| Elmwood at Eastwood Basketball 1/4/11. #34 goes up for a shot. (Photo: Aaron Carpenter/Sentinel-Tribune) |
LUCKEY — Even though it’s only three games into the league season, Elmwood is the lone undefeated team in
boys Suburban Lakes League play after a strong second half in a 64-44 win over arch-rival Eastwood
Tuesday.
The Royals are 6-1 overall and 3-0 in the SLL while Eastwood is 2-4, 2-1. Gibsonburg was the other
unbeaten team heading into Tuesday’s play, but the Golden Bears dropped a 59-47 decision to Woodmore.
Because of the rivalry, Elmwood head coach Ty Traxler was concerned coming into the game.
“Our seniors knew it was our last time coming in here,” Traxler said. “They were excited to put on a good
show. This is definitely one of the toughest places in our league to play.
“I’m concerned anytime I come to Eastwood,” he added. “They, definitely early on, were able to take us
out of our rhythm at the offensive end with their zone. Our kids adapted as time went on.” PHOTO
GALLERY
For the Eagles, too many turnovers were the problem. Eastwood had 28 turnovers, 25 through the first 24
minutes, including 12 in the third quarter.
“It’s the third game in a row that we’ve been 25-plus (in turnovers),” Eastwood head coach Todd Henline
said. “Elmwood, they got after us, but a lot of our turnovers are of the unforced variety.
“If we are going to be able to compete with decent teams we are going to have to clean that area up,”
Henline continued. “Unfortunately it’s just not in one area, it’s kind of spread out right now.”
The game was close for the first half as Elmwood led 10-7 after the first quarter and 23-15 at the break.
With foul trouble on starters Jack Waldock and Jay Hannah in the opening half, Traxler was pleased with
the efforts of Andrew Davis and Max Zyski, with six and five points respectively.
“We did what we wanted to do in the first half, except finish and hit our free throws,” Henline said. The
Eagles were 2-of-5 from the line in the first half and 8-of-14 for the game. “I felt pretty comfortable
in holding them to 23 (points).”
With Elmwood extending its lead in the second half, Eastwood’s defense was forced to extend out of a
compact zone and that enabled the Royals to open things up even more.
“They have some pretty nice athletes, who are able to attack the basket,” Henline said about the Royals.
“We’ve got to get better defensively,” Henline added.
The Royals were 9-of-15 from the field in the third quarter, including 2-of-4 on threes, in rolling up 24
points. Leading 27-20, Elmwood went on a 10-2 run in just over a minute in the third quarter to take
complete control of the game. The Royals were up 47-34 heading into the final quarter as Eastwood’s
Jacob Faykosh had five points in late going of the third quarter.
T.J. Waldock scored eight of his game-high 20 points in the third quarter and twin brother Jack Waldock
had eight of his 10 points.
“T.J. did a good job of using his quickness in the post,” Traxler said.
The Royals put another 17 points in the board in the fourth quarter, making 6-of-8 shots from the field,
to extend the final margin to 20 points.
“Especially in the second half we really did a great job of doing what we wanted to do to start the game
in exerting our physicality and pressure (defense) like we thought we could,” Traxler said.
Kevin Hammer added 12 points for the Royals. T.J. Waldock had eight rebounds and four steals to go with
his 20 points.
Cody Jennings led Eastwood with 15 points and Jacob Faykosh added 11. Jennings, Caleb Vespi, Jeff
Rutherford and Forest Ickes provide a strong inside presence for Eastwood. The four combined for 26
points against the Royals.
“That’s probably been the most consistent area for us this year. Between the four of them, we’re getting
pretty solid contributions there both in points and rebounds,” Henline said about his inside players.
Eastwood hosts Gibsonburg Friday and Elmwood entertains Van Buren in a non-league game on Saturday.
Elmwood won the junior varsity game, 38-31. Zach Foster scored 16 points for Elmwood and Conlan Varty
added 12. Kevin Sweeney scored eight points for Eastwood and Austin Speck added seven.
