Rising Up
Randolph’s Defense Stymies Bears In Class C2 Semifinal
Randolph’s goal entering Tuesday evening’s Section VI Class C2 semifinal against Frewsburg was to limit Bears senior star Cordell O’Brien to 12 points.
Mission accomplished.
The top-seeded Cardinals actually did one better, holding O’Brien to just 11 points on three field goals en route to a 51-37 victory over the fourth-seeded Bears at Jamestown Community College’s Physical Education Complex.
“That’s exactly where we wanted to be. We came in with one game plan and that was to take O’Brien out of the game as much as we possibly could,” Randolph coach Kevin Hind said. “Our number was 12. (O’Brien’s) averaging 26 points per game, but we came into our first meeting and that was what we were looking for. Hold him to 12 and hold them under 40 as a team.”
The win advances Randolph into Friday’s 6:45 p.m. sectional championship game against No. 2 East, an 86-40 winner over No. 6 Barker in Tuesday’s other semifinal.
“We’ll know what to expect. East plays in that league up there that is such a different style,” Hind said of the Panthers, who beat the Cardinals 63-52 in a non-league matchup Jan. 7. “We know we can’t get down 16-0 to start the game. … We have to handle their pressure, take care of the ball, shoot the ball a little bit and take it right at them.”
The Cardinals (18-4), who actually won five games this season despite not getting out of the 40s offensively, shined on the defensive end once again, holding Frewsburg (17-5) to just 11 field goals while forcing 14 turnovers.
“You don’t get any open looks and they rebound really hard,” Frewsburg coach Tom Nelson said. “In a 2-3 zone, we should be getting some open looks. When we got them, we didn’t hit them or we turned it over.”
Randolph set the tone early with blocked shots on two of Frewsburg’s first three possessions and eventually took a 28-18 lead into halftime thanks in large part to 13 first-half points from senior Jake Beaver and 10 from freshman Tyler Hind.
“That was a great way to set the tone. At the same time, I was thinking it should be 12, 14 or 16 … I look up and it’s 7-5,” Coach Hind said. “We went out in the second quarter, executed and hit a couple of shots.”
O’Brien picked up his third and fourth fouls within seconds of each other in the third quarter and the Bears were forced to look elsewhere for their scoring as the senior 1,000-point scorer was forced to the bench for the final 3:38 of the period.
“I don’t think he was being passive. It’s about the first time this season we’ve seen any kind of a diamond-and-one or a box-and-one,” Coach Nelson said of O’Brien. “If we had seen it more often, I think we would have been a little better prepared for it. We just didn’t get into the flow of things.”
Frewsburg got within eight on senior Nyle Bird’s 3-pointer with 5:07 remaining in the game, but turnovers on their next two possessions followed by a bucket from Hind before senior Jarrett Lecceadone’s desperation 3-pointer banked in as the shot clock expired gave Randolph a comfortable 13-point lead, and for all intents and purposes put the game away.
“We were just trying to force some things that weren’t there,” Coach Nelson said. “Let’s say we cut it to three with a 3 and a 2, next thing you know you’re right there.”
Despite not scoring for the opening 5:30 and not making a field goal until 1:45 remained in the first quarter, the Bears led 7-5 after eight minutes thanks to a 7-0 run to close the period.
“We were a little nervous, but at the end of the first quarter they had five points,” Coach Nelson said. “I’ve seen us play that kind of defense all season … but you’re not going to hold a team like Randolph to 20 points in a game.”
Senior Caleb Caldwell added a 3-pointer to open the second quarter, but a bucket from Beaver ended the 10-0 run and started an 8-0 run for the Cardinals that gave them a 13-10 lead. A 3-pointer from freshman Brad Nelson and a putback from sophomore Quinn Conlan helped Frewsburg stay close, but Beaver hit back-to-back 3-pointers to close the half with the Cardinals ahead by 10.
“Whoever is guarding him can’t help,” Coach Nelson said of Beaver. “The same thing with Hind. … You can’t do that because you have to be out there on him all the time. That’s going to change your defense a little bit.”
O’Brien’s off night was due in large part to the defensive effort of Randolph senior Nick Martonis who finished with five steals.
“Martonis was our guy going in,” Coach Hind said of the Cardinals’ plan against O’Brien. “Beaver does a really good job and is really active so we didn’t want to waste him chasing O’Brien around. We kind of gave that job to Martonis and he accepted it.”
Beaver and Hind led Randolph with 16 points apiece while Lecceadone grabbed 12 rebounds.
NOTES: Senior Kaleb Frink had eight rebounds and three blocked shots; Beaver had five assists and three steals; and Hind had four assists for Randolph. … Caldwell grabbed nine rebounds and O’Brien had five while Bird picked up four assists for Frewsburg. … The Bears were 11 of 42 from the field, including 6 of 20 from 3-point range while the Cardinals were 19 of 54 from the field, including 7 of 23 from 3-point range.
FREWSBURG (37)
Nelson 3 0 8, O’Brien 3 4 11, Bird 2 0 6, Caldwell 1 2 5, Marchincin 1 0 2, Conlan 1 3 5. Totals 11 9 37.
RANDOLPH (51)
Beaver 6 1 16, Hind 6 2 16, Wakefield 0 1 1, Lecceadone 3 0 8, Martonis 0 2 2, Frink 3 0 6, Bernard 1 0 2, George 0 0 0. Totals 19 6 51.
3-point goals — Nelson 2, O’Brien, Bird 2, Caldwell, Beaver 3, Hind 2, Lecceadone 2.
Frewsburg 7 11 11 6 — 37
Randolph 5 23 12 11 — 51
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