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Northeast Vernon County boys race past Ballard
By Jason Peake
Daily Mail Sports Editor
WALKER -- If you ask Brian Sprouse, he'll tell you his Northeast Vernon County High School boys basketball team is still learning how to press.
It was hard to tell on Thursday night.
Trapping and pressing throughout, the Knights forced countless turnovers and raced past Ballard 73-52.
"They're just learning how to press," Coach Sprouse said. "They've never done it before. It worked for us most of the time. And our athleticism gets us through a lot of games."
NEVC led 31-13 before Ballard scored seven-straight points.
The Knights held an 11-point lead by halftime at 31-20, but then turned up the pressure right away in the second half.
The result was a 17-5 run to start the third quarter.
Key to the spurt was the Knights' constant pressure, which caused steal after steal and led to several easy hoops in transition.
Senior guard Jacob Bell scored 13 points early in the third, many coming on layups after steals, and NEVC led 48-25 halfway through the third period.
Ballard's Bulldogs kept coming, but the big deficit was too much to overcome and the Knights picked up their first win of the season.
NEVC's depth also proved key to the victory.
"We've got five experienced starters and now we have three freshmen that are able to come in and help us, too," Sprouse said.
"I'm happy with the win," he added. "At the same time, there's a lot of things we have to work on, especially our 3-2 zone and our transition offense. I feel like we have a long ways to go still. But I think we'll be okay as long as they don't get satisfied."
Bell led the way for the Knights with 22 points. Classmate Grant Davis scored 17, while fellow senior Tanner Stutzman added 12. Junior Jacob Maus also reached double figures with 10.
NEVC lost to Weaubleau 78-63 earlier this week.
Sprouse said his team's defense was not very good, and Weaubleau had some stellar shooters.
NEVC girls fall
Ballard won the girls game 43-36 on Thursday.
The visiting Bulldogs used a 13-2 run in the second quarter to pull away at 20-10 at the half.
NEVC chipped away at the lead late in the game, but Ballard held on.
Christanne Middleton scored 12 and Camille Buttorff added 10 for NEVC.
Ballard girls 43, NEVC 36
BA 7 13 11 12 -- 43
NE 8 2 10 6 -- 36
NEVC: Conner 5, Middleton 12, Buttorff 10, Haddix 4, P. Hays 4, H. Hays 0, Scheer 0, Moyer 0.
Ballard: Cooper 5, Morris 11, Wainscott 9, Resz 4, Meade 14.
NEVC boys 73, Ballard 52
BA 8 12 17 16 -- 52
NE 16 15 20 22 -- 73
NEVC: Stutzman 4 4-5 12, Davis 7 2-5 17, Maus 4 1-1 10, Bell 9 4-5 22, DeOrnellis 1 0-0 3, Owsley 0 2-4 2, Hoagland 0 0-0 0, Lyness 3 0-0 7.
Ballard: Engelhardt 6, Sickels 11, Oswald 13, Rowland 2, Teagarden 4, Lybarger 5, Morris 2, Oerke 9.