Jefferson shooters blister Niles in road blowout

January 16, 2016 at 12:06a.m.

NILES

A torn net on one of the baskets at Veterans Memorial Gymnasium caused the start of the second half of Friday’s game between Jefferson and Niles to be delayed by 25 minutes.

Once a new net was installed, the Falcons proceeded to torch it for 57 second-half points. The result was a 96-69 road win for the Falcons (9-1, 5-1 All-American Conference White). The victory puts them atop the standings.

Niles coach Ron Price acknowledged that sometimes it’s best to just tip your cap to your opponent.

“That’s one heck of a team, they are really good,” Price said. “Every time we cut down the lead, they responded in a big way.”

Sam Hitchcock led the Falcons with 25 points. He was one of five Jefferson players to reach double digits. Brevin White came off the bench to score 17, while starters Sage Cantini, Jacob Adams and Blake Payne scored 16, 12 and 10, respectively.

Niles (5-7, 4-2) was paced by Cameron Kane-Johnson, who scored 23. Tyrese Williams came off the bench to chip in 20 for the Red Dragons.

“I’m really proud of the way our kids fought and never quit, but Jefferson was just that much better tonight,” Price said. “They are solid in every way.” Jefferson owned a commanding 47-26 edge in rebounds.

In the opening game of the season, Jefferson escaped with a 60-57 win over the Red Dragons.

“Tonight, we changed our defense, we went from playing them man-to-man the first game to going to a diamond-and-one tonight,” Jefferson coach Steven French said. “We just thought we could face guard their shooters and give them headaches.

“We did it a couple of years ago against LaBrae and Peyton Aldridge, and it worked well. We dusted it off and went to it tonight, and I think it frustrated them early.”

Jefferson raced out to a 7-0 advantage and never looked back. The Falcons led by 10 at the end of the first quarter, and took a 39-23 lead into the break.

Cantini scored 10 first-quarter points to set the tone.

“We did a tremendous job of limiting Niles to one shot, and that is key against a good shooting club,” French said. “We sort of established the pace and set the tempo with our defense and our rebounding. Rebounding is what fuels our offense.”

Niles was able to cut its deficit to 53-40 five minutes into the second half. However, Jefferson closed the frame with an 11-4 run. The Falcons went on a 9-0 run in the early stages of the fourth quarter to put the game away.

“I thought everyone followed the game plan well tonight,” French said. “Sam had a big scoring night, Jake had a huge night on the boards, and our bench was tremendous.

“We saw a lot of composure from our guys tonight, and that’s a great sign.”

After going 10-0 in conference play last year, the Falcons are again flying high in the AAC.

“I love this league, I like coming down here because of the competitive atmosphere. We’re happy to be here,” French said.