Posted: Friday, January 22, 2010 11:35 pm | Updated: 11:44 pm, Fri Jan 22, 2010.
By Peter Adelsen staff writer padelsen@kokomoperspective.com | 0 comments
It has been a rare occasion for the class 3A third-ranked Peru High School Tigers to be trailing at halftime this season. The Taylor High School Titans came ready to host the Tigers Friday in a heavyweight battle of two of the best teams in the Mid-Indiana Conference.
The Tigers' depth and defensive pressure in the second half aided them to a victory over the Titans, 50-36.
The Titans scored the first five points in the match-up and led throughout the first quarter of play. Taylor had excellent ball movement to lead to open looks for shots. Senior Seth Vautaw led the Titans in scoring in the first quarter with 10 points. The quarter ended with senior Reomey Northington driving to the basket where he was fouled and scored on two free throws. The Titans led after one quarter, 18-14.
In the second quarter, Peru began to add more defensive pressure on the Titans. The Tigers began the quarter on a 6-3 run, yet the Titans maintained the lead. Taylor senior Drake Herr scored all the points for the Titans with three made three-point baskets. Peru junior Taylor Smith led the Tigers in the quarter with six points, including two made free throws to cut Taylor's lead to 27-24 at halftime.
The Tigers continued to put pressure on the Titans in the third quarter. At the beginning of the quarter, Taylor junior Tyler Simmons fouled Peru's Taylor Smith where Smith made one of two free throws to cut Taylor's lead to one point. Taylor's Herr quickly responded with a basket of his own to increase his team's lead to four points, 29-25. On Peru's next possession, senior Terry Smith scored a basket to cut the lead to two. Then as Taylor was moving the ball up the court following the score, the Tigers forced a turnover and senior Wes Zimmerman scored to tie the game at 29 with 4:42 to go in the quarter. From this point on, the Tigers went on a 6-1 run to close the quarter, including a three-point basket from Terry Smith. The Tigers led for the first time at the end of the quarter, 35-30.
Throughout the fourth quarter, the Tigers spend much of the time at the free-throw line. The Tigers made nine of 13 from the line as the Titans struggled to make only two field goals. The Titans' first made field goal was a Vautaw three-pointer at 3:27 to go in the game as the Tigers had already scored eight unanswered points. The Tigers kept the pressure on the Titans as they made open shots and forced turnovers. The Tigers pulled away from the Titans as they won, 50-36.
Taylor coach Jeff Fisher was proud of his team's effort, but they could not sustain that effort in the second half.
"We're just not that far off," Fisher said. "I'm still proud of our kids. We just did not execute. I think we showed what we can do in the first half. I thought our execution the first half was about as good as anybody that they've played. Then we got bogged down. They put a little more pressure on us. We did not respond to that next level of their pressure."
The turn in the game, Fisher said, was when Taylor lost its crispness on the court.
"I want to give (Peru) credit," he said. "They have a great team. They play excellent defense. I thought the key to us being successful in the first half was ball movement and hitting the open man with good crisp passes. We did exactly the opposite in the second half. We dribbled the ball too much. The big key is you have to pass to people as they come open. Not after they're open."
Peru coach Eric Thompson said he was proud of his team to be only down by three at halftime.
"To be only down three at halftime and not playing very well and they were playing pretty darn well, from a coaching standpoint for survival, I was pleased at where we were at," he said. "We just kept grinding away and hoped that our defense would force some turnovers, which it did. We started hitting our shots and that's what happened."
Both coaches agreed on what was the turning point in the game.
"(Taylor) got tired and their passes weren't as crisp and we were a little bit deeper than they were and were able to keep fresh legs and get a lot more turnovers," Thompson said.
Peru's win over Taylor was the Tigers' 11th win in a row. During the streak, the Tigers have defeated four area schools, including Eastern, Marion, Kokomo and Maconaquah twice.
Taylor had only two players in double-figures scoring and were led by Herr's 13 points. Vautaw added 11 points for the Titans.
Peru had three players in double-figures scoring and they were Terry Smith with 15, Zimmerman with 13 and Taylor Smith with 10.
Taylor (7-5, 2-2 MIC) next takes the court Saturday at 7:30 p.m. against (1-9) Clinton Central. Peru (12-1, 3-0 MIC) next plays at home against Western (8-5, 3-1) at 7:30 p.m. on Jan. 29.
Scores by quarter:
Peru 14 10 9 15 = 50
Taylor 18 9 3 6 = 36
Other scores from Friday:
Frankfort 47, Kokomo 44
Western 55, Maconaquah 49
Eastern 61, Hamilton Heights 51
Northwestern 78, Lewis Cass 70
Saturday's games (7:30 starts, unless otherwise noted):
Tipton at Kokomo
Tri-Central at Western
Clinton Central at Taylor
Eastern at Northfield
Hamilton Heights at Sheridan
Lewis Cass at Delphi
Maconaquah at Logansport, 8 p.m.
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