Hurricane holds off Broncos 66-59

0

WILMINGTON – Despite posting a 66-59 victory over visiting Western Brown Friday night at Fred Summers Court in a SBAAC American Division contest, Wilmington High School boys basketball coach Mike Noszka was not a happy camper in his post-game comments.

“We are not a consistent team right now,” said Noszka. “To be successful, we have to play well all four quarters, not just three. We had them (Western Brown) down by 18 (60-42) and all of a sudden they hit a bunch of threes and its a margin of under 10. We have to learn to put teams away.”

Going into the final period, the Hurricane held a 48-32 lead, and extended the margin before Western Brown unleashed a barrage of three pointers. The Broncos hit six from beyond the arc, including four by Clayton Wolfe, who finished as Western Brown’s high scorer with 22.

Wilmington managed to convert its free throw opportunities in the final period, sinking 10 of 15 attempts to salt the game away. Sam Jacobyansky connected on all five of his attempts to help offset the Broncos’ upset bid.

“We are doing some things well, but at times, we are not doing the little things we must do to win,” said Noszka. “I feel we are just too inconsistent. We committed way too many turnovers.”

WHS turned it over 14 times, nine of them coming in the first half.

Wilmington had five players, four of them starters, in double figures. Layne Griffith led with 16 points despite being plagued with foul trouble in the second half.

Matt Smith added 14 points and Jacobyansky followed with 13. Jeffery Mansfield scored 11. Non-starter Cam Coomer came off the bench to score 10 points, including six in the second quarter.

WHS held a 31-21 lead at the intermission and outscored WB by a 17-11 margin in the third period.

Wilmington has a tough row to hoe to end the calendar year. On Tuesday, the Hurricane travels to Princeton to face the Vikings then on Friday WHS makes a trip to Moeller, the 2017 Div. I state runnerup.

Returning home to Fred Summers Court following Christmas, Wilmington will host Loveland on Dec. 27 and Mason on Dec. 29.

“We must step up our effort against four quality teams, featuring multiple Div. I (college) capable players. We must improve and avoid being so inconsistent,” Noszka said.

SUMMARY

December 15 2017

@Fred Summers Court

Wilmington 66 Western Brown 59

WB 12.09.11.27…..59

WL 17.14.17.18…..66

(59) WESTERN BROWN (fg-3fg-ft-tp)Wolfe 6-5-5-22, Eyre 0-0-4-4, Finn 3-1-0-7, Keller 1-0-0-2, Fischer 1-0-0-2, Taylor 1-1-1-4, McKibben 1-0-2-4, Smith 5-2-0-12, Crall 1-0-0-2. TOTALS 19-9-12-59.

(66) WILMINGTON (fg-3fg-ft-tp) Morris 1-0-0-2, Coomer 4-1-1-10, Griffith 7-2-0-16, Jacobyansky 4-0-5-13, Smith 5-1-3-14, Mansfield 4-0-4-11, TOTALS 25-4-12-66.

Sam Jacobyansky went 5-for-5 at the free throw line in the fourth quarter Friday night to help Wilmington hold off Western Brown 66-59.
http://www.wnewsj.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/22/2017/12/web1_BKH_wil_jacobyanskeyEcME.jpgSam Jacobyansky went 5-for-5 at the free throw line in the fourth quarter Friday night to help Wilmington hold off Western Brown 66-59. Mark Huber | News Journal File

By Bill Liermann

WNJ Sports Writer

Bill Liermann covers college and high school sports for the News Journal. Follow him on Twitter @lierjet.

No posts to display