Sports Editor
PUC defense holds PNC to 33 percent from the field
The "heat check" was inevitable. It's the standard time when a player is in the zone and has the basket looks like the ocean.
It happened with 1:20 remaining in the first half, as PUC freshman guard Josh Collins disregarded any offensive set and pulled up and connected on his fourth 3-pointer of the half.
Collins poured in 20 first half points, helping PUC defeat Purdue North Central 74-51 on Saturday afternoon at Michigan City's Marquette High School.
"When you make a few in a row, you always have to get a heat check, to see if you're really on fire," Collins said. "I just made the open shots. My teammates were looking for me - helping me make open shots. I got lucky I guess."
PUC coach Grayling Gordon had been looking for a player to step up.
"He was feeling it today, and that's what good ball players have to do," Gordon said after defeating the team he coached last year, for the second time of the season. "Sometimes you have to go away from your system and be able to create for yourself, and we haven't been getting that."
The Peregrines (6-20, 4-6 CCAC) jumped out early and applied suffocating defense to PNC (5-23, 0-10) and forced them to shoot just 33 percent from the field for the entire game.
"I thought we came in with good intensity," Gordon said. "We really spent the last two days after the Calumet (College) debacle working on our defense, and today I thought it showed - we really jumped the ball."
PUC led at the break 41-26, and cruised in the second half, not letting PNC get back in the game and allowing everyone on the Peregrine roster see minutes.
Collins finished the game with a game-high 21 points, shooting 8-for-12 from the field. Game-high rebounding honors was held by PUC's 6-foot-7 inch, freshman guard Michael Patton who snagged down nine.
PNC coach Kristofer Schnatz praised the efforts of his former boss.
"I love to see him win, except not against us," Schnatz said. "They were aggressive, and they did a great job."
It happened with 1:20 remaining in the first half, as PUC freshman guard Josh Collins disregarded any offensive set and pulled up and connected on his fourth 3-pointer of the half.
Collins poured in 20 first half points, helping PUC defeat Purdue North Central 74-51 on Saturday afternoon at Michigan City's Marquette High School.
"When you make a few in a row, you always have to get a heat check, to see if you're really on fire," Collins said. "I just made the open shots. My teammates were looking for me - helping me make open shots. I got lucky I guess."
PUC coach Grayling Gordon had been looking for a player to step up.
"He was feeling it today, and that's what good ball players have to do," Gordon said after defeating the team he coached last year, for the second time of the season. "Sometimes you have to go away from your system and be able to create for yourself, and we haven't been getting that."
The Peregrines (6-20, 4-6 CCAC) jumped out early and applied suffocating defense to PNC (5-23, 0-10) and forced them to shoot just 33 percent from the field for the entire game.
"I thought we came in with good intensity," Gordon said. "We really spent the last two days after the Calumet (College) debacle working on our defense, and today I thought it showed - we really jumped the ball."
PUC led at the break 41-26, and cruised in the second half, not letting PNC get back in the game and allowing everyone on the Peregrine roster see minutes.
Collins finished the game with a game-high 21 points, shooting 8-for-12 from the field. Game-high rebounding honors was held by PUC's 6-foot-7 inch, freshman guard Michael Patton who snagged down nine.
PNC coach Kristofer Schnatz praised the efforts of his former boss.
"I love to see him win, except not against us," Schnatz said. "They were aggressive, and they did a great job."
Published in the PUC Chronicle on Feb. 18, 2008
No comments:
Post a Comment