Owls closing in on perfection
By Jeff Reed / Sports Editor / jreed@nlrtimes.com
Thursday, February 4, 2010 12:07 PM CST
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| Sydney Venus (33) shoots over a Carmyn Sharp screen. (Kevin Nagle) |
It was the frustration of last season that caused Abundant Life coach Tim Ballard to change his offensive philosophy,
“I got so frustrated playing all of those teams that used a box-and-one [defense] because of Dane [Lottner] that I decided you weren’t going to be able to step on the floor for me unless you could shoot 3-pointers. I mean, even the post players.’’
Little Rock Lutheran discovered the adjustment the hard way Tuesday night. Six Abundant Life players hit 3-pointers as the Owls (25-4 overall, 8-0 in conference) drilled Little Rock Lutheran 77-51.
“It is something that we really worked very hard on during the summer,’’ Ballard said. “When they went to the triangle-and-2 on Garrett [Southerland] and George [Herring] it took a little time to adjust but I told the kids we were going to start playing H-O-R-S-E. They left the outside open and we started firing away.
Senior Cameron Slayton had four 3-pointers and finished with 14 points. Mike Stramiello had a pair of 3s and led the way with 16 points. Sophomore Carter Lee, Dillon Eberle, Staphon Burns and Ryan Johnson all recorded long shots.
The Owls led 23-9 after one quarter and 41-18 at halftime.
“I didn’t use the starters much in the second half,’’ said Ballard. “I let a lot of those guys who don’t get as much time play a lot. We had a JV game canceled and I was feeling bad because they didn’t get to play.
“But this was good also because the starters got some rest and they didn’t have to risk injury.’’
The Owls close out the conference season with a trip to Conway Christian tonight and a home game with Quitman.
“You know, with coach speak, you don’t always say things like this, but we want to win out and go undefeated in the conference for the second straight year,’’ said Ballard. “It is something for us to push for.’’
LADY OWLS
The push for third place in the conference standings for the Abundant Life girls team will come down to the final two games.
The Lady Owls (14-12 6-4) have to travel to league-leading Conway Christian tonight and will close the season with a home game with Quitman on Tuesday.
“If it comes down to playing Quitman for third, we will have to beat them by 10 to get the third seed,’’ said coach Justin Moseley.
Abundant Life defeated Lutheran 46-34 on Tuesday.
Junior Carmyn Sharp had 20 points and Sydney Venus added 11.
“We were up big and quit pressing midway through the third quarter,’’ said Moseley. “It was not as close as the score looks.”
Conway Christian and St. Joseph share the 5-2A North lead. They will receive byes into the semifinals of the conference tourney. The third and fourth seeds will each have to win one game to reach the semis, which brings a regional berth.
