Tue Feb 09 2010
By BRUCE HEFFLINGER
An apparent blowout turned into a tight one but only for a moment. Then Defiance took control and rolled past Patrick Henry 43-29 on Saturday night, snapping a two-game losing skid while handing the Patriots their 10th consecutive defeat.
"One reason this win was huge was to get back on the winning track to head into February on a positive note," DHS coach Kirk Lehman said.
A new starting lineup appeared to give the Bulldogs a lift, as the hosts jumped out to a 17-4 lead, helped in part by eight PH turnovers in the first nine minutes of the contest.
"I hope it got their attention," Lehman said of beginning the game with three different players than the previous night. "The way we responded I think it did. We've got competitive guys on the team and sometimes during the season you have to do things to bring that competitiveness out.
"It was just a wake-up call be we felt we needed to let the guys know playing lackadaisical and not being crisp isn't acceptable. Maybe a few years ago we couldn't have done that but we've got a better program now with guys behind them that can step in and make plays."
But the Patriots didn't quit after falling behind by 13, instead using a pair of 3-balls by Branden Kerr to ignite a 10-2 run to close out the half.
Four points by 6-3 sophomore Kent Tietje and a pair by Kerr pulled PH within 21-20 three minutes into the third quarter and a tight one appeared in the making. But Patrick Henry could not get over the hump.
First Curtis Parsons canned a 3-pointer, his second of the game, to extend the DHS lead to four.
"I'm really proud the way Curtis responded," Lehman noted. "He didn't have the best of nights on Friday but he came back tonight and did a great job of hitting shots and doing the other things like playing good defense."
Steve Hammersmith followed up the trey by Parsons with a pair of jump shots to give the Bulldogs a 28-20 advantage through three quarters.
"Coach said I needed to shoot more, especially with them playing a zone defense," Hammersmith explained. "The guards were doing a good job of cutting and that helped give me open shots."
A strong move inside by Alex Keel upped the Defiance margin to 30-20 at the outset of the fourth quarter and Hammersmith made it 32-20 with a rebound bucket at the 6:42 mark.
"Hammer's putback was key," Lehman explained. "We haven't gotten that a lot this year and that was big. We thought (offensive rebounding) would be a strength but it hasn't been. When you don't shoot the ball well and don't offensive rebound you're not going to score a lot of points."
A spin move by Keel capped a 13-0 run by DHS that was finally ended on a jumper from Brian Kline, the first PH points in a span of 9:02. The Patriots had seven turnovers in that timeframe for head coach Kent Seemann, who was not available for comment after the game.
Keel finished with a game-high 14 points for the Bulldogs while Kerr scored 11 for PH (2-10).
"We talked long and hard last night (Friday), we talked long and hard this morning (Saturday) and talked long and hard before the game," Lehman noted. "We needed to get emotion and fire back in our game."
The win moved the Bulldogs to 9-5 on the season with a road trip to Kenton on tap for Friday.
The Defiance reserves put all nine players in the scoring column in posting a 43-14 win over the Patriots. Doug Herrett had 10 points, Jake Thomas 9 and Jake Moore 8 for the Bulldogs (8-6). Brett Yungmann scored 6 points for PH.
BOX SCORE
PATRICK HENRY (29) - Kline 6; George 2; Kerr 11; Almanza 0; Tietje 8; Bower 0; Maas 0; Spence 0; Bostelman 2. Totals 10-30 7-10 29.
DEFIANCE (43) - Nofziger 2; Kime 0; Hammersmith 6; Stapleton 2; Beverly 4; A. Keel 14; Gutman 2; T. Keel 4; Parsons 6; Spitnale 3; Burkhart 0. Totals 17-38 7-10 43.
Three-point goals: Patrick Henry - Kerr 2. Defiance - Parsons 2. Rebounds: Patrick Henry 21 (Tietje 6), Defiance 22 (A. Keel 4, Hammersmith 4, Stapleton 4). Turnovers: Patrick Henry 16, Defiance 9.
Patrick Henry 4 10 6 9 - 29
Defiance 10 9 9 15 - 43
Reserves: Defiance, 43-14.
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