Linsly Strikes Fast To Defeat Bellaire
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WHEELING -- Linsly can certainly strike quickly.
It showed that ability in the third quarter Tuesday evening during its OVAC Class 3A semifinal against third-seeded Bellaire inside the Stifel Fieldhouse.
The Big Reds opened the second half by scoring back-to-back buckets to trim their deficit to six.
From there, however, it was all Cadets.
Linsly closed the third on a 25-8 spurt and went on to post an 87-58 victory, advancing to Saturday's conference title game against top-seeded River, which dispatched Barnesville in the other semifinal, at Harrison Central High School. Tip time is scheduled for 2 p.m.
"It takes us a while to get our legs under us because no matter how much you practice, or what you do in practice, you can't simulate game speed," Linsly head coach Dave Wojcik said. "It took us about a quarter-and-a-half to get our legs and we wanted to make conditioning a factor, but we've been off, so it took a little while longer to apply that pressure.'
Once the Cadets got it going, they didn't look back.
"Every guy they put in the game, at every position, is very skilled," Bellaire head coach J.R. Battista said.
"They do a good job of passing the ball, and you're running around, and you're going to lose guys."
The real issue that Linsly presented was the fact that there are multiple guys to account for. The Cadets have little dropoff in their nine-man rotation. It showed as 10 players cracked the scoring column.
In the aforementioned third quarter, six different players scored and four had multiple buckets.
On top of its offensive work, the Cadets turned up the heat defensively in the second half. After Big Reds' junior Jakob Dowling scored 11 in the first half, including a trio of treys. He was limited to a goal and two free throws in the fourth. Linsly held Bellaire's second-leading scorer, Owen Ward, to nary a field goal in the game.
"They really guarded us hard in the second half," Battista said. "This was a good game for us to see where we are, and obviously we're not on Linsly's level. They're a really good team and they have 10 guys who can make shots."
Linsly's offensive onslaught in the third quarter was sparked by Caleb Murray, who hit two bonus goals. Gavin Jackson had eight points in the period. Those two were the Cadets' leaders for the night, scoring 22 and 16, respectively.
Will Taylor donated a quiet 13 and Nate Coleman pitched in 10.
"I am a big believer in being able to have skills to play," Wojcik said. "If you can't shoot, pass or dribble, you can't play. If you have two, it still limits you because you're playing five against four. I am a big believer in guys being able to shoot the ball and we have eight or nine who can really shoot the ball."
Bellaire was led by Dowling and Mac Mac Pettigrew. They evenly divided 30, while junior Ray Ray Pettigrew posted 10.
The Cadets can now shift their focus to the title game against River where they will be seeking their seventh conference title, but first since 2012.
"Our kids did what they're supposed to and now we're excited to go play (for a championship)," Wojcik said. "We don't care who we play. We're looking forward to it. We just like to compete. It should be a fun day at Harrison Central."
Bellaire (10-9) will return home on Friday for the consolation game against Barnesville.