New Castle’s bench comes through in win over Mars
New Castle (55) Vs. Mars (47)
Jan 09, 2009
By JOE SAGER
ncsports@ncnewsonline.com

MARS — If you play for the New Castle High boys basketball team, don’t expect to stay on the bench too long.

Head coach Mark Stanley is constantly shuffling players in and out of the Red Hurricane’s lineup.

The changes are made to reward intensity and hard work — two key elements in New Castle’s high-pressure defense — and to give players much-needed rest.

The ’Canes received contributions from all 10 players they sent out to the floor in last night’s 55-47 nonsection win at Mars High.

“We want to be fresh. We should be able to get pressure on the ball all the time,” Stanley said. “If we’re doing what we’re supposed to be doing, our players are going to get winded. We can go 10 deep and that’s how they will get playing time — get up after it. Guys will get tired and, when you get in, do your job.”

After struggling through the first half, New Castle’s players certainly did that in the last two quarters against the Planets (7-5).

Mars led for a majority of the opening stanza before the ’Canes (8-5) went on an 8-1 run to close the quarter with a 15-14 lead.

New Castle carried a one-point advantage, 28-27, into halftime, but received a scare 2:12 into the second when starting guard Nick Klein went down with a minor ankle injury. He left and did not return to action for precautionary reasons.

“Nick went out and his ankle was a little sore. We weren’t going to risk it in a game like this,” Stanley said. “If he would have told me he felt fine, I still would have kept him out, just as a precaution.”

Nevertheless, the ’Canes broke out in the third quarter for 21 points. Seven different New Castle players tallied at least a bucket in the charge and the visitors built a 49-39 buffer at the buzzer.

“At halftime, we didn’t really change anything,” Stanley said. “We just talked to them and said that everyone was pointing the finger at each other. We told them to start pointing the finger at themselves, instead, and do what they are capable of doing and be a good teammate and get after it. They were able to do that. They came out with some energy and that’s what we were looking for.”

The fourth quarter was a defensive struggle and New Castle, which is riding a season-high four-game winning streak, held on for the victory.

Senior Rodney Parchman had a strong game on both ends of the court for the ’Canes. The 6-foot-4 forward scored eight points and collected 15 rebounds — most of which came in the second half.

“Coach talked to us at halftime about them outhustling us, so I thought I’d hustle more and try to get more rebounds,” he said. “This was a good win, a team win. That’s what we were trying to do.”

Tyrone Steals led New Castle with nine points. Mike Cox, Corey Eggleston and Jajuan Jay all had seven points, while Tonio Fulena and Stephen Richardson both added six.

Klein rounded out the scoring with five points.

“It’s been a tough week for us emotionally,” Stanley said. “Just coming down here, they gutted it out. I figured they’d be sluggish, but they were able to pull it out.”

Dante DeTillio and Christian Locher both scored a game-high 16 points for the Planets.
Nightly Roundup
Game Scoreboard
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 OT SCORE
New Castle 15 13 21 6 0 55
Mars 14 13 12 8 0 47
Box Scores
NEW CASTLE (55)
Tyrone Steals 3 3-9 9
Michael Bongivengo 0 0-0 0
Nick Klein 2 1-2 5
Tonio Fulena 1 3-4 6
Stephen Richardson 3 0-0 6
Jordan Gentsy 0 0-0 0
Mike Cox 3 1-2 7
Rodney Parchman 4 0-0 8
Corey Eggleston 2 2-4 7
Jajuan Jay 3 0-2 7
Totals: 21 10-23 55

MARS (47)
Chris Herold 0 0-0 0
Brad Weischeidel 1 2-4 4
Christian Locher 5 3-4 16
Luke Gruber 2 1-7 5
Dante DeTillio 7 2-3 16
Alex Mahon 0 0-0 0
Ian Hindley 2 1-2 6
Totals: 17 9-20 47

NEW CASTLE 15 13 21 6 — 55
MARS 14 13 12 8 — 47

3-point goals – New Castle 3 (Eggleston 1, Jay 1, Fulena 1); Mars 4 (Locher 3, Hindley 1).
JV score: No game.
Home | Game Schedules | Archive Coverage | Player of the Week
Lets Talk Basketball | BasketBlog | Big Shots
www.NCBounce.com
Copyright © NCBounce.com
All rights reserved. Do not duplicate or redistribute in any form.
Site Designed By: MotionLX, LLC