01-19-11
BY JACK BULLOCK
NASHVILLE – The Nashville Hornets outworked the opposition in every phase on Wednesday night.

Defensively speaking – Mascoutah never got an offensive run going because Coach Brad Weathers' Hornets never let the Indians have a breath.

Forcing Mascoutah into a 10-of-26 shoot performance (37 percent) overall – Nashville improved to 16-2 overall with the 47-31 win.

Sam Brown – Nashville's 6-foot-2 senior swing-man – dropped in 15-points on Mascoutah on Wednesday night to lead the way in a low scoring affair while Tyler Meyer added nine for Nashville.

Nashville on the other hand shot very well from the floor and were very selective in hitting 15-of-26 field goals from two-point range – with most of those shots coming on drives to the basket.

“We knew coming in that this was going to be a battle and I know their record wasn't that good but we knew that they would battle us,” said Coach Weathers. “One of the things we wanted to do was to keep them off of the offensive boards and we wanted to shut down their transition game. We didn't want them to run their sideline break and get any easy baskets before our defense set up.”

Coach Weathers' team ended the first quarter with an 8-0 run to take an 11-5 advantage.

Gannon Mamel and Meyer each dialed long distance for big 3-point shots during that run.

Scott Polczynski grabbed a rebound and stuck home a short bank shot to close the quarter.

The Hornets secured a ten-point lead at the halftime break in part because of forcing Mascoutah into four second quarter turnovers.

A drive to the basket by Daniel Huge and a pair of free throws by Brown sent the teams to the locker rooms at 22-12.

A 7-0 scoring march to open the second half by the Hornets put the game out of reach.

Brown scored twice to open the third quarter and Meyer nailed his second 3-pointer of the night for a 29-12 lead with 5:53 left.

Mascoutah had plenty of time left to make runs but couldn't because of the Nashville defensive effort.

“We knew that was what they were going to bring at us coming in and that (defense) is what they (Nashville) is known for,” said Mascoutah first year mentor Cody Reynolds – a Findlay native whose father Mike Reynolds coached Findlay to a state championship back in 1992. “They do it well. Probably better than anyone we have seen. We told the kids that when you get down ten points to them it is like being down 18 or 20 because they way they defend and value the basketball offensively. They're not going to turn it over and they're not going to rush shots.”

The Indians scored the final four points on the quarter and a pair of free throws and a buzzer beating tip in by Jacob Lider.

Mascoutah's Darion Stevenson provided a quick basket to open the fourth quarter but that was the end of the Indians chances as Nashville put the game out of reach by scoring nine points in a 2:30 span.

Brown, Holle and Zack Fieber all produced points.

The 6-foot senior guard Fieber scored on a lay in on a pass from Meier and then converted a conventional three-point play on a fast-break score while being fouled by Blair Taylor.

His charity toss pushed the lead to 40-23 at the 4:13 mark.

“We didn't shoot it as well as we would have liked in the first half but we got it going inside and out in the second half,” added Coach Weathers. “It eventually wore them (Mascoutah) down a little bit. We also got some important minutes off of our bench tonight. On and off this season we have been able to go nine or ten deep off of our bench and usually eight to nine anyway. We play awfully hard but we have to because we're not overly imposing physically. We do have some athleticism and quickness but we don't have any overall height and we have to utilize that quickness and athleticism.”

Mascoutah would never threaten again.

The Hornets one drawback on the night was sending Mascoutah to the foul line too often as the Indians made 10-of-16 from the stripe.

Coach Scott Reynold's team was led by eight points each from Stevenson and Lider.

The Hornets held a slight 14-9 rebounding advantage with Meier leading the way with five boards.

Mascoutah turned the ball over 11 times while Nashville had nine miscues.

Nashville will take on long time rival Breese Central on Friday in the semifinals while Mascoutah and Waltonville are scheduled for a Thursday night consolation semifinal round contest.

“Since we play in two of our three tournaments with them (Breese Central) and in our regional, if you are any good you are going to run into each other,” finalized Coach Weathers. “We really haven't talked about it (the matchup) yet but the kids knew coming in tonight that if we won we would probably play them. So tomorrow we will start preparing and get ready.”

Mascoutah (31) – Robinson 0 0 0-0 0, Stevenson 3 0 2-4 8, MacDonald 0 1 0-0 3, Wager 2 0 2-4 6, Bregenhorn 1 0 0-0 2, Taylor 1 0 1-2 3, Lider 2 0 4-4 8, Campbell 0 0 1-2 1, Schipper 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-9, 3FG-1, FT-10-16, PF-14.
Nashville (47) – Mamell 0 1 0-0 3, Meyer 0 2 3-4 9, Huge 1 0 1-2 3, Fieber 1 0 1-2 3, Polczynski 2 0 0-0 4, Brown 6 0 3-3 15, Lietz 0 0 0-0 0, Meier 2 0 0-0 4, Holle 3 0 0-0 6.
2FG-15, 3FG-3, FT-8-11, PF-13.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.