LIBERTY TOWNSHIP — Lakota East was red-hot from the floor Tuesday night and defeated Wilmington 53-35 in a non-league game at the Hawks Nest on the LE campus.
“Our effort, especially physically, is there,” said WHS head coach Michael Noszka. “Our kids practice hard, they prepare hard but, at the end of the day, you have to put the ball in the basket.”
And on this night, Wilmington struggled with that aspect of the game. WHS was 14 for 34 from the field, including 6 of 19 beyond the arc.
The free throw line wasn’t kind to the Hurricane either. While Lakota East was 12 for 14 from the charity stripe, Wilmington was just 1 for 7.
“1 for 7 is not going to get it,” Noszka said.
Beyond simply putting points on the scoreboard, the ability to put the ball in the basket is one of the key aspects of the WHS defense.
“Our pressure depends on us making shot to get into our press,” Noszka said.
Beaugard had eight of his team-best 10 points in the final quarter.
Lakota East’s Jackson was perfect on the night with his shot — 6 for 6 from the field, 2 for 2 beyond the arc and 1 for 1 at the line. He finished with 15 points.
Jarrett Cox led the ThunderHawks with 18 points.
Neither team was lighting up the scoreboard early. Wilmington was just 1 for 5 from the floor with six turnovers in the first period. Lakota East was 4 for 8. WHS trailed 12-3 after one with See registering 10 points in the first.
The Hurricane found the range in the second, hitting 4 of 9, but the ThunderHawks were still shooting well, knocking down 4 of 7. With WHS playing solid defense in the period, See didn’t score in the second, neither did Evan Kuhlman, LE’s 6-8 center.
Wilmington’s Jeffery Mansfield, the team’s leading scorer, also went scoreless in the first half and the Hurricane faced a 22-13 deficit at the intermission.
The Hurricane trailed 33-20 late in the third period when Layne Griffith swished a three-pointer at the buzzer to make it a 10-point game.
Mansfield scored his first points of the night, slashing to the basket from the wing on the first possession of the fourth quarter, 33-25. But Kuhlman responded with his first points, a long three and a 40-27 Lakota East lead.
On a night when points were at a premium, Wilmington simply couldn’t get into a rhythm on offense.
“Our goal was to take out (Dylan) Beaugard and Mansfield,” said Lakota East head coach Clinton Adkins. The two had just 14 points and 12 of those came in the final quarter.
Adkins said his squad leads the Greater Miami Conference in shooting but to hit on 19 of 30 from the field “against a Wilmington type team, you have to be really happy with that.”
SUMMARY
January 17, 2017
@Lakota East High School
Lakota East 53 Wilmington 35
W 03.10.10.12…..35
L 12.10.11..20…..53
(35) WILMINGTON (fg-3fg-ft-tp) Curtis Gauche 0-0-0-0 Dylan Beaugard 4-1-1-10 Matthew Smith 2-1-0-5 Jeffery Mansfield 2-0-0-4 Chris Wolary 3-2-0-8 Layne Griffith 3-2-0-8 Alex Wright 0-0-0-0. TOTALS 14-6-1-35
(53) LAKOTA EAST (fg-3fg-ft-tp) Jalen Peck 0-0-2-2 Jackson See 6-2-1-15 Evan Kuhlman 1-1-0-3 Kyrell Mets 3-0-2-7 Jarrett Cox 6-0-6-18 Isaiah Flood 2-0-0-4 Corie Blount 1-0-1-3. TOTALS 19-3-12-53
FIELD GOALS: W 14-34 (Beaugard 4-10 Wolary 3-7 Mansfield 2-6 Smith 2-4 Griffith 3-7); LE 19-30 (See 6-6 Metts 3-3 C0x 6-11
3 PT FIELD GOALS: W 6-19 (Griffith 2-5 Smith 1-2); LE 3-6 (See 2-2)
FREE THROWS: W 1-7; LE 12-14 (Cox 6-7)
REBOUNDS: W-16 (Beaugard 4 Wolary 3 Mansfield 3 Griffith 3); LE-22 (Kuhlman 8 Metts 5 Cox 4)
ASSISTS: W-7 (Beaugard 3 Smith 2); LE-9 (Peck 4)
STEALS: W-5 (Mansfield 3); LE-8 (See 3)
BLOCKED SHOTS: W-3 (Wolary 2); LE-0
TURNOVERS: W-15; LE-12
