NCA Jets Take Care Of Business At Big Bay, 76-34
GARDEN CORNERS---The Big Bay deNoc Black Bears have been known to be a tough team to beat on their home court over the years. The Bears upset Gladstone two years ago here, almost repeated the trick earlier this season. But Big Bay was up against an almost impossible task Friday as the state's top-ranked North Central Jets came calling. The Jets so thoroughly dominated that they did not score a single point in the fourth quarter but still won on the mercy-rule clock. "Nice balanced scoring tonight," NCA Coach Adam Mercier said. "We pushed the ball up the floor nice. I was worried about a letdown after a big game on Tuesday (against Menominee), but the kids answered the bell early on, which is great to see." The Jets led, 5-4, before scoring eleven straight points to lead, 16-4, several minutes into the game. The lead continued to grow, with NCA ahead, 55-19, at halftime. "We came out sharing the ball," NCA junior Dawson Bilski said. "I mean, we had so many open looks tonight. When we play like that, you can't stop us. It's pretty hard. So, when we do that, we're just a great team overall. Our defense did a great job tonight." Big Bay deNoc Coach Bob Pederson agrees. He used four of his five alloted time outs in the first quarter to try to slow the Jet onslaught. That did not happen until late. "It's dofficult, as you might imagine," Pederson said. "We tried a couple of different things, and nothing seemed to work. They're good offensively. They're good defensively. If you make a mistake, they're going to make you pay, no matter what." Whitens scored 20 points to lead the Jets, while Bilski added 16. Troy Ekberg scored ten points and Marcus Krachincki chipped in with nine. Eight different Jets scored. "It's unselfish basketball," Mercier said. "We racked up the assists tonight. A lot of guys get into the scorebook. It was just, overall, a great road win." "On any given night, any one of them...any one of their top seven...could go off for 30 points," Pederson said. "They play so well as a team, very unselfish. Very disciplined. When you're not coaching against them, it's fun to watch." There were some comical moments as the Jets tried to get Morgan Cox a dunk. He had several alyoop passes thrown to him, but could'nt get a dunk. Whitens joked that he might have to give Cox a tutorial on how to dunk the ball. "I think for the season, we are tied for dunks," Whitens said with a chuckle. "But no, he's just coming off of a sickness. He was playing hard and hustling out there." Senior James Casey led Big Bay deNoc with 13 points. Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box above to listen to post-game interviews, and to see photos and videos. |