The Thanksgiving break can either help a team or hurt a team, and Tuesday night was a great example of both at Bandys High.
Visiting St. Stephens’ boys reversed their fortunes from a loss in their first game and beat Bandys 66-43 for first-year head coach Murphy Post’s first win.
Maybe it was something in their turkey and stuffing, but Post was happy with the way his team played.
“I thought defensively our intensity from the tip was a whole lot better than it was last week,” he said. “Top to bottom, one through 13, our guys really got after it on defense. … I’m pleased with our defensive effort all night.”
On the other hand, the Trojans were unable to practice much leading up to this game.
“We haven’t had a lot of time together. …” said Mark Story, the Trojans’ first-year head coach. “I’ve only had two practices with the whole team.
“They’re learning a new system and they panicked a bit, but it will come.”
Twelve of the 13 Indians scored, with Kerigan Farley leading the way with 11 points and three more players chipping in with eight points each.
Defensively, St. Stephens (1-1) held the Trojans (0-2) to 16 first-half points and didn’t allow them to gain much momentum in the second half.
The Indians came out with the first two buckets of the game and then scored five straight points, opening up a 16-4 first quarter lead. St. Stephens forced 11 Trojans turnovers in the first quarter alone.
Six players scored to give the Indians the early lead, but it was Jordan James and Dillon Spencer who drove St. Stephens to a quick start.
“Dillon Spencer is all heart,” said Post. “He’s not the most skilled player on earth, but man he busts his tail on defense. … That is a kid a coach loves.”
Bandys was able to find the basket a few more times in the second quarter, but the Indians continued to roll. Kyle Tiffany and Jonah Griffith gave the Trojans some production on offense, but had no answer to the Indians on the offensive end. Center Zach Bumgarner was able to muscle his way to five points in the paint and Farley added four points.
Going into the half, the Indians led 39-14. Spencer, Farley and Bumgarner combined for 15 points.
Story said the Trojans needed to run their offensive set.
“They just need to not be scared or not over think this,” he said. “When we run our system it works.”
The Trojans had more luck in the third quarter. Colton Medlin dropped in six points and Hayden Deal scored four in to help Bandys cut the deficit to 23.
St. Stephens had 15 second-half turnovers and 24 overall. And despite not operating as efficiently as they wanted, the Indians prevailed.
BANDYS 84, ST. STEPHENS 23
The Trojans (2-0) rolled to a victory behind Madi Story, who dumped 19 points on the Indians, with Jesse Story and Taylor Sigmon adding 13 each.
“Overall I thought we had a good showing, offensively and defensively," said Trojans head coach Beth Queen.
Bandys quickly jumped to a 17-2 first-quarter lead and never looked back. Sigmon and Madi Story combined for 19 points in the first half.
“Defensively, in the first half, we created our offense,” Queen said. “I was really excited, whether we were trapping or running a man we were really aggressive and that’s what created the offense on the other end.”
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