Published: February 06, 2009 11:55 pm      

HOOPS: Blue Devils prevail in defensive grinder

Tipton turns back Northwestern’s upset bid

Northwestern won the Class 2A boys basketball state championship two seasons ago. Tipton is hoping to match that accomplishment next month in the 2009 tournament.

The squads displayed the kind of defensive intensity that has made them successful in their game Friday night.

Class 2A No. 2-ranked Tipton turned back Northwestern 42-30 on the Purple Tigers’ home floor in a game that offered postseason-like intensity. The Blue Devils led by just three points at halftime and by five points early in the fourth quarter before pulling away late.

“This is a good [Northwestern] team that has played very well lately and we played in one of the toughest environments in this area, so I am very proud of our effort,” Tipton coach Travis Daugherty said. “Hopefully we can use this to keep building toward something good.”

Tipton improved to 14-2 while Northwestern dropped to 9-5.

The Blue Devils held the Tigers to 12 of 35 shooting from the field overall and 1 of 9 from 3-point range.

“You’re kind of forced to try to handle them inside 1-on-1 or give up the perimeter shot,” Daugherty said. “Our inside guys did a good job of battling against some big, strong kids and I thought our guards played very hard and executed the plan well.”

The Blue Devils finished 16 of 32 from the field, but nothing came easy. The Tigers held Derek Elston and Greg Dickey, the Devils’ top two scorers, to a combined 15 points.

“Our goal was not for the score to be that low. I know it appeared to be, but it was not our goal for the score to be that low,” Northwestern coach Jim Gish said. “Defensively, both teams played really well in the first half. I thought we did a good job of taking away their major weapons, but they had some guys step up. [Jason] Dye hit three [3-pointers] and he was one of the guys we were playing off of. You have to give him credit.”

Tipton led 16-12 after the first quarter and 26-23 at halftime. Northwestern saw its chances for an upset slip away early in the third quarter when its first five possessions ended in four turnovers and a missed field goal. Tipton took advantage to go up 30-23.

“Against a team like Tipton, you can’t throw the ball away four times, get one contested shot, and expect to stay in it because their offensive firepower is too potent,” Gish said.

Northwestern center Jimmy McKee scored inside early in the fourth quarter to bring the Tigers within five, 33-28, but they came no closer. The Devils took two minutes off the clock before committing a turnover, but the Tigers followed with a turnover of their own and Elston hit a driving jumper to make it 35-28 at 4:16.

The Tigers had three chances to draw closer, but came away empty. The Blue Devils’ Kyle Coleman scored seven points in the final 1:20 to put the game away.

Coleman finished with a game-high 13 points. Elston added 11 points.

Daugherty saw room for offensive improvement.

“We’re still too loose with the ball sometimes. There are passes getting tipped that shouldn’t be tipped. We have to continue to improve our passing and set one another up better,” Daugherty said. “One thing I do think we did, when we had opportunities around the basket, we got the ball in the basket. … That was big for us.”

Jimmy Corcoran and Zech Sanders scored seven points apiece to lead the Tigers. McKee added six points and a game-high six rebounds.

Northwestern finished with 15 turnovers, six more than its opponent.

“Defensively, I felt like we had a pretty good game plan coming in and the kids did a good job of playing into the game plan. But turnovers [proved costly]. They scored 42 points and I’d be remiss if I didn’t think 10 or 12 those came from turnovers. We just have to take care of the basketball,” Gish said.

• In the JV game, Tipton took a 55-45 win. The Blue Devils improved to 11-1 while the Tigers dropped to 12-2.