By TIM McDONOUGH
mcdonough@crescent-news.com
SHERWOOD -- Sometimes a last-minute decision can make all the difference, just ask the Aces of Hicksville.
Hicksville, primarily a man-to-man defensive team, came out in a 3-2 zone for the first time all season after co-head coach Dan Turnbull made the call about 10 minutes before taking the floor on the road at Fairview.
The move worked to perfection as Hicksville's zone gave the Apaches (2-3, 0-1 GMC) fits, allowing the Aces (6-2, 1-0 GMC) to knock off Fairview 51-44 during the opening night of Green Meadows Conference play.
"Coach Turnbull had everything to do with us playing the zone tonight, he said to me 10 minutes before the game that we needed to do it," stated Hicksville co-head coach Randy Headley. "We don't play any zone, but Dan said let's play it and see how long we can stay in it.
"It was his idea, the kids executed it perfectly and we needed to do it because Fairview is so good playing up and down the floor with their athletes," continued Headley about his Aces holding Fairview to 14-of-50 shooting. "We had to manage the game tonight, we stayed in that zone for 31 of the 32 minutes and that's a credit to the kids and coach Turnbull."
"We had been practicing it, but we hadn't used it. I just thought we should do it because we've been so predictable," said Turnbull. "We wanted to slow down their screen-and-roll up top and it worked out. We know they shoot better than that, but I'd like to think our defense had something to do with it."
The Aces raced out to a 26-15 lead at the half, forcing the Apaches into eight turnovers, while holding Fairview to just 7-of-21 shooting. While the defense was getting the job done, so were the Hicksville duo of Josh Vandemark and Josh Flanary. Flanary scored nine first-half points, while Vandemark scored eight.
Said Vandemark: "Coach Turnbull decided to run that defense and we came out and executed it pretty well. We always run a man (defense), so to come out and execute like we did was pretty big."
Before his team took the floor to start the second half, Headley told his players to be ready for Fairview to turn up the heat. In the third quarter, that's exactly what the Apaches did.
Fairview scored the first eight points of the third quarter to cut the deficit to 26-25 with 5:32 to play in the stanza. Full-court pressure led to a pair of inside buckets from Erick Sims and Travis Wiles and a pair of layups from Ben Wonderly. With 3:46 to go in the third, Fairview got back to even at 30-30 when John Elchinger sank 1-of-2 freebies.
Dustin Yoder kept Fairview at bay with a 3-pointer before Flanary scored to give the visitors a 35-33 lead. But a Brock Mosier triple at the buzzer kept Fairview in the game, 35-33 with eight minutes left to play.
"Early on we struggled against their 3-2 zone. They've got some tall kids with long arms and they did a good job of plugging up the passing lanes," stated Fairview mentor Mark Rhodes. "But at halftime we talked about turning up the pressure and that's what gave us a spark in the third quarter. When you're not shooting well, you've got to figure out other ways to score and that's what we were able to do."
In the fourth quarter, Hicksville settled down and spread the floor offensively against the Apaches, taking a 40-36 lead with 4:59 to play on a bucket by Zac Slattery. Leading 42-38, a pair of putbacks by Taylor Klepper and Vandemark stretched the Aces lead to 46-38 with 3:30 to play.
"I thought we did a decent job of rebounding most of the night, but in the fourth quarter they came up with some big offensive rebounds and scores to get back out to a lead," said Rhodes. "Overall we didn't do bad on the boards, but during that stretch it was a big part of the game for them."
A layup by Wonderly with 2:28 to play kept Fairview close, but key free throws by Slattery and Vandemark kept the Aces in front down the stretch. Fairview also missed five of its last six shots to fall, 51-44.
"I thought Josh Flanary located himself well and Josh Vandemark played hard, but we also got some big contributions from some other guys as well tonight," said Headley. "Blas Jasso came in and hit two big threes, he's maybe played 10 minutes all season and to do that was great. Other guys stepped up tonight as well and got us a big win to start conference play."
Vandemark led Hicksville with 17 points and 12 rebounds, while Flanary finished with 13 points. Sims, Wiles and Mosier all finished with eight points to pace the Apaches.
BOX SCORE
HICKSVILLE (51) - Jasso 6; Vandemark 17; Flanary 13; Yoder 4; T. Klepper 4; Z. Slattery 4; Goes 3; S. Klepper 0. Totals 20-43 7-13 51.
FAIRVIEW (44) - Ja. Elchinger 7; Wonderly 6; Jo. Elchinger 1; Rhodes 2; Hall 4; Sims 8; Wiles 8; Mosier 8. Totals 14-50 3-7 44.
Three-point goals: Hicksville - Jasso 2, Yoder, Goes. Fairview - Mosier 2, Ja. Elchinger. Rebounds: Hicksville 29 (Vandemark 12), Fairview 26 (Sims 5). Turnovers: Hicksville 15, Fairview 13.
Hicksville 11 15 9 16 - 51
Fairview 5 10 18 11 - 44
Reserves: Fairview, 41-40.