Luke Lawrence (3) and Tyler Smith (1) play good defense against this Colon player during action February 9 at C-S Jr./Sr. High School.
By Bruce Rolfe
While the main focus for the Climax-Scotts boys varsity basketball team entering the final four regular season games will be developing good habits on a consistent basis and building momentum, a big part towards achieving those goals will be getting off to better starts and reducing turnovers.
The Panthers improved in one area but continued to struggle in the other Monday in a 64-40 makeup game loss at Battle Creek St. Philip.
C-S, now 5-13, got off to a better start, taking a 13-10 lead into the second quarter, but the team committed 23 turnovers and struggled with long stretches of cold shooting.
A cold shooting second quarter by the Panthers (2-for-12 overall) combined with a hot shooting quarter by St. Phil (8-for-15) allowed the home team to move in front 27-19 at halftime.
C-S responded with a better shooting third quarter (5-for-8 overall), but nine turnovers in the quarter gave St. Phil 10 more shot opportunities and the home team responded by making 10-of-18 tries to extend their lead to 49-32 entering the final quarter.
A cold shooting fourth quarter (3-for-12 overall) and six more turnovers prevented C-S from mounting a fourth quarter comeback.
Miles Shannon paired 18 points with seven rebounds and four steals to lead C-S.
C-S will have three straight home games, starting with a Winterfest contest February 16 against Bellevue followed by games against Battle Creek St. Philip (February 20) and Mendon (February 23)
Climax-Scotts 13 6 13 8 - 40
B.C. St. Philip 10 17 22 15 - 64
Chase VanMiddlesworth 7, Billy Felton 8, Luke Lawrence 2, Tye Chambers 5, Miles Shannon 18
Free throws: C-S 7-19/St. Phil 4-8
3-point baskets: C-S x/St. Phil 6 (C. Dzwik 4, J. Dzwik 2
C-S Stat Leaders
Rebounds: Miles Shannon 7, Luke Lawrence 6, Ivan Abad-Reyes 5/Steals: Miles Shannon 4/Assists: Luke Lawrence 3
C-S can’t overcome large early deficit
The Panthers entered the second half against Colon (10-8) with a double digit deficit only to fall short with a strong comeback in a 44-36 setback to the Magi February 9 at C-S Jr./Sr. High School.
The team committed 22 miscues. including 13 in the first half that contributed to a 24-8 halftime deficit.
A hot shooting third quarter when C-S connected on 5-of-10 two-point attempts allowed C-S to reduce the deficit to 32-21 entering the fourth quarter. C-S trimmed the deficit to 34-30 with 3:01 left in the fourth quarter on a Gage Champion basket inside.
But C-S hit a cold spell, making just 1-of-4 floor attempts with two turnovers the rest of the way while Colon finished the quarter making 8-of-16 free throws.
Nine turnovers in the first quarter prevented the Panthers from putting together any lengthy runs and the home team found themselves trailing 14-4 after one quarter.
While C-S reduced its turnovers to four in the second quarter, Colon’s defense held the Panthers to just two baskets. Colon enjoyed its best shooting quarter, knocking down 5-of-9 two-point attempts to move in front 24-8 at halftime.
Miles Shannon had 13 points to go with 13 rebounds, three steals, two blocked shots and one monster slam in the fourth quarter that pulled C-S to within 32-26 with 5:54 left. Chase VanMiddlesworth added 13 points, eight rebounds and three steals.
Colon 14 10 8 12 - 44
Climax-Scotts 4 4 13 15 - 36
Billy Felton 3, Chase VanMiddlesworth 13, Gage Champion 4, Ivan Abad-Reyes 3, Miles Shannon 13
Free throws: C-S 6-15/Colon 18-26
3-point baskets: C-S 2 (Billy Felton 1, Ivan Abad-Reyes 1)/Colon 2 (Nic Mock 1, Kyle Muntain 1)
C-S Stat Leaders
Rebounds: Miles Shannon 13, Chase VanMiddlesworth 8, Ivan Abad-Reyes 5, Gage Champion 4/Steals: Chase VanMiddlesworth 3, Luke Lawrence 3, Miles Shannon 3/Assists: Ivan Abad-Reyes 2, Luke Lawrence 2/Blocked shots: Miles Shannon 2
C-S snaps 3-game skid with impressive 54-43 win over Quincy
The Climax-Scotts boys varsity basketball team finally enjoyed a double digit lead to start the second half and went on to post a 54-43 non-conference win over Quincy February 6 at C-S Jr./Sr. High School.
The Panthers’ strong defense was a key to the first half double digit lead, as the home team held Quincy to 1-for-13 shooting from two-point range and 1-for-7 on three-point attempts while forcing the visitors into 11 first half turnovers.
Quincy picked its shooting up in the third quarter (43 percent from two-point range and 40 percent from three-point range) however C-S took a 36-27 lead into the fourth quarter.
The Panthers withstood a Quincy comeback in the final stanza by making 12-of-14 free throws. Miles Shannon was 5-for-6 at the charity stripe in the fourth quarter and Billy Felton was 4-for-4.
Shannon finished with 18 points, Felton, who knocked down three triples, had 15 points and Chase VanMiddlesworth added 10 points.
Quincy 12 3 12 16 - 43
Climax-Scotts 7 19 10 18 - 54
Chase VanMiddlesworth 10, Tyler Smith 1, Ivan Abad-Reyes 2, Luke Lawrence 2, Billy Felton 15, Gage Champion 6, Miles Shannon 18
Free throws: Climax-Scotts 17-21/Quincy 12-19
3-point baskets: C-S 3 (Billy Felton 3)/Quincy 5 (R. Kempter 2, G. Carter 2, B. Miner 1
C-S Stat Leaders
Rebounds: Miles Shannon 10, Chase VanMiddlesworth 5/Steals: Billy Felton 3, Chase VanMiddlesworth 2, Gage Champion 2/Assists: Luke Lawrence 3, Gage Champion 2/Blocked shots: Miles Shannon 3
