Rockets move to 2-0.
Reese 'D' leads the way
Rockets force fifteen turnovers in win over Marlette
By Andrew Selich
Sports Writer
REESE - It's only two games into the 2007-08 season yet the Reese Rockets are playing in mid-season form.
And coach Jeff Casler credits it all to hard work.
Reese wasted little time disposing of Marlette Friday night, as the defending Greater Thumb West champions ran to a big first-half lead over the Red Raiders and played the majority of the second half with a running clock in a 67-40 win.
Reese (2-0) actually trailed Marlette 7-6 with four minutes left to play in the first quarter before the Rockets defense took over, forcing turnover after turnover, which in turn led to easy points for the Rockets. Which, accoring to Casler, was just a part of the plan.
"We work on our transition game everyday," Casler said. "Our kids want to play an aggressive defense, and that takes time to work on. We put a lot of time and energy into that, and sometimes the pay off is great."
The Rockets opened the game playing a half-court 'diamond' trapping zone, but it was when Casler switched up to a full-court man trapping defense that the whole dynamic of the game changed.
Over the last twelve minutes of the first half, Reese outscored the Red Raiders 37-3, with the majority of the points coming off of turnovers by the Marlette offense. In fact, the Reese defense limited Marlette to just one point in the second quarter and held the Raider offense without a field goal for over ten minutes. Marlette shot just 4-for-24 from the field in the first half, while the fast play on the side of Reese gave way t a bevy of easy shots for the Rockets.
"We came out and forced some turnovers there," Casler said. "Once we got into our defensive set, we forced them to give us the ball a couple of times, and I Reese 'D' leads the way
think they got frustrated.
"I told my guys at halftime that I didn't think we made one jump shot because we were scoring on nothing but layups."
The Rockets forced twelve first half turnovers, fifteen total for the game, with Ty Graham leading the way with seven, all of which the senior recorded in the first half.
Graham scored a game-high 16 points, ten of which came in the first quarter, as the 6-2 senior scored in a variety of ways all while never having to shoot from further than eight feet from the bucket.
In fact, for the entire game, the Rockets only made one three-point attempt.
"We move the ball really well when we are running the ball," Casler said. "That's our game, when we can get the ball moving and run up the floor. It's good team-wise for us, but we still need to work on our half-court game."
It was the final four minutes of the first quarter that put the game out of reach for the Red Raiders.
Trailing 7-6 with 4:17 left in the quarter, Casler called a timeout, rallied his team, and then watched as the Rockets outscored Marlette 17-2 over the last four minutes of the quarter.
Graham and Isaac Zimmer, who scored four points in the first quarter, led the way, harrassing the Marlette ballhandlers into giving the ball away. The result was a barrage of points for the Rockets and a loss for the Red Raiders.
Marlette coach Chris Storm declined to comment after the game.
Reese had three players score in double figures, as sophomore Josh Pickell finished with 11 points and Taylor Mantey had 11 points and six rebounds, four of which came on the offensive end.
Zimmer ended the evening with seven points, five rebounds and two steals. Graham also grabbed five rebounds and dished out three assists to lead the Rockets.
Marlette (0-2) was led offensively by Corey Nepper, who scored seven points. Austin Comment, the Red Raiders scoring leader from a year ago, was held to just five points.
So here it is, just two games into the new season, and the Rockets look ready to compete for another conference title. And it's all because of their defense.
"We empahsize that everyday," Casler said. "I don't think there's another team in the whole area who works as hard as we do one both ends of the court.
"Our kids want to play that way so I make sure we practice as hard as we want to play."
Reese: Pickell 5 1-1 11, Graham 8 0-0 16, Mantey 4 3-4 11, Zimmer 3 1-2 7, Walter 3 1-2 7, Fiting 3 0-0 7, David Hougtaling 0 1-2 1, Herbolsheimer 2 0-0 4, Matt Spiekerman 2 0-0 4, Eric Houghtaling 2 0-0 4. Totals: 32 7-10 67.
Marlette: Bishop 3 0-0 6, Barrons 2 0-0 6, Bliss 1 0-0 2, Comment 2 0-0 5, Mitrovich 3 0-0 6, Nepper 2 3-6 7, Monroe 2 0-0 6, Gyomory 1 0-0 2. Totals:16 3-6 40.
Marlette 9 1 16 14 -- 40
Reese 23 20 20 4 -- 67
Rockets force fifteen turnovers in win over Marlette
By Andrew Selich
Sports Writer
REESE - It's only two games into the 2007-08 season yet the Reese Rockets are playing in mid-season form.
And coach Jeff Casler credits it all to hard work.
Reese wasted little time disposing of Marlette Friday night, as the defending Greater Thumb West champions ran to a big first-half lead over the Red Raiders and played the majority of the second half with a running clock in a 67-40 win.
Reese (2-0) actually trailed Marlette 7-6 with four minutes left to play in the first quarter before the Rockets defense took over, forcing turnover after turnover, which in turn led to easy points for the Rockets. Which, accoring to Casler, was just a part of the plan.
"We work on our transition game everyday," Casler said. "Our kids want to play an aggressive defense, and that takes time to work on. We put a lot of time and energy into that, and sometimes the pay off is great."
The Rockets opened the game playing a half-court 'diamond' trapping zone, but it was when Casler switched up to a full-court man trapping defense that the whole dynamic of the game changed.
Over the last twelve minutes of the first half, Reese outscored the Red Raiders 37-3, with the majority of the points coming off of turnovers by the Marlette offense. In fact, the Reese defense limited Marlette to just one point in the second quarter and held the Raider offense without a field goal for over ten minutes. Marlette shot just 4-for-24 from the field in the first half, while the fast play on the side of Reese gave way t a bevy of easy shots for the Rockets.
"We came out and forced some turnovers there," Casler said. "Once we got into our defensive set, we forced them to give us the ball a couple of times, and I Reese 'D' leads the way
think they got frustrated.
"I told my guys at halftime that I didn't think we made one jump shot because we were scoring on nothing but layups."
The Rockets forced twelve first half turnovers, fifteen total for the game, with Ty Graham leading the way with seven, all of which the senior recorded in the first half.
Graham scored a game-high 16 points, ten of which came in the first quarter, as the 6-2 senior scored in a variety of ways all while never having to shoot from further than eight feet from the bucket.
In fact, for the entire game, the Rockets only made one three-point attempt.
"We move the ball really well when we are running the ball," Casler said. "That's our game, when we can get the ball moving and run up the floor. It's good team-wise for us, but we still need to work on our half-court game."
It was the final four minutes of the first quarter that put the game out of reach for the Red Raiders.
Trailing 7-6 with 4:17 left in the quarter, Casler called a timeout, rallied his team, and then watched as the Rockets outscored Marlette 17-2 over the last four minutes of the quarter.
Graham and Isaac Zimmer, who scored four points in the first quarter, led the way, harrassing the Marlette ballhandlers into giving the ball away. The result was a barrage of points for the Rockets and a loss for the Red Raiders.
Marlette coach Chris Storm declined to comment after the game.
Reese had three players score in double figures, as sophomore Josh Pickell finished with 11 points and Taylor Mantey had 11 points and six rebounds, four of which came on the offensive end.
Zimmer ended the evening with seven points, five rebounds and two steals. Graham also grabbed five rebounds and dished out three assists to lead the Rockets.
Marlette (0-2) was led offensively by Corey Nepper, who scored seven points. Austin Comment, the Red Raiders scoring leader from a year ago, was held to just five points.
So here it is, just two games into the new season, and the Rockets look ready to compete for another conference title. And it's all because of their defense.
"We empahsize that everyday," Casler said. "I don't think there's another team in the whole area who works as hard as we do one both ends of the court.
"Our kids want to play that way so I make sure we practice as hard as we want to play."
Reese: Pickell 5 1-1 11, Graham 8 0-0 16, Mantey 4 3-4 11, Zimmer 3 1-2 7, Walter 3 1-2 7, Fiting 3 0-0 7, David Hougtaling 0 1-2 1, Herbolsheimer 2 0-0 4, Matt Spiekerman 2 0-0 4, Eric Houghtaling 2 0-0 4. Totals: 32 7-10 67.
Marlette: Bishop 3 0-0 6, Barrons 2 0-0 6, Bliss 1 0-0 2, Comment 2 0-0 5, Mitrovich 3 0-0 6, Nepper 2 3-6 7, Monroe 2 0-0 6, Gyomory 1 0-0 2. Totals:16 3-6 40.
Marlette 9 1 16 14 -- 40
Reese 23 20 20 4 -- 67
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