ASHTABULA —While consistency is something all coaches love to see from their teams, it always can be something different depending on the talent levels of the players on those teams.
It’s been, at times, a long season in many ways for the Jefferson Falcons, but consistency has been the thorn in their sides all along, putting things together for a full 32 minutes. For the SS. John and Paul Heralds, with a young team lacking size, speed and quickness, finding the effort to press ahead when battling from behind has been the problem on a consistent basis.
When the teams met Monday night at Mahoney Gymnasium at SJP, the Heralds (1-17) continued to raise their levels of a consistent effort, while the Falcons suffered from a consistent problem for them as well, putting the ball into the hoop. But they found the range in the second half and pulled away to a 79-41 non-conference win.
As has been the case for much of the season, the Falcons got a big second half from their dual posts, Kyle Hass and Matt Moyer, who scored 20 and 19 points, respectively. With Cory Prine contributing 11 coming off the bench, the inside power Jefferson (5-14) was too much for the Heralds to overcome.
“It’s been the same old thing for us like all season,” Falcon coach Steve Locy said. “We just didn’t play our way for a full 32 minutes. In the first half, we got the ball inside but didn’t score.
“We missed a ton of shots from close range, so I challenged the kids at halftime to step up their games, and we played a much better second half. We’ve been a good third-period team most of the season, and tonight was no different.”
Locy also pointed to SJP’s effort.
“You also need to credit SJP a lot for the close first half,” he said. “Even though they were undermanned a lot, they really played their hearts out.
“I was glad to be able to get a lot of kids playing time after we blew the game open in the third period, and that should make us a better team down the road.”
“We played a very solid game tonight,” SJP coach Tom Penna said. “We made some attitude adjustments after our game with PV recently, and the kids have been playing much better.
“You can’t do a whole lot when you are outsized, not fast enough, and not strong enough to stay in games, so it takes effort, and the kids really put in some great effort tonight. I’m sure we got killed on the boards, but with the size edge Jefferson had on us, we did a great job of making them miss on their first shots. But they kept getting rebounds and putting them back up until they went in.
“They just pulled away in the third period on us, but all of our kids played hard the whole way,” Penna said. “We’ll have a tough time tomorrow night at Bloomfield, so it will take more of the same effort to be in that game.”
The aforementioned trio for Jefferson were the only double-digit scorers as 13 of the 14 Falcons who played scored.
The Heralds got big games from Alex Iarocci, who drilled home 17 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, and Ben Williams hit for 13.
Kelly is a freelance writer from Jefferson.
Sports
Falcons fly to W
Hass, Moyer lead Jeff past SS. John and Paul
- Sports
-
-
Falcons impress
The Jefferson Falcons used an 8-2 early run and an 8-0 late run, both in the first quarter, backed by hot shooting, to open a big lead on the Conneaut Spartans that reached double digits early, paving the way to a solid 65-47 Falcon win Tuesday night at Falcon Gym.
-
Eagles knocked off perch
The Geneva girls led at the end of every quarter but the final one Tuesday night. And that may turn out to be somewhat symbolic of their season in the Premier Athletic Conference.
-
Lakers done in at Girard
When freshman Craig Randall began practice for Girard on Nov. 4, he walked in thinking he may start for the junior-varsity team.
-
Pirates cruise as Eagles ‘lay egg’
Late in the second quarter, Geneva’s Dan Camplese hit a 3 to bring the Eagles within 4 points of the Perry Pirates, 21-17.
-
Beavers scalp Warriors
Chandler Smith had the answer. The question — how do you overcome a poor shooting performance?
-
Scholastic Schedule:
WEDNESDAY, FEB. 8
Girls Basketball
n Geneva at Perry
n Kirtland at Madison
Wrestling
n Jefferson, Grand Valley at PV (6) -
Lakers clinch NAC outright
Pymatuning Valley coach Jeff Compan thought that his opponent was the aggressor on Monday night. But his side still came out on top. And with that, the Lakers clinched the Northeastern Athletic Conference title outright.
-
Warriors edge Heralds
With both the Edgewood and SS. John and Paul girls basketball teams struggling to get something going early in Monday’s non-conference matchup, there were certainly plenty of openings for a single player to tip the scales in favor of her team.
-
Eagles fly to top seed
Having already clinched a share of the Premier Athletic Conference championship — which they can wrap up outright with a win at North on Tuesday — the Geneva Eagles were accorded another honor Sunday.
-
SECTIONAL SUCCESS:
- 1. Jefferson 17
- 2. Madison 11
- 3. Perry 8
- 4. Geneva 7
- 5. Conneaut 6
- 5. Pymatuning Valley 6
- 7. Riverside 4
- 8. Grand Valley 1
- 9. Edgewood 0
- 9. Lakeside 0
- More Sports Headlines
-
