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O’Shaughnessy, Kramer power Poland romp
By Steve Ruman
NILES
Inside was the place to be Tuesday evening for area residents, as the first true cold spell of the season gripped the Mahoning Valley.
Inside was also the place to be for the Poland High School boys basketball team.
The Bulldogs’ inside game was red-hot from start to finish in a 77-53 road win over Niles.
Juniors Braeden O’Shaughnessy (19 points, 14 rebounds) and Daniel Kramer (17 points, 16 rebounds) led the Bulldogs, whose presence underneath the basket was too much for Niles from the start.
Poland (4-0) led 17-1 after one quarter, and took a 40-10 lead into the locker room.
The Bulldogs, who also benefited from an 18-point night from Brandon Barringer, pulled down 52 rebounds, compared to 24 for Niles.
“I was really happy with that first half,” Poland coach Ken Grisdale said. “We knew that Niles just needed to see a couple of its threes go in to get on a roll, so it was important to play good defense and especially not give up second and third chances.
“I was very pleased with our game plan, and the way we executed it,” Grisdale said. “We did a nice job offensively, and our play under the boards really set the tone.”
Poland raced off to a 15-0 lead before a Corbin Foy free throw gave Niles its first point with 57 seconds left in the first quarter.
Cyler Kane-Johnson scored Niles’ first field goal at the 7:14 mark of the second period, but by then the Bulldogs led 19-3.
Niles (1-4) managed just two field goals prior to halftime.
Da’Jon Motley led the Red Dragons with 16 points. Foy (15 points) and Kane-Johnson (10 points) also scored in double-digits.
“The second half, it got a little sloppy and that was to Niles’ benefit,” Grisdale said. “Give them credit, they had two choices.
“They could have either tucked their tail between their head and gone home and cried, or they could have come back out of the locker room and fight. They came out and played really hard that second half.”
After compiling an 18-6 record a year ago and returning four starters, Poland knew it entered the season with a bulls-eye on its back. To this point, the Bulldogs haven’t missed a beat. And, Grisdale says his team is still in the gelling process.
“We had a very rough November,” Grisdale said. “Because of injuries, all of our starters were together for only two practices before the start of the season. We’re still learning as a team.”
One of those injuries belonged to Kramer, whose strained Achilles tendon kept him sidelined during the latter stages of the preseason. Grisdale said the junior is “about two weeks away from exploding.”
Kramer is pleased with both his own progress and the progress of his team.
“We had some setbacks, but we didn’t let any of that bother us going into the season,” Kramer said. “We know we can be a dangerous team, but we also know we have to bring our best every night or we’ll get beat.
“We’ve been pretty focused through these first couple of weeks. We just have to stay the course.”
Poland has won 21 straight over Niles, and 34 of 35.