Big second half carries LaBrae

LEAVITTSBURG — The LaBrae Vikings basketball team seemed in a hurry to get track season started in hosting Hubbard Tuesday night.

After scoring 31 points to lead by two points at halftime, the Vikings literally ran away and hid in the second half. LaBrae opened the third quarter with nine unanswered points on its way to a 50-point half in registering an 81-68 Trumbull Athletic Conference win.

‘‘We did what we needed to do in the second half,’’ LaBrae coach Chad Kiser said. ‘‘We played really well. It’s one of the better halves that we’ve played.

‘‘I thought they beat us down the floor and had a bunch of easy baskets (in the first half). At halftime we talked about not letting them beat us down the floor and getting in the paint for some easy ones.’’

LaBrae improved to 7-3 and 3-1 in the TAC. Hubbard is 6-3 and 2-2 in the conference.

It was a frustrating second half for the Eagles, who stayed within striking distance on the strength of a 16-point first half by Corey Hitt. Hubbard didn’t score its initial points in the third quarter until Hitt made a free throw at the 4:38 mark.

By then the Vikings had a 40-30 lead. With 6-foot-6 junior Mike Ryan scoring 12 of his team-high 24 points in the third period, LaBrae took a 57-42 lead into the final quarter.

‘‘The intensity on defense wasn’t there,’’ Hubbard coach Rick Fox said. ‘‘We were giving up easy layups instead of stepping in and taking charges. We had to step it up. The last few minutes of the fourth quarter are how we needed to play the whole game.’’

After trailing by as many as 20 points (64-44) early in the final period, the Eagles made a late run that cut the deficit to 10 points, but the Vikings were never in trouble. Each time Hubbard scored down the stretch, LaBrae answered on the offensive end.

‘‘We got the ball inside pretty well,’’ Kiser said. ‘‘(Cory) Hinzman shot the ball pretty well from the outside, but other than that we didn’t really shoot any deep shots. I thought we beat them down the floor in the second half for some easy ones.’’

The key to the Vikings’ offensive output was Ryan. His ability to score or set up shots for his teammates makes him difficult to defend.

‘‘We tried to go to a 2-3 zone,’’ Fox said. ‘‘At first it was working. Once we got down, we had to get out of the zone and play man. A 6-6 kid that can take the ball to the hole is hard to stop. He did a nice job.’’

At halftime Kiser stressed the importance of playing well on the defensive end. Once that happened, LaBrae’s ability to score off transition became a factor.

‘‘In the locker room he (Kiser) told us that we had to work on our defense and get pressure on the ball so we could create turnovers,’’ Ryan said. ‘‘Don’t let them get back on us, because they were pushing the ball ahead of us and getting easy points. Once we stopped that, we just started getting a big lead on them.’’

The fast-paced style of play in the second half was ideal for the Vikings.

‘‘We like that a lot because we don’t have many big guys,’’ Ryan said. ‘‘We want to go out and push the ball up court and play defense and hustle. That’s what we do best.’’

Hitt, who led all scorers with 25 points, scored 11 points in the first quarter, but LaBrae managed to take a 16-13 lead into the second period. The Eagles tied the score at 23 on a 3-point shot by Matt Kanetsky, but Bryan Watkins followed in a missed shot and Hinzman connected from the field to give the Vikings a 27-25 lead.

Fielders by Marcus Coonce and Hitt tied the score, but LaBrae scored four of the final six points of the quarter to lead at halftime.

Hinzman finished with 20 points. Watkins and Eric Hart had 11 each.

Frank Rasile finished with 11 points for Hubbard.

By MIKE McLAIN Tribune Chronicle
mmclain@tribune-chronicle.com