CROSBY-What started as a close contest turned one-sided in a hurry.
After a first half that featured seven ties, two lead changes and six points as the largest point differential, Tuesday's Mid-State Conference clash became lopsided in the second half as the Crosby-Ironton Rangers used a 15-0 run to pull away from the Pequot Lakes Patriots and claim a 72-50 victory.
Jack Silgen scored nine of those 15 points as he finished with 22 points for the game. The 6-foot-5 point guard caused havoc on both ends igniting C-I's big run.
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Crosby-Ironton 72, Pequot Lakes 50
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- Key: Rangers opened second half with 15-0 run
- Conf: C-I 2-0, PL 3-1
- Overall: C-I 10-0, PL 6-4
- Next: Crosby-Ironton hosts International Falls 5 p.m. Saturday; Pequot Lakes hosts Hibbing 7:15 p.m. Friday
--- --- --- "I thought what turned it around for us was we took a little bit better care of the ball in the second half," said Rangers head coach Dave Galovich. "Obviously, you turn it over, you don't get a shot attempt at the basket. Then secondly, I thought in the second half we had consecutive defensive stops. When you put those two together we were able to get a little separation there."
Despite scoring nine first-half points, Silgen struggled with turnovers as Pequot opened the game with intense pressure. However, the varsity veteran returned the favor in the second half. He finished with eight steals and his large wingspan created more problems for Pequot, which finished with 22 turnovers-15 in the second half.
Silgen's presence on top of C-I's defense and the 6-6 Noah Gindorff on the bottom forced Pequot to shoot 40 percent for the game (21-of-52), but just 38 percent in the second half (9-of-24).
"Their 1-3-1 was definitely a problem," said Pequot head coach Rich Spiczka. "We hadn't seen it from them this year yet and with Silgen on top at 6-5 and as long as all get out it makes life tough. Most 2A schools that's a 6-foot kid not a 6-5 kid. His wingspan makes him probably 6-9 and 6-10.
"The other side is we have to attack it better and do better things against it. We just stopped making good mental plays. I'm not sure they made a shot outside the paint with somebody guarding them the whole second half."
Silgen added five assists as did Trey Jacobs and Gindorff, who hit Evan Edmundson with a hail mary pass during the 15-0 run to give C-I a 43-30 edge. Silgen then connected on an old-fashioned 3-point play to build the Rangers' lead to 46-30.
The Rangers then hit 14-of-17 from the line to pull away and remain unbeaten in the conference, while handing Pequot its first conference loss.
"The length (of our defense) is very important," said Galovich. "We're always constantly harping about getting deflections. Plus, I think we have some guys who are pretty intelligent. They have some pretty good basketball IQ. When you can anticipate and make them throw the ball over the top of you, that's not always easy to reverse the basketball and get some quality looks."
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Pequot's athleticism was on full display in the opening frame as the Patriots forced the Rangers into eight turnovers. Grant Westlund scored scored four of his 12 points off of turnovers. Zach Sjoblad led the Patriots with 15 points and Cody Huss scored eight as the Patriots built a 15-11 lead early in the first.
C-I battled back to tie with a Gindorff field goal and two free throws. A Huss three handed Pequot a 3-point lead, but Edmundson, who just came back from injury, drained his only first-half 3 to tie it again.
A Jacobs' layup, and two field goals from Silgen and Gindorff, helped C-I secure a 28-22 lead before the Patriots rattled off the final four points of the half for a 28-26 halftime score.
"I think our goal always is to make the game up-tempo as much as we can," said Spiczka. "It was hard to do because their point guard won't let it get that way. If it gets into the halfcourt and then down to Gindorff, there aren't a lot of teams that are going to to do a lot about it. We tried to do as much as we could to keep that from happening."
Gindorff added 10 rebounds and three blocks for C-I, which shot 57 percent (26-46) from the field.
Pequot Lakes 26 24-50
Crosby-Ironton 28 44-72
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PEQUOT LAKES
Austin Young 2, Adam Casanova 3, Nathan Traut 5, Gage Westlund 12, Cody Huss 8, Jordan Schommer 3, Andy Voges 2, Zach Sjoblad 15. FG 21-52 (40 percent), FT 4-6 (66 percent). 3-point 4-15 (27 percent).
CROSBY-IRONTON
Jack Silgen 22, Isaac Burley 2, Evan Edmundson 10, Trey Jacobs 4, Jonathan Jacobson 4, Noah Gindorff 25. FG 26-46 (57 percent), FT 17-22 (77 percent). 3-point 3-11 (27 percent).
