02-01-16
BY JACK BULLOCK
CENTRALIA - Coach Brian Perkes and his Christ Our Rock Lutheran squadron turned their home court into a “No Fly Zone” on Monday night.

The host Silver Stallions slowed the tempo down to their liking, which frustrated the Sandoval Black Hawks.

Coach Cole Schomaker's team regularly scores in the the 70's and 80's but they were held in check by a ball control offense and a solid team defensive effort.

Forcing Sandoval into a bad shooting result, especially in the fourth quarter, CORL picked up a good non-conference win, 52-47 over the Black Hawks.

The Black Hawks were miserable 12-of-50 from the field (24 percent) which turned out to be one of the differences in the eventual outcome.

After falling behind quickly in the fourth quarter, Sandoval missed its first six shots in the stanza and finished the game going just 3-of-21.

Despite some free throw shooting issues (13-of-23) the Silver Stallions made enough shots in the final minutes to hold off the visitors.

“We played pretty well for three quarters and we had opportunities when we would get rebounds and go on the break. But at the end it got a little too crazy. We want to play fast but we got a little too quick,” said Coach Schomaker. “We didn't make shots tonight. We just got out worked. We didn't get the loose balls that we needed. They (CORL) were a tough team tonight. They did a good job slowing it down, holding the ball. They went 'triangle-and-two' on Anderson and Williams and we had prepared for this for weeks but tonight was the first time we saw it.”

Sophomore Tyler Fleeman led all scorers with 22-points as this 6-foot guard hit 8-of-10 free throws, all in the fourth quarter.

Six-foot senior Eli Palm scored 13-points while Tristan Britt, a 5-foot-8 sophomore, added 11-points in the low-scoring contest that suited the host team just fine.

CORL improved to 8-19 on the season while Sandoval slipped to 9-10.

“I thought we did a real good job (controlling the tempo). We told them (the players) before the game started if it gets in the 60's and 70's we're not going to get there, it's that simple,” said Coach Perkes. “We knew we wanted to keep it in the 50's and preferably in the 40's. I thought we did a real good job doing what we needed to do.”

LaRon Anderson and Brandon Williams, both seniors who have put up some huge scoring numbers this season, were held to 16 and 11-points by CORL.

In fact these two scorers were held under 30-points combined for the first time in two seasons at Sandoval according to Coach Schomaker.

Senior forward John Boatright added 10-points for Sandoval, hitting the Black Hawks only 3-pointers.

“Those two guys (Anderson and Williams) are really good. Brandon Easley really picked it up defensively and I thought Tyler Fleeman did a good job on Williams. That was the key,” said Coach Perkes. “I told them if they (Anderson/Williams) get points lets make them earn it. If we are going to lose this game, lets make the other three beat us.”

It was a contest in which the Black Hawks had multiple chances to win, but couldn't take advantage of the mistakes by the hosts.

Boatright scored twice in the first quarter with a 3-pointer and also a score in the paint.

His bucket on an assist from junior teammate Coleton Downes gave Sandoval an early 11-7 lead.

But CORL responded with a 9-0 push to close the first quarter.

Palm got the run going with a cut to the basket for a score and then 6-foot-4 senior Darahn Sparks scored his only basket of the night in the paint to tie the game at 11-all.

Palm got loose again on a drive to the goal and when Fleeman nailed a 3-pointer from the top of the circle that closed the scoring at 16-11 CORL.

It was more pronounced in the second quarter than it was in the first, but Christ Our Rock Lutheran pulled a slight “Tom Brady” type deflation of the basketball, slowing down their offense to limit possessions by Sandoval.

The Silver Stallions were very patient running their offense as the disappointment of the moment for Sandoval began to heat up.

CORL went to a version of four-corners and a couple of times it worked to perfection.

Palm took the ball and drove to the basket for a two of the scores in the second.

The third time he drove to the basket, he passed the ball to Britt who was wide-open in the right corner.

His 20-footer found the mark to give the Stallions a 23-16 lead.

But Coach Perkes club didn't take care of the ball in the final two minutes of the half, letting the Black Hawks pull even at the half.

CORL committed three turnovers and Sandoval put together a 7-0 run with a basket by Anderson and 5-of-6 free throws total to make it 23-all.

Sandoval appeared to have finally gotten their offense going in the third quarter.

Junior guard Garrett Howell scored all five of his points in the third and his 3-pointer got the offense going by giving the Black Hawks a 26-24 lead.

The two teams traded leads for the next three minutes before Sandoval took a 34-29 lead with 2:04 left.

They reached this point by scoring three straight baskets, with Howell closing the 6-0 run by hitting a 10-footer in the lane with an assist from Downes.

Britt took another of Palm's assists to nail his third 3-point bomb of the game to close the quarter at 34-32 Sandoval.

The start of the fourth quarter was the beginning of the end for the Black Hawks as they fell behind because of six-consecutive missed shots as Christ Our Rock Lutheran opened with an 11-2 scoring move.

Fleeman netted seven of the points, with a 3-pointer, two free throws and a rebound bucket.

His put-back gave the Stallions a 43-36 lead with 4:30 remaining.

Coach Perkes club could have ended the suspense much earlier in the quarter if they had been able to convert more from the foul line.

Palm struggled as he hit none of his three free throws in the final quarter and 1-of-6 for the game.

However Fleeman and Britt helped close the win out from the stripe.

The fact that Sandoval also missed all five of its 3-point attempts in the fourth helped CORL get the victory.

The last hurrah for the Hawks came with just :09.3 left as Williams was fouled launching a 3-pointer by Fleeman.

Williams hit all three of the charities but they were forced to foul and Anderson (fifth foul) sent Fleeman back to the line.

He managed to make 1-of-2 to make the final margin five.

CORL survived the contest by hitting a better percentage of shots (15-of-36 for 41.6 percent) and holding a slight rebounding edge (28-26).

These Stallions also committed 11-turnovers, but only two of them were in the fourth quarter.

“I think this is our best win since early in November. I thought the kids showed a lot of character tonight,” said Coach Perkes. “We made enough shots and made enough free throws. This is a quality win.”