The Saline Reporter
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Saline stifles Tecumseh
Hornets hold Indians to five second-quarter points, win 49-43
By Jerry Hinnen, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: March 1, 2007
Coach Terry Breneman said his Saline boys' basketball team had shown improvement in losses to Lincoln (on the offensive end) and Ann Arbor Pioneer (on the defensive end).
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Last Saturday in Tecumseh, those improvements came together and paid off in a 49-43 Hornet win over the host Indians. Saline snapped a four-game losing skid and improved to 5-13 overall, 3-9 in Southeastern Conference play.
They did so in convincing style, holding Tecumseh to only five second-quarter points on their way to a commanding 30-13 halftime lead. From that point, the Hornets never led by fewer points than the final margin of six.
"We couldn't have asked for much more," Breneman said. "Defensively, we were sticking with our assignments for all 32 minutes. Offensively, we moved the ball around really well and took good shots. They did a fabulous job."
The ball movement was critical as the Saline offense found a balance missing in some recent losses, in which center Kyle Larsen scored a sizable percentage of the Hornet points. Larsen led Saline again against Tecumseh with 14, but four other Hornets finished with seven or more points, compared to two in both the Lincoln and Pioneer losses.
"This was definitely a total team effort," Breneman said. "We want to make sure Kyle gets his touches. We're still running the offense through him. But as a team, we focused more on finding the open man. We played nice, unselfish basketball."
That unselfishness led to two equally consistent first half quarters, with Saline scoring 15 in each on their way to 30 first-half points. On the other end, the Hornets kept the Indians ice-cold from the field to lead by seven at the end of one and 17 entering halftime.
Tecumseh was slightly more successful in the third quarter, scoring 10 points while holding Saline to eight, but the 15-point Hornet lead entering the final period proved to be too much even as the Indians scored 20 fourth-quarter points.
Despite the late Indian outburst, Saline still held Tecumseh to only 35.7 percent shooting from the field (while hitting 44.4 percent themselves) and out-rebounded the home team 27-21.
Joining Larsen in double figures on the Saline score sheet was Aaron Ziegler with 10 points. Gabe Helmuth scored eight points, followed by Derek Fairchild and Jacob Santure with seven each, and Scott Harris with three. Larsen and Santure each grabbed six rebounds, while Fairchild handed out seven assists.
"This could certainly get us headed in the right direction," Breneman said. "Now we're looking for our first win streak of the season."
If Saline had been able to hit a few more open looks at home against Pioneer last Friday, they might already have that streak. The Hornets shot only 4-of-20 from the field in the first half and missed all seven three-pointers attempted.
Despite the shooting woes, a strong zone defense kept Saline within 23-15 at halftime. But the Hornets hit only two third-quarter field goals as Pioneer put the game all but out-of-reach with a 13-3 run to close the quarter with a 39-22 lead. A late Hornet flurry led by seven points from Harris sliced the lead to single digits with less than a minute to play before Pioneer prevailed 47-39.
"We did a very good job defensively and I was happy with our effort. Honestly, I thought we outplayed them in the first half," Breneman said. "We got the looks we wanted. We just couldn't make a shot."
The Hornets finished the game shooting only 28.3 percent from the field and 3-of-15 from three-point range.
Larsen led Saline with 14 points and nine rebounds, followed by Ziegler with eight points, Harris with seven, Fairchild with five, Helmuth with three, and Santure with two.
Saline will take on Adrian 7 p.m. Friday at home. On Monday, Saline will open the district playoffs in Adrian against Lincoln.
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