02-05-11
BY JACK BULLOCK
NASHVILLE – It was fitting that on a night in which the Nashville Sports Boosters honored the 100-year history of Nashville Basketball that the 2010-11 Hornets put up a typical defensive stand against their opponent Columbia.

Nashville held the Eagles to just eight first half points and by the time Columbia got a bit of offense going in the second half it was way too late.

Coach Brad Weathers' team shut down Columbia with a 45-31 win to improve to 21-3 on the season while sending the Eagles to a second consecutive defeat at the hands of two of the top 2A teams in the South.

Breese Central had beaten the Eagles the night before 70-60 at Breese and the going wasn't much better on Saturday night for Coach Mark Sandstrom's squad.

Nashville got 14-points from game MVP Tyler Meyer and another 10-points on the inside from Donovan Holle as the Hornets picked up another good win in front of the faithful at the Assembly Hall.

“We knew that they (Columbia) would come to battle tonight and both of these teams came off of tough games last night. Our legs weren't as good tonight as normally but I thought we fought through that tonight,” said Coach Weathers. “We really have to credit our seniors. They are quite a competitive group and they have been successful in four different sports. They compete and we have some depth. We don't have overall size but we play that way and we have been fortunate to survive that way.”

Coach Sandstrom got 16-points from Wilson Babb and another eight points from Taylor O'Connor in the loss as the Eagles saw their overall mark slip to 14-10 with the loss.

“Their physicality is a problem for us. Breese (Central) puts such good ball pressure on you but Nashville is so physical which creates a worse match up for us,” said Coach Sandstrom. “Because they are so physical we have hard time getting the ball into the paint. Everything they do is so darn physical and we don't have the depth to deal with that. Our energy wasn't there tonight. We looked like a team that got on the bus last night and went to Central and then got on the bus again today and went to Nashville.”

Nashville didn't exactly set the world on fire offensively but they didn't let the Eagles fly high on this night, either.

With both teams coming off tough conference games the night before (Nashville defeated Pinckneyville 39-33 on Friday night at home) it was the Hornets who had the best beginning.

A pair of baskets by Donovan Holle and Meyer and a free throw by Zack Fieber gave the Hornets a 5-2 advantage after one quarter.

The defensive end of the floor was where Nashville set the tone of the game early – forcing six turnovers by Columbia as well as 1-of-8 shooting from the Eagles who – by the time they got going offensively - trailed by double-figures.

After O'Connor grabbed a lob pass from Bryce Bastien to open the second quarter scoring to cut the Nashville lead to 5-4 – the Hornets scored the game's next eight points.

Sophomore guard Scott Brown stepped off the Hornets bench in time to nail a 3-pointer from the right wing to begin the run.

A pair of free throws by Meyer and a baseline drive by Holle that resulted in a foul by O'Connor and a subsequent free throw pushed the lead to 13-4 Nashville.

“We didn't guard their (Nashville) dribble penetration well and energy-wise we weren't what we normally are,” added Coach Sandstrom.

The Hornets were deliberate on offense and took what Columbia gave them all night.

“The last thing you want to do is chase Nashville. You want to get Nashville behind and make them play your tempo. I didn't think we dictated tempo at all tonight and we didn't execute anything we wanted to do – especially early,” Sandstrom explained.

A free throw by Holle and a rebound basket by Sam Brown closed the half at 19-8.

Columbia managed a good offensive spurt in the beginning part of the second half to make things a bit more interesting.

Kyle Hundsdorfer, Babb and Bastien all scored with Hundsdorfer nailing a 3-pointer from the top of the arc followed by fast break scores by B&B.

When Bastien canned his 15-footer in transition – the Eagles had closed the gap to 24-15 which got Coach Weathers' attention for a time out with 5:20 remaining.

“The run we made tonight we did it in transition,” finalized Coach Sandstrom. “That is what we do well. When we have to 'grind it out' we struggle. I told the kids we need to get the game into the 50's. If we get the game into the 50's we have a chance to win. We had a chance to win last night but we had eight points at halftime so 50 wasn't going to happen.”

Columbia could have made things a bit more interesting except they didn't do a very good job from the foul line – connecting on just 4-of-10 from the foul line. They missed four free throws in the third quarter alone.

Sam Brown – a 6-foot-2 senior guard – posted up inside against Columbia for a pair of baskets late in the third quarter.

His second bucket on a spin move closed the frame at 37-21.

Columbia tried to force the issue in the fourth quarter by extending its defensive 1-3-1 trap but Meyer and Fieber made the Eagles pay for the gamble.

Meyer drove the left baseline for a score to open the final period and Fieber hit a pair of shots to sew up the win.

His 3-pointer from the left wing and subsequent drive to the basket down the middle of the lane pushed the lead to 45-29 with 3:02 left.

Columbia was just 3-of-9 in the quarter and committed three more turnovers to close with 12 for the game.

Nashville finished the game hitting 17-of-36 from the floor with just six turnovers.

Sam Brown matched Holle with ten points on the night as three Hornets were in double-figures.

Columbia started cold and never really heated up – hitting just 12-of-35 shots from the field.

Nashville edged the Eagles in rebounding 21-20. O'Connor added 12-rebounds to his eight points for Columbia.

“He (O'Connor) is a nice player and so is Bastien and we were really concerned about both of them coming in,” added Coach Weathers. “I thought overall we did a real nice job on those two.”

Columbia (31) – Luther 0 0 0-0 0, Bastien 1 0 0-0 2, Haag 0 0 0-0 0, Landgraf 0 0 0-0 0, A. Babb 0 0 0-0 0, Hundsdorfer 0 1 0-0 3, W. Babb 4 2 2-4 16, Likens 1 0 0-0 2, Hundsaker 0 0 0-0 0, O'Connor 3 0 2-6 8, Lewis 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-9, 3FG-3, FT-4-10, PF-10.
Nashville (45) – Mamell 0 0 0-0 0, Meyer 3 2 2-2 14, Huge 0 0 0-0 0, Grathwohl 0 0 0-0 0, Fieber 1 1 1-2 6, Polczynski 0 0 0-0 0, Sc. Brown 0 1 0-0 3, Sa. Brown 3 1 1-2 10, Lietz 0 0 0-0 0, Meier 1 0 0-0 2, Holle 4 0 2-3 10.
2FG-12, 3FG-5, FT-6-9, PF-9.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.