CLYDE A miscommunication at the start of the second quarter resulted in Clyde getting the first possession that was rightfully Calvert's.
Oh, to have had that be the only thing go against the Senecas.
Instead, it was part of a litany of Calvert go-wrong moments and the Fliers were willing benefactors in cruising to a 59-17 non-league win Saturday.
"I watched them play a couple times and saw a couple films on them," Clyde coach Ryan Carter said after his club improved to 5-3. "They have kids who really compete; they just didn't shoot it very well tonight. They couldn't put the ball in the basket.
"I think our pressure got to them a little bit," he said. "We turned them over quite a few times and that led to some easy baskets for us."
That was the nuts and bolts assessment. The specifics were downright burdensome.
Fact Box
Clyde 59, Calvert 17
Calvert (2-8): Brian Gruss 0-0-0; Mike Bennett 2-1-6; Donavon Stith 2-0-4; Austin Ball 0-0-0; Jared Thompson 0-3-3; Tyler Long 0-0-0; Marcus Somers 0-2-2; Austin Perry 0-2-2; Michael Smith 0-0-0. Totals: 4-8-17.
Clyde (5-3): Derek Gray 8-0-19; Jonathan Linnestad 3-0-6; Paul Cullen 3-0-7; Eric Wiseman 1-0-2; Collin Rieman 4-0-8; Thomas Glick 1-0-2; Kedran Bilbrey 1-0-2; Clayton Farrar 0-0-0; Colin Gregory 3-0-6; Bennett Brown 2-0-4; Dristen Cook 0-3-3. Totals: 26-3-59.
Calvert5255 - 17
Clyde14131319 - 59
Field goals: Calvert 4-32; Clyde 26-65.
3-point goals: Calvert 1-7 (Bennett); Clyde 4-25 (Gray 3, Cullen).
Foul shots: Calvert 8-14; Clyde 3-11.
Rebounds: Calvert 22 (Gruss 4, Somers 4); Clyde 43 (Gray 6, Glick 6, Bilbrey 6, Farrar 6).
Turnovers: Calvert 23; Clyde 9.
Calvert managed just 4-of-32 from the field, getting one field goal in each quarter. The pressure game induced 23 Seneca turnovers and Clyde was dominant inside with a 43-22 rebounding edge.
In short, this might have qualified as a Murphy's Law night for the Senecas. But the evidence shows Murphy threw the whole book at them.
"We didn't take care of the ball, for one thing," Calvert coach Ted Willman said. "As well as we played last night (48-44 win over Mansfield Christian), it was a whole different group of guys wearing Calvert jerseys tonight. I was thinking, 'Who are you guys?' because these weren't the same guys that we took to Mansfield Christian."
The trivia note is that Calvert led early when Mike Bennett knocked down a 3-pointer for a 3-2 lead just 46 seconds into the game. The bad news is that it would be a little more than 15 minutes before the Senecas hit another from the field. That also came from Bennett, with eight seconds left in the half, to trim the Flier lead to 27-7.
Calvert had six turnovers in each of the first two quarters and eight more in the third period.
"I thought our defense set the tone for us tonight," Carter said. "The other thing is, we really rebounded the basketball. We had 26 offensive rebounds, according to our stats. That's quite a few. We were bigger and stronger than they were and our kids got after it."
The other thing Clyde had going for it was a quality point guard in Derek Gray. The 5-foot-9 junior led the winners with 19 points, including three 3-pointers, to go with six rebounds and five assists.
"They were a little longer and more athletic," Willman said. "There were times I was thinking that we needed to go man defense, but we couldn't because we couldn't guard Gray and we couldn't guard their length."
Gray was the only player in double figures, but the Fliers had nine others get into the scoring act, with Colin Rieman getting eight and Paul Cullen seven. Bennett had six and Donavon Stith four for Calvert.
It was far from the perfect night for Clyde. The Fliers shot 39 percent from the field and missed their first eight foul shots before JV sub Dristen Cook hit three with 1:27 to play.
That didn't mean much to Willman, who searches for a way for his club to rebound from a 2-8 start.
"Our kids need to understand that they've got to battle through it," Willman said. "They have to understand that this is what we have. This is what we have to work with and we've got to find a way put it together for 32 minutes.
"We do things right in spurts, but not 32 minutes," he said. "The only way to do it is to keep working."
And maybe get Murphy to look the other way.
