Lyons-led Senecas get by Wildcats

Coaches have said plenty of times in the history of sports: A win is a win. While that is true as wins all look the same on paper, some are prettier than others. Some are ugly wins. Tuesday wasn't necessarily an ugly win for Calvert, but it surely wasn't a pretty one either. But a league win is always a positive as Calvert struggled through spurts against Woodmore Tuesday, but ultimately wound up with a 76-65 SBC River victory. "We've got to do a complete better job of coaching during practices … they have two dynamic scorers in (Carson) Slates and (Gavin) Donley as they can get to the basket and fill it up and shoot from long range, and I don't think we did a good job on either one of them," Calvert coach Jon Otterbacher said. "We have to continue to drill into their heads containing dribble penetration because that is what killed us all night and for whatever reason, we just didn't do a good job of it at all all night. "For the first half, (Ryan) Maynard probably outrebounded us as a 5-11 post, who works his butt off inside, but we just had too manty dumb decisions down the stretch too whether it was taking a bad shot, throwing the ball to the other team or just being out of position entirely. Yes, a win is a win, it's a league win, but we did not play well at all. Give them credit, though. They played well."All night Calvert (4-3, 2-1 SBC River) certainly had enough offense as Vincenzo Lyons led three Senecas in double-figure scoring with 21 points, 18 rebounds, four steals and four assists but other than through short stretches in the second and third quarters, Calvert had trouble defending, giving up drives to the basket, open shots or second-chance opportunities to a team that didn't have a player taller than 6-foot-1 on the floor.But after a 16-16 first quarter, Calvert did step up the defense a bit in the the next two periods, outscoring Woodmore 40-28 to create a 56-44 edge heading into the fourth. A big reason for that was the better defense surely, but also the offensive play of Lyons, Logan DeMoss and Logan Ritzler. DeMoss and Ritzler each chipped in 18 points, even with Ritzler battling foul trouble for most of the game. Midway through the second quarter Woodmore held a slight 27-26 lead before Calvert ended the first half with a 10-3 run. DeMoss had 11 points at the half, while Lyons added 10."(Lyons) does a good job finishing in the paint and is almost too patient to a fault, but he does a great job biding his time and waiting for the defense to converge to find the right pass," Otterbacher said. "He's been carrying us in these seven games we've played so far in rebounding. He's been physical and boxing people out. He also shoots free throws well and can step out and hit some outside shots to stretch the defense, so we're pleased with where his game has developed."(DeMoss) is a very dynamic athlete and he shows that on the football field and on the basketball court and he does a lot of good things for us. If he continues to grasp the defensive assignments and the offensive assignments when other players like Grady not having a good offensive night, Logan didn't have a very good offensive game considering he was in foul trouble for over half of the game, he's that solid scoring option. He's stepped up over these past few games where we've needed him to."Woodmore (5-5, 3-1) scored the first five points of the second half to get within 37-35, but then Calvert really picked up the defensive play, which led to a dominant third quarter and a 17-3 run that led to a 54-40 advantage late in the third.Lyons continued his strong play to begin the fourth with a 3-pointer and a layup to give Calvert a commanding 63-46 lead with 6:04 left in the game. But credit Woodmore, it didn't give up. Slates hit three triples in the fourth and other players started to get involved offensively as the Wildcats got to within 71-65 with 1:20 remaining, but couldn't get any closer."We're happy with our kids' fight. Being down at halftime and coming out starting well in the second half, getting three or four stops there, but eventually they just wore us down," Woodmore coach Aaron Clouse said. "We focused a lot on (Grady) Otterbacher and Ritzler, but man, Lyons and DeMoss did their jobs tonight. They really hurt us. It's a well-balanced team."Slates paced the Wildcats with a game-high 27 points, while Brandon Kayser and Donley each chipped in 11. "I don't think we're mentally strong right now, and the high IQ plays are lacking," Otterbacher said of the improvements he wants to see before the rivalry matchup at New Riegel Friday. "For them to be able to push us around with a 5-11 post … is very demoralizing to see that happen to yourself, so we have to work on that. It always works in practice, but when you get into a game sometimes kids forget just the importance of boxing out and getting rebounds." Calvert 76, Woodmore 65Woodmore (5-5, 3-1 SBC River): Bradley Fetzer 1-0-2; Brandon Kayser 4-2-11; Caden Hilt 2-0-5; Carson Slates 9-5-27; Logan Campbell 0-0-0; Collin Perkins 1-1-3; Ryan Maynard 2-1-5; Gavin Donley 3-5-11. Totals: 21-16-65.Calvert (4-3, 2-1): Grady Otterbacher 3-2-8; Logan Ritzler 5-7-18; Emman Moreno 0-2-2; Max Herbert 3-0-7; Drew Meyer 0-0-0; Tucker Coleman 1-0-2; Logan DeMoss 6-5-18; Vincenzo Lyons 10-21. Totals: 27-16-76.Woodmore&emsp;&emsp;16&emsp;&emsp;14&emsp;&emsp;14&emsp;&emsp;21&emsp;&emsp;– 65Calvert&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;16&emsp;&emsp;21&emsp;&emsp;19&emsp;&emsp;20&emsp;&emsp;– 763-point goals: Woodmore 7 (Slates 4, Perkins, Kayser, Hilt); Calvert 3 (Lyons, Ritzler, DeMoss)Foul shots: Woodmore 16-22; Calvert 16-19Turnovers: Woodmore 19; Calvert 10