Welch leads Warriors with career night

 

I-Prep hasn't lost a league game in Yale Cup II in the last two seasons.  In an athletic division, the Presidents may boast the most athletic team in the city's smaller division, and they have some significant size as well.  To challenge themselves and in an effort to have his team as ready for a sectional run as they can be, I-Prep head coach Shaun Ryan schedules some tough nonleague games, like the two his squad opened with at the Lockport tournament this year, facing the hosts from Class AA and then St. Joe's the following night.  Last night, the Presidents welcomed in another opponent, the defending Class A2 champs, Cheektowaga.  With the Warriors lineup neutralizing the athletic advantage I-Prep often has over teams, the game came down converting in transition, converting around the basket, and Cheektowaga having the most athletic player on the floor, who also turned in a career performance.

 

Dominick Welch scored a career-high 34 points, leading Cheektowaga to a 79-66 win at I-Prep, who is ranked #11 in NYS Class D.  

 

Cheektowaga got out to a quick start, taking an early 10-2 lead, and increasing that advantage to 30-15 midway through the second quarter.  The Presidents made a run before halftime, getting scoring from Xavier Maye, Terrence James, and Jeffery Townsel, to cut the Cheektowaga lead to 36-27 at halftime.  I-Prep was playing well against the competition from ECIC III, holding its own on the glass, particularly the rebounding of Maye, and ran well with the Warriors in transition.  The biggest difference over the first two quarters was I-Prep missing easy shots inside - layups, putbacks, etc., the Presidents just weren't finishing.  

 

The Warriors picked up their defensive intensity to start the third, which generated some offense and pushed their lead on I-Prep to 48-33 midway through the quarter.  Zak Ciezki sparked his team on the offensive end, and benefited from the pace Cheektowaga was bringing in the second half, scoring nine points over the first portion of the third.  Then it was Welch's turn, as he dunked in transition, hit his free throws, and knocked down a 3-pointer late in the stanza, giving his team their biggest lead of the game to that point, 57-38.

 

"We want to create as much as we can from our defense",  Cheektowaga coach Pat Cullinan said.

 

"If we can pick up our intensity on defense, we can force teams to shoot it when they don't want to or do things quicker than they wanted to", said Cullinan.  "We can get out in transition and create mismatches on the other end".

 

Cheektowaga has a skilled and athletic lineup that is well suited for creating mismatches.  They're a team that seems to be at its best when playing aggressive, but loose, and willing to take some chances.

 

"At times, we gamble too much and make some silly mistakes, but I think in the long run, that's going to benefit us because we're learning what we can and can't go for",  Cullinan said.  "And we've got Dom and Stephen Parker waiting to intimidate shots when they do get by you."

 

The final eight minutes were very entertaining.  James swished a '3' for I-Prep and Maye followed it with two points to get their team back to within 12 points in the first minute of the fourth, and the Presidents were eyeing a comeback. But Welch kicked off a 12-0 run to put the game away when he answered with a three-point play.  Patrick Plummer added his own 'And 1' right after Welch's.  Then the highlights began.  

 

Welch got loose for another dunk, before Ciezki found him for a third slam, a lob that Welch threw down two-handed.  On the other end, James got hot.  On three different trips up the court, James pulled the trigger from long range and showed off his touch, connecting each time.  

 

Besides his career high 34 points, which was spread out very evenly throughout the game, Welch had 13 rebounds & four blocks, was 11/13 from the charity stripe, dunked three times, and was a treat to watch in an uptempo game.  Ciezki finished with 14 points, seven rebounds, & five assists, for Cheektowaga, Devon Camel added 8 points & seven boards, and Drequan Trotter had six rebounds & four assists.

 

James & Maye scored 23 & 22 points respectively for the Presidents.  Townsel added 10 points.

 

-centercourt

 

 

Comments

[StateChamps2003]

My observations from last nights game:

This game was weird. I thought that I-Prep had more than enough talent and athletic ability to compete with Cheektowaga and at times, you really thought that I-Prep was going to make a run. But overall, their lack of discipline and fundamentals were too much to overcome. In the 1st quarter alone, they had at least 4 EASY layups/dunks that were missed which would have been enough to end the quarter with the lead. This trend would continue throughout the rest of the game as well as poor free throw shooting.

Cheektowaga began to run away with the game in the 2nd quarter when they ran a basic 2-2-1 3/4 court press and I-Prep looked absolutely lost in trying to get the ball up court against it. Lazy, one armed passes (this team has obviously never heard of a two handed chest pass) were picked out of the air and converted into easy buckets. A guard would try dribbling through the press and on occasion was successful but it mostly resulted in a turnover. It wasn't until right before the 3rd quarter ended where I-Prep didn't put the ball on the floor once and the result was an alley-oop layup. It was gorgeous.

I-Prep also plays lazy defense. They constantly over commit the passing lanes in hopes of a steal. Cheektowaga beat them backdoor multiple times and there were very rarely more than 2 I-Prep players boxing out while the other three players were already running back in the hopes of a cherry picking outlet pass.

This I-Prep team will be tough to gauge in the Class D playoffs. I can see them easily making a run and giving Sherman a good challenge and then I can easily see them imploding and getting rolled by a well coached, fundamentally sound southern tier team.

Also, I-Prep is not a very deep team at all. 6 guys were in the rotation and they only had 9 guys dressed. If Maye, James or Townsel get into foul trouble (certainly possible with sectional referring) then things could unravel quickly.

Oh yeah, Welch was awesome. He didn't even look like he broke a sweat while scoring 34 points.

[GAME]

I dont get south to see many games so i take to this board and some guys I know have the game down pat and I feel comfortable going off their game summary such as the one above. I go to all my alum school games and its very apparent that just simply playing fundamental basketball can do many things and overcome many problems other teams may have. Take care of the ball....deny the ball...play helpside defense...get on the floor for loose balls...TAKE A CHARGE!!!!...im big on that because I thrived on it in order to gain court time I had to play tenacious "D: as my "O: wasn't the best. I was a wrestler my freshman year then tried the game of basketball because all my friends did. More easy things is crisp fundamental passing to break any press,it can be done!! other things to keep in mind...keep track of opponents in foul trouble and go after them. don't telegraph your passes,it would be of a great advantage to fake the pass and swing it back and keep the "D" honest. Get a hand up in the face of a shooter and keep your feet on the ground. A good player knows when to leave the floor or only go straight up..the list goes on but when we talk about athleticism and combine it with even a few of the basics will make a good player a better player or even a great player. Sometimes going back to basics for an hour a week is a good thing to break the train of thought players develop over time. There are some guys who can get away with it because they just are that good...But a fundamentally sound player will never be a liability on the court.Great post SC2003..I know for most this is old hat and a "no kidding" post but it sounds like it wouldn't hurt some teams to brush up a bit and take it to the court when the games on the line because if you don't take care of the ball your not going to take care of the game...its where games are won and lost. thanks for your time and sorry for those I bored with the post.