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| Osawatomie press stymies Jayhawk-Linn |
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| Sports | |||
| Written by David Wolman | |||
| Friday, 16 January 2009 09:00 | |||
Using the press is something the Osawatomie boys’ basketball team hasn’t been able to do in a game this season. The Trojans have been perfecting it in practice, including over the Christmas break, but had not elected to go with it.  Osawatomie put it to use in Tuesday’s home game against Jayhawk-Linn, and it started to pay off late in the first quarter. With the rate of success they were having, as the Trojans forced the Jayhawks to commit 30 turnovers, it allowed the Trojans to open their defense of the Pioneer League title in style, as they cruised to an easy 64-31 victory.“I think we did pretty good,” said Seth Jones. “We got a bunch of steals off it and a bunch of layups.” Jayhawk-Linn kept it close through nearly the first four minutes of the game. Steven Mann recorded a putback to cut Osawatomie’s lead to 7-5, but the Trojan offense had its way with the Jayhawks most of the night, as they cut to the lane for numerous layups and made the extra pass to find open teammates. Jones was left wide open several times in the first quarter, scoring 14 of his game-high 18 points in the frame. His teammates saw what the defense was giving them, located Jones and got him the ball. Jones scored the final eight points of the quarter, with the final two coming on a fast-break lay-up, off a nice feed from the left wing by Brendan Soucie, for a 22-9 Trojan lead. “Whenever we move the ball, somebody’s going to get open, and luckily it was me tonight,” Jones said. Osawatomie’s cushion increased to 38-17 with under a minute remaining in the first half, as Jameson Greenwood made a layup following an Osawatomie steal. Greenwood had the hot hand for the Trojans in the second quarter, scoring eight of his nine points. Even with the Trojans holding a 38-19 lead at intermission, Osawatomie had its share of sloppy play with turnovers and missed shots. Oswatomie coach Darren Soucie said that can be traced to the fact his team was playing its first game in over two weeks. “I thought we dropped a lot of balls and didn’t finish,” he said. “I talked with the kids at halftime, and I was like, ‘we hadn’t played in a while.’ I thought we came through and finished better (in the second half).” Osawatomie (3-4, 1-0) shook off the rust and put on a defensive clinic in the second half, pushing the lead to 59-29 after three quarters. Ryan Sutherland led the Jayhawks (1-7, 0-2) with 10 points. Steven Mann added nine points.
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