Eagles lose to Bulldogs

Saturday, January 24, 2015

BY MASON ASHER, For the Banner Graphic

Eagle senior Jacob Schroer pushes the fastbreak up the court against Monrovia. (Banner Graphic/JAY LOCKETT)

The Monrovia Bulldogs travelled to South Putnam to take on the Eagles and used intense defensive pressure to come away with the win, 59-44.

"I thought we played really solid defense. We were rewarded with some easy shots tonight and some transition points," Monrovia head coach Micah Elliott said.

"We played significantly better in the second half than the first half. We had 19 turnovers in the first half and six in the second half. We got better defensively and we had a period of 10 straight stops in the second half," South Putnam head coach Greg Dean said.

The Bulldogs used a press in the first quarter to confuse the Eagles and led at the end of the first, 22-12.

In the second, Monrovia backed off the press, but still forced 16 turnovers in the first half, which included 12 steals.

"I think we rattled them a little bit and were able to capitalize," Elliott said. "The press really worked tonight."

"I thought we broke it well but we hurried too much. We tried to force it and that led to turnovers," Dean said.

The Bulldogs also shot very well from the floor in the first half, making 15 of their 26 attempted shots. Due to the turnovers, the Eagles only took 18 shots from the floor and only made eight of those to trail by 16 at the half.

Proving to be a handful for the Eagles was Bulldog sophomore Luke Smith who shot 7-for-9 in the first half including 3-for-4 from the line for a total of 18 points while also having four steals and three assists.

Eagle junior Trevor Long was also a lot to handle inside, scoring eight points and grabbing five boards in the half.

In the second half it was much of the same for both teams with the Bulldogs shooting very efficiently from the field and the Eagles turning the ball over leading to easy scores.

Eagles were getting good looks in the second half, they just could not capitalize to make it a game.

The Eagles scored nine straight to close the gap to 14 but the Bulldogs would not budge anymore and took the win, 59-44.

Long was the leading scorer for the Eagles with 20 points to go with 10 boards and senior Chad Menke was second in both categories with 11 points and five rebounds.

"(Long) has been playing very well, especially in the last couple games," Dean said.

"(Long) was the kid we were worried about. He is a very strong kid and he works very hard. He earned it tonight, he absolutely earned it tonight," Elliott said. "He did a good job of running the floor."

The player that all eyes were on, though, was Monrovia's Smith who on the night had 24 points, nine rebounds, four assists and seven steals.

"He played very well. He was very aggressive and he continues to get better," Elliott said. "He is growing defensively and as a player."

"We did not do a good job of dictating where he was going. He is a good player and can do a lot of things very well," Dean said.

The Eagles could not stop the transition game for the Bulldogs, who had 21 transition buckets and who kept the Eagles from getting into transition with only 14 turnovers.

Both teams have big things they need to work on if they want to get better for the upcoming weeks and the tournament.

"It's more on the defensive end and less offensively. The offensive stuff is pretty much where it is going to be at. Now you start to work on timing, execution and communication," Elliott said.

"We have to take better care of the ball. We need to rebound better and stop giving them points and easy transition shots," Dean said.

At South Putnam

Monrovia 22 15 16 6 - 59

South Putnam 12 9 9 14 - 44

SCORING

Monrovia (59): Smith 10-19 3-7 24, Baker 4-5 0-0 11, Seber 2-8 2-2 6, Seals 2-6 1-2 5, Williams 2-3 1-2 5, Davis 2-2 0-0 4, Eisenhunt 2-6 0-0 4, Burgess 0-0 0-2 0. TOTALS: 24-49 (4-9) 7-15, 44.

South Putnam (44): Long 7-13 6-7 20, Menke 4-7 3-4 11, Stewart 2-5 0-0 5, Carmicheal 1-6 2-6 4, Parks 1-1 0-0 2, Schroer 0-4 2-4 2, McHugh 0-1 0-1 0 TOTALS: 15-37 (1-4) 13-22, 44.

REBOUNDING (Total-offensive)

Monrovia (28-12): Smith 9-5, Seals 8-5, Eisenhunt 3-0, Whitaker 3-1, Williams 3-1, Baker 1-0, Burgess 1-0 .

South Putnam (24-7): Long 10-3, Menke 5-2, Carmicheal 4-0, McHugh 2-1, Grundlock 1-0, Lesko 1-0, Schroer 1-0.

Assists: M 11 (Smith 4, Williams 4, Eisenhunt 3), SP 8 (Carmichael 2, Menke 2, Long 1, McHugh 1, Schroer 1, Stewart 1).

Steals: M 17, (Smith 7, Seber 3, Williams 3, Eisenhunt 2, Seals 2), SP 6 (Stewart 2, Lesko 1, McHugh 1, Parks 1, Schroer 1).