Published: February 19, 2008 11:36 pm            

Tipton cranks up defensive pressure to beat Cass

Blue Devils hold Kings to 38 percent shooting from the field

TIPTON — Lewis Cass coach Basil Mawbey’s teams are known for their defensive prowess. But Class 2A No. 6-ranked Tipton showed it knows a little about defense as well, as the Blue Devils topped the Kings 54-44 here Tuesday night.

Tipton (17-2) held Cass to just 38 percent shooting from the floor (16 of 42), including just 5 of 18 in the first half, a frosty 28 percent. By nailing 12 of 23 of their own first half shots, the Blue Devils were able to break out to a 27-14 advantage at halftime that the Kings could never overcome.

“For most of the night our defensive effort was outstanding,” said Tipton coach Travis Daugherty. “We got a little bit sloppy there late with a couple of those set plays and didn’t defend the end of quarters real well. But overall, we needed to hold a team to 30-some percent and defend everywhere better. We got back to doing that a little bit better.

“Any win you get against a coach Mawbey team you know is going to be hard-fought, and [Tuesday] was no different,” he added. “We played well and we’re happy with the win.”

Tipton took an 11-4 lead at the first stop on five first quarter turnovers by the Kings. The crucial point in the game came late in the first half. Cass trailed just 21-14 at 1:40 after Jon Keisling, who led all scorers with 22 points, tallied on a putback off his own miss.

But Tipton senior forward Nate Massey answered with a bucket inside off a Kyle Coleman pass and was fouled. Massey missed the free throw, but the Blue Devils’ Derek Elston corralled a loose ball on the rebound and scored at 1:24 for a four-point possession. Cass missed on its next possession, and Tipton’s Marek Jass canned a layup off Elston’s assist to push the Devils’ lead to 13 points at 27-14. Cass never got closer than eight points the rest of the way.

“That last minute and a half [of the second quarter] where we went from seven [points down] to 13 was really big,” said Mawbey. “Now you’ve got to fight back from 13, which is a much deeper hole than seven.”

The teams played all even in the third, but Cass’ half court trap forced three Tipton turnovers early in the fourth, and the Kings cut the margin to 39-30. But the Devils, who collected 15 offensive rebounds, had a three-shot possession which Jass converted at 5:22 to push the lead back to 11 points.

Cass (13-7) narrowed it to 43-35 on Keisling’s trey at 4:03, but got no closer. The Devils hit 9 of 10 free throws in the final two minutes to secure the win.

Elston recorded a double-double to pace Tipton. The 6-foot-8 junior had 16 points and a game-high 10 boards. Freshman Greg Dickey scored 10 off the bench for the Devils, including a pair of 3-pointers and 5 of 6 shooting from the line.

Keisling was the bright spot for Cass, scoring 22 points on 7 of 13 shooting, including four of six from behind the arc and had six rebounds. Ethan Watkins added 12 points for the Kings.

“[Keisling’s] really an excellent player,” Mawbey said, “and also an excellent young man. He plays so hard and plays within himself, and he can do a lot of things for us. He got the shots and was able to put them in.”

Tipton wraps up its regular season at home against Western on Friday while Cass prepares for Southwood in the Class 2A Cass Sectional next Tuesday.

        

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