture in the program. He saw some positive steps in the loss.
“We talk about three stages of trying to set a culture of winning and then competing and then eventually winning,” Fitch said. “With games like this tonight, hopefully we’re starting to move into that second stage of competing night in and night out in the league.”
Muir made five of Lakeview’s 10 3-point shots, including three in the first quarter to help prevent Poland from building a bigger lead. T.J. Lynch had 12 points for Lakeview, and Danny Evans finished with 11.
Poland took good care of the basketball, turning over possession 13 times. Lakeview struggled at times against pressure in the first half, committing 14 turnovers, but it settled down and committed just seven in the second half.