Calvert dominates Mohawk 65-20

SYCAMORE – After a tough loss at home to rival Old Fort Saturday, Calvert coach Jon Otterbacher had to love what he saw from his team Tuesday with a nice bounce-back win, which got out of hand early in a 65-20 victory at Mohawk.Calvert (2-2) had 11 players score and held Mohawk (2-3) scoreless for more than 10 minutes in the first half to build a 29-6 halftime lead."We came back in Monday and watched film and after breaking things down, we talked about how our effort needed to be better and our fundamentals defensively and discipline on box outs and things, we worked on those things," Otterbacher said. "When you see a couple shots go in that gets things rolling too. "Mohawk isn't down by any means. I know they graduated a huge class, so their younger players are now getting some experience, so by the end of the year that team could be pretty good. They have some good athletes. We were worried about their inside-out game, so we did a good job on limiting their opportunities from the outside tonight."Mohawk actually led 6-5 with 2:25 left in the first quarter as both teams started a bit cold from the field. But that was the last time Mohawk scored until a Levi Tiell free throw with 7:10 left in the third quarter. In the meantime, Calvert got to work. Logan Ritzler began to heat up from deep, sinking a buzzer-beating triple to end the first period as Calvert led 14-6. Then Max Herbert began the second quarter with consecutive layups on nice assists from Vincenzo Lyons, Logan DeMoss tossed in six straight points and then Ritzler scored four points and Tucker Coleman split a pair of free throws with four ticks left in the half. Mohawk had a hard time getting into any kind of rhythm offensively, plus shooting 6 of 45 (13%) for the game didn't help."We are a very young team that we struggle to have an identity," Warriors coach Paul Dunn said. "We're not a very good team on offense. We struggle to dribble, we struggle to pass, we struggle to score, but defensively is where it's the most frustrating because we have to be good at that if we want to compete with tough teams."We had a little powwow there in the locker room and I told the guys that they need to look in the mirror at themselves because what we're doing right now isn't good enough to compete with good teams. So, we have to get better."Calvert pretty much picked up where it left off in the first half to begin the second as it led 43-9 midway through the third after five straight points from Grady Otterbacher.A Jacob Rishty 3-pointer beat the buzzer to end the third as Calvert led 48-14 after three.Mohawk started defensively in a 2-3 zone, but Calvert's outside shooting and interior passing got the Warriors out of it early into man-to-man."We talked and even went through some drills of getting the ball into the high post and then have someone diving to backside block," coach Otterbacher said. "So, we knew the way they were playing in their zone and you get the ball to the high post and square up, those things will be open. If you get wide-open layups in varsity basketball, you better make them. We did a good job of that today."Ritzler and DeMoss each had 14 points for the Senecas, while Otterbacher chipped in nine and Herbert finished with seven.Zikki Magallanes led Mohawk with seven points."I want our team and some of the older guys to take a leadership role and take more ownership of this team," Dunn said. "And plus, we need our offensive skills start to improve. I mean, we know we're limited with some things we do, but if we improve that, that's a step in the right direction. "We're a long way away from a finished product, so that's the goal as we head into Christmas break. Calvert 65, Calvert 20Calvert (2-2): Grady Otterbacher 4-0-9; Emman Moreno 2-0-4; Logan Ritzler 5-2-14; Max Herbert 3-1-7; Tucker Coleman 0-1-1; Drew Meyer 1-2-4; Logan DeMoss 5-4-14; Conley Stull 1-0-3; Jacob Rishty 2-0-5; Gabe Badik 1-0-2; Vincenzo Lyons 1-0-2. Totals: 25-10-65.Mohawk (2-3): Tristan Bright 1-1-3; Zikki Magallanes 2-1-7; Rhett Leeth 1-0-3; Jack Sager 0-0-0; Cameron Oesch 0-0-0; Jagger Ekleberry 1-0-2; Levi Tiell 1-3-5; Trenton Corfman 0-0-0; Andon Clouse 0-0-0; Brady Hannam 0-0-0; Eli Chevalier 0-0-0. Totals: 6-5-20.Calvert&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;14&emsp;&emsp;15&emsp;&emsp;19&emsp;&emsp;17&emsp;&emsp;– 65Mohawk&emsp;&emsp;6&emsp;&emsp;0&emsp;&emsp;8&emsp;&emsp;6&emsp;&emsp;– 203-point goals: Calvert 5 (Ritzler 2, Otterbacher, Stull, Rishty); Mohawk 3 (Magallanes 2, Leeth)Foul shots: Calvert 10-12; Mohawk 5-10Rebounds: Calvert 26, Mohawk 19Turnovers: Calvert 9; Mohawk 14