The Adobe Flash Player is required to view this multimedia interactive. Get it here.

Ross stymied by surprise defense

Winton Woods uses zone to quiet Rams’ big guns on way to a 49-39 win.

Mesoraco's slam sends Reds over Braves
7:38 a.m.
Lost chances cost Cougars
5/25/12
Badin advances to regional final
5/25/12
West hopes to keep winning
5/25/12
Is third time the charm for senior?
5/25/12
> More sports headlines

1:52 AM Saturday, January 28, 2012

By Jay Morrison

Staff Writer

ROSS TWP. — The Ross High School boys basketball team expected a large, electric crowd Friday night, and that’s exactly what it got for its first-place showdown against visiting Winton Woods.

The Rams also thought they knew exactly what to expect from the Warriors defensively, but that was hardly the case.

Winton Woods employed a rare 2-3 zone that completely shut down Ross’ inside game, forcing the hosts to attack from the perimeter.

And for the first 30 minutes it worked. But the Rams went cold late, and the Warriors scored the game’s final nine points to post a 49-39 victory and move into sole possession of first in the Fort Ancient Valley Conference West Division.

“This was a big game for us, and we thought we were totally prepared for what they had done all year,” Ross coach Matt Wilhelm said.

“But they played most of the game in a 2-3 zone, and I never thought a Winton Woods team would do that.”

Ross (10-4, 6-2 FAVC West) missed its first seven shots from the floor and ended up getting just a single point from its two leading scorers, senior Max Mischkuling and junior Brandon Fernandez.

But sophomore Blake Ballard hit some big 3-pointers early, and senior Tyler Noonan hit four treys late, the fourth of which got the Rams within one point of the Warriors (11-3, 7-1) with 2:22 remaining.

Instead of calling time out to settle his squad, Winton Woods coach Donnie Gillespie watched the Warriors push the ball up for the floor for a quick trey by Martin Jones that started the game-sealing 9-0 run.

“One of the things about Winton Woods is we have some athletes, and we have to play the game at a certain tempo,” Gillespie said.

“It was a slow tempo for most of the game because both teams were grinding out zones. But in the second half, we ran out and made some easier transition buckets.”

Winton Woods held Mischkulnig, the FAVC’s leading scorer, scoreless for the first time in his career, but Ross limited Warriors junior Trent Donald to just six points, 10 below his season average.

“I thought we played great defensively,” Wilhelm said. “These are two really good teams who wanted to win, and our kids played their hearts out. We just didn’t play our best basketball tonight.”

Noonan finished with a game-high 14 points, all in the final 13 minutes of the game, while Ballard added 12. The Warriors got 13 each from Kwan Cheatham and Ronnie Rousseau.

Share this article