MTS dominates downtown

Early in the contest Staples-Motley looked like they had a chance to compete with MTS as the teams played to a stalemate early. However, a quick run from the Wolves opened the lead to an eight-point gap. The Cardinals came out of a time-out in a zone and from there the game was never the same.

Seeing the zone plus holding a lead MTS spread the floor and began to stall the basketball for a minute. The Cards began to take some chances and when they did the Wolves ate them alive. Kevin Noreen showed his ball handling skills using a crossover to trip up an opposing player and then he moved the ball to the corner. With Kevin's man stepping over to defend Kevin called for the basketball back on the wing. On arrival Kevin showed his extremely soft touch making a three and the lead went to double figures. From there Transitions only attacked when they had a seem and the result was junior Rodney Owens slashing baseline for buckets and Kevin getting to the foul line several times for free throws. One of the fouls put Staples-Motley center Jon Bristow on the bench with four fouls before the half was even over.

The Wolves continued their run in the second half spreading the floor and sometimes using a high ball screen to attack. The possessions became somewhat like a football game where a dominating offense gets the ball and you just know they are going to grind the clock down with a long drive and eventually score eating up the clock. Like you see with defensive football players against those long drives, the Cardinal defenders had almost depressed looks on their face seeing another long possession coming at them. With every MTS rebound you had to expect 30 to 40 seconds to come off the clock and two or three points to be posted on the big board.

Kyle Noreen monkeyed with opposing guards showing off his ball handling skills and making some Cardinal players look silly in their stance. Kyle would create a lane and attack or use a screen and go to work. His brother Kevin and Rodney Owens continued to be the recipients of low post passes which they finished on a regular basis. Kevin also gave everybody a look at his touch from the baseline making a jumper.

After the Wolves opened up the early lead and slowed the ball down the results were anti-climactic. They went on to win 58-36 and improve their record to 58-36. Kevin Noreen led all scorers with 24 points on seven of eight shooting from the field and ten of 14 shooting from the foul line. Kevin also recorded 11 rebounds and four assists. Kyle Noreen made thee of five shots for seven points. The final book on him read six rebounds, two blocks and an assist as well. Owens had 13 points and DeAngelo Potter scored ten.

As a team MTS scored 30 points in the paint and shot 54 percent from the field for the game. Compare that to 30 percent from Staples-Motley and it's pretty clear this was a dominating MTS performance. They held Jamestown commit Jordan Riewer to only three points on four shots for the game. Jordan fouled out in 28 minutes of time. Bristow led Staples-Motley with nine points.