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Bulldogs dominate from start to finish against Indians
Bulldogs dominate from start to finish against Northeast 8 rival Girard
By Greg Gulas
GIRARD
Dan Kramer scored a game-high 21 points and 11 players scored as Poland knocked Girard from the ranks of the undefeated 70-43 in a Northeast 8 Conference game Friday night.
Poland (4-1, 2-0) scored the first six points of the game, jumped out to an 11-2 lead and never looked back as the Bulldogs remained undefeated in conference action.
“We wanted to create our own tempo and use our athleticism to score,” Kramer said. “Our full-court press got us started at the outset, we were able to build a lead and just kept the game moving.”
Poland led 21-9 after the first eight minutes of play.
“We had a nice first quarter and were able to push the ball up the court and that set the tone of the game,” Kassem said. “Applying pressure on defense was the game plan.”
Back-to-back 3-pointers by Braeden O’Shaughnessy and Kramer just 52 seconds into the second period increased the Poland lead to 27-11. Kassem’s basket at the 3:11 mark made it 34-14.
Seven points by Kramer and four more by O’Shaughnessy then helped Poland to a 36-18 lead at the break.
“Dan is a three-year starter who has done great things for us,” Bulldogs coach Ken Grisdale said. “He struggled a bit offensively of late so it was nice to see him play well tonight. Girard crashes the glass hard so we were looking to score on transition. Our defense played really well, but I felt we were a little sloppy offensively.”
The Bulldogs opened a 48-24 margin at 4:30 of the third quarter on Kassem’s floater in the lane.
Kramer continued his offensive assault with eight more points to help Poland open a 55-29 margin heading to the final period.
Girard (5-1, 2-1) forward Matt Payich hit two of his game-high four triples in the period for the Indians, who were playing without the services of senior Austin O’Hara, who suffered a broken right fibula earlier in the month.
“I was crushed when I talked with Girard head coach Craig Hannon and he told me the news about Austin,” Grisdale said. “Injuries like that aren’t supposed to happen to any player.”
Josh Blasko scored all nine of his points in the final period, offsetting two more triples by Payich as the Bulldogs cruised.
“We didn’t play with effort tonight and they beat us in every effort aspect. We were outworked,” Hannon said. “Injuries happen and while Austin was a key player with everything that we did, we have the talent in our locker room to do better than we did tonight. We have some homework to do.”
Payich was the only Indian to finish in double-figures with 12 of his team-high 14 points in the second half.