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Good defense is often cited, almost entirely, as the product of old-fashioned hard work.
On Jan. 25, the Arlington Admirals basketball squad ground down an energetic, but sloppy Ketcham team to capture a 60-42 decision at the Thomas Brooks Gymnasium at Roy C. Ketcham High School.
“We came out ready to play for four quarters. Offensively, it took us a little bit of time to get going, but overall we played real hard. I loved our defense,” said Arlington coach Matt Hoyt.
Ketcham coach Matt Paino said his team suffered after an eight-day layoff.
“We were better defensively tonight, but we were a little flat. With all our turnovers, it was difficult to get into any type of flow,” said Paino.
Both teams had trouble getting into any comfort zone at the offensive end of court in an unusually low-scoring first half. The tip-off was won by Ketcham, but an offensive rebound by Ketcham’s Mike Cummings was stripped and converted by Andrew Ziemans at the other end of the floor to give Arlington a 2-0 lead.
Ketcham’s Nick Leerdam got the crowd going when he soared over a pack of players in the lane to tip in the ball to tie the game up. Ziemans, who seemed to have an answer all night for the Admirals, found nothing but net on a jumper from the top of the key. Then Arlington center Ted Kurdziel hit both foul shots to give his team a four-point lead.
Before Arlington could build too great a lead, Leerdam showcased his low-post skills with a lean-in bank shot to pull the Indians within 6-4. At 3:35 of the first quarter, Ziemans drove the lane through a swarm of defenders for two points. Ketcham’s Josh Alston sank two free throws to again pull Ketcham within a single basket. When Alston had an emphatic blocked shot shortly thereafter, it seemed that Ketcham would be in the game to stay. However, on the next possession Alston was whistled for traveling.
With 1:44 left in the quarter, Arlington guard Vince Ross drained a three-pointer to stake the Admirals to a 13-6 lead, which held until the end of the period. Things started out promisingly for Ketcham in the second quarter when Alston drove to the basket, was fouled and subsequently hit both free throws.
But Arlington’s full-court pressure began to pay some dividends in the second period. After a turnover, Arlington’s Dylan Britton used a head fake to draw a foul, leading to another pair from the charity stripe. Ketcham, though not precise in its execution, hung with Arlington. Kyle Bender hit a three-pointer to pull within three of Arlington and Leerdam grabbed a rebound and sprinted coast to coast, but missed a lay-up.
At the other end, Ross fed Ziemans in the lane for a lay-in to put Arlington up 16-11. Early in the quarter, Arlington was in a bonus situation and capitalized by hitting their foul shots, including two more by Ross. Ketcham guard Joe Dicioccio went coast-to-coast for a basket to pull Ketcham within five points with 2:57 to go in the half.
Arlington’s Carlos Santos scored the final four points of the half, first by following up his own miss and subsequently hitting two free throws after being fouled in transition. The halftime scored was 24-15, Arlington.
The third quarter began with Leerdam hitting a bank shot in transition, prior to Ziemans converting a long three-pointer to put Arlington up by 10 points. Ross Tremblay sank a jumper to add to the Arlington lead, before Leerdam hit a baby hook shot in the lane.
Ketcham missed a golden opportunity when Mike Orefice stole the ball, but threw a pass beyond the reach of a streaking Cummings. This led to the Arlington run that put the game out of reach.
Ziemans made a beautiful skip pass that set up Tremblay for an open jump shot. After a charging foul on Gabe Morales, Ziemans drove to the hoop and was fouled for a three-point play to give Arlington a 34-21 lead. On the next possession, Ziemans hit again from beyond the arc and the game was in the bag was the Admirals. Britton hit another three and Arlington was up by 45-24 to end a frenetic third quarter.
Ziemans led Arlington with 20 points, followed by Ross with 15 points and Tremblay with eight points. Leerdam led Ketcham with 15 and Alston with 12 points. Cummings added eight points for the Indians.
Arlington improved to 9-4 overall, while Ketcham dropped to 4-10.
