Spartans improve to 4-11 after winning two of last three games
By Drew Herron - AJ Sports Editor / Jan. 23, 2014
ELK HORN – The Spartans picked up another win Tuesday night, their second victory in the last three times out.
Although Exira-EHK’s record is not impressive (4-11); some of the hope and optimism that coach Doug Newton has been preaching about for weeks has turned into tangible things. Recently, that means victories.
“It shows you that you can get things done when you do things the right way,” coach Newton said this week.
The Spartans outdid host Charter Oak-Ute 22-13 in the fourth quarter to cap off a 57-52-road victory in the Rolling Valley Conference.
CO-U played aggressively and fell into foul trouble, leading the Spartans’ into the bonus early in the second half. As EEHK shot its free throws (10-of-22), the Bobcats withdrew in focus, perhaps because of the foul trouble.
“It sort of lulled them to sleep for lack of a better word,” coach Newton says of CO-U. “They just didn’t come at us quite as hard after that. It seemed like they were a bit down.”
In the fourth quarter, EEHK’s Lucas Schwery drew a critically important charge foul that sent CO-U’s leading scorer Brad Staley to the bench with his fifth of the night. Once he left the game, the Bobcats grew more one-dimensional with their offense.
EEHK outrebounded CO-U 39-22, and that also played into the Spartans’ favor.
Junior Jake Paulsen continues to be a strong presence in the paint lately for the Spartans, showing up with 25 points and 11 rebounds Tuesday night.
“They were ignoring the post a little bit, and our guards were doing a good job of getting the ball to him inside,” coach Newton says of Paulsen. “Once, he gets the ball, quite honestly he knows what to do with it. Jake has come a long ways in a short time.”
Paulsen has recently worked his way into the starting lineup for the Spartans despite not playing organized basketball since eighth grade.
Coach Newton says Paulsen has been putting in extra time and effort with assistant coach Tony Santisteban, a former All-Conference player with the Spartans (2011), and that he’s developing into a varsity basketball player very quickly.
“Jake listens, and he’s catching on,” coach Newton says. “He’s had to grow up in a hurry, but he’s so athletic and strong…he’s really become quite a nice addition for us.”
Paulsen finished with 16 points a week earlier at Woodbine, and chipped in 14 at home against Paton-Churdan last Friday.
The Spartans are now 4-11 and sit in eighth place in the 11-team Rolling Valley Conference. Heading into the season, Exira-EHK knew it a had a number of question marks, and holes to fill. The success of the football team delayed basketball practice by a couple weeks, and only now is the team starting to jell enough to be a competitive unit.
“The guys have been competing…in every game and in every practice,” coach Newton says. “We’ve led a lot of games at half, and we are still learning how to finish. And confidence is a big thing. Most of these guys haven’t played together a lot, and being thrown on varsity is a baptism by fire type deal. More than anything, this team plays hard, and it seems like we are a better team than what our record shows.”
Exira-EHK will enjoy a rare Friday night off, and will hit the court Saturday against Ar-We-Va. The Rockets are unbeaten at 14-0, and alone atop the RVC standings. Last time the two schools met on Dec. 17, the Rockets defeated EEHK by 30 points (59-29).
“They’re a very nice team that carries itself well,” coach Newton says. “Long and lean, and athletic players who can play, and can play together. They have interchangeable parts and that puts pressure on you too.”
Ar-We-Va comes to town heavy favorites, but expect the Spartans to tinker defensively and be conservative with the ball on offense. “We want to be patient with it, but most importantly you need to take good shots,” coach Newton says. “We don’t want to take the air out of the ball, but we need to make sure that we are taking good shots and making the most of our opportunities.”
Up Next: Sat. Jan. 25 – 7:30PM
Ar-We-Va (14-0/13-0) at
Exira-EHK (4-11/4-10)
No comments:
Post a Comment