Strong second half gives Lakers win over Bloomfield

The Shakamak Lakes and Bloomfield Cardinals got together on the hardwood Friday night at Jasonville. Shakamak's John Smith (23) passes the ball to teammate Jarred VanHorn. Shakamak won the game 65-56. (By Rick Curl/Greene County Daily World). [Order this photo]

Shakamak senior sniper Billy Newton was nearly flawless as he racked up 32 points in his team's season debut to lead the Lakers past the Cardinals 65-56 here Friday night in a Southwestern Indiana Athletic Conference game.

"For the first game, not bad," Shakamak Coach Steve Brett said. "We did some good things and got it inside a couple of times."

The Shakamak Lakers handed the Bloomfield Cardinals a 65-56 setback Friday night at Jasonville. Above, Bloomfield's Ryan O'Neall looks for an open teammate as Shakamak's John Smith defends. (By Rick Curl/Greene County Daily World). [Order this photo]

The 6-4 sharpshooting Newton finished the contest connecting on 9 of 15 shots from the field -- a whopping 5 of 6 from three-point range -- and 9 for 9 from the charity stripe.

"How many times is he going to go 5 of 6 from three and 9 of 9 from the line?" Bloomfield Coach John Bucher said. "I don't know, he may do it every game of the season -- but I doubt it."

Just for good measure he pulled down a team-high nine rebounds, collected two steals and had the game's only blocked shot.

"Billy's a good player as long as he doesn't force and get in too big of hurry," Brett said.

While Newton was taking charge individually, it took his team slightly longer to catch up. After trailing 19-15 at the end of the first quarter, the Lakers managed to salvage the second frame by outscoring the Cardinals 13-9.

Brett said the difference in the two teams at the outset was very noticeable. And he said he felt his squad should have responded better overall.

"It was evident that they'd played a couple of games," he said referring to the slow start. "For our first game we're seniors, we should've handled that a little bit better."

Things changed quickly in the second half, however, as Shakamak turned up the wick defensively and the Cardinals (1-2, 1-2) suddenly found themselves unable to connect from the field.

"We were operating more under control in the third quarter," Brett admitted. "We were out of control in the first half. When we do that, we'll be able to do some of that."

The Lakers connected on three of their first five possessions while Bloomfield sputtered.

The Cardinals missed five of their first six shots in the quarter and turned the ball over as the Lakers slowly built a six-point lead on their way to a 45-37 advantage when the third quarter expired.

From there Shakamak slowly worked themselves to a double-digit lead that hovered around 10 points the rest of the way.

"We still wanted to stay aggressive," Bucher said. "But when you get down you have to speed it up a little bit."

After Bloomfield's only experienced player, Andy Cochrane -- who finished with a team-high 24 points -- drained a three to cut the lead to 45-40, Newton answered with back-to-back buckets on the next two possessions.

His old fashioned three-point play with 5:24 to go made the score 50-40 and gave the Lakers the cushion they needed.

The lead never dropped below eight points as the Lakers took full advantage of their chances at the charity stripe.

In the final minute Newton connected on six straight free tosses and Tyler Richardson, who also finished in double figures with 12 points, added two more.

"I'm pleased with how hard our kids played and how well they listened," Bucher said. "We have to make some adjustments and have to come back strong because we play again tomorrow."

Brett characterized the win as a solid, overall effort from not only Newton, but from the supporting cast as well.

Jordan Langford finished the night with nine points while Justin Crody, John Smith and Jarred VanHorn all wrapped up their season debuts with four points each.

"I thought we got good help from Crody off the bench, the sophomore kid did a good job," Brett said. "Sparks and Dowell both gave us some good minutes there in the first half and Sparks a little bit in the second half."

And while he didn't have a lot of point production from his reserves (just four points and four rebounds), Brett was satisfied with what the intangibles they contributed.

"It was good to see our bench help us out a little bit," he admitted. "They didn't score a lot but they played good minutes and didn't make very many mistakes. And that's what we've got to have."

Bucher indicated he was happy with the effort of his team against a much taller and more experienced team.

But he also pointed out that they have to rebound from the loss and prepare for their game against Linton-Stockton in less than 24 hours.

"Our kids have to grow up quick and we have to make an adjustment," he said. "We have to be ready to go tomorrow."

The Cardinals host the Miners beginning at 6 p.m. while the Lakers visit the Sullivan Golden Arrows, also in a 6 p.m. contest.

Shakamak prevailed in the junior varsity contest 33-29 behind 11 points from Crody, seven each from Dowell and Brodie Crowe, three from Patrick Green, two from Jeb Batchelor and one from Raven Martin.

Bloomfield responded with nine points from Kyle Doan, eight from Curtis Hasler, five from Bryce McGlothlin, three from Ben Hays and two from Caleb Bucher.

BLOOMFIELD (56) -- Holden Hamm 2-6 0-0 5, Ryan O'Neall 1-5 2-2 4, Bryce Lindsey 0-3 0-0 0, Andy Cochrane 9-15 1-2 24, Drake Vandeventer 6-10 0-2 13, Cory Slaven 1-2 3-5 5, Payton Karl 1-4 3-4 5. Totals 20-45 9-15 56.

SHAKAMAK (65) -- Brock Dowell 0 0-0 0, Tyler Richardson 4-9 2-2 12, Brodie Crowe 0-0 0-0 0, Tyler Sparks 0-1 0-0 0, John Smith 1-3 2-2 4, Jarred VanHorn 2-5 0-3 4, Billy Newton 9-15 9-9 32, Jeb Batchelor 0-0 0-0 0, Jordan Langford 4-5 1-2 9, Justin Crody 2-4 0-1 4. Totals 22-42 14-19 65.

Bloomfield 19 9 9 19 -- 56

Shakamak 15 13 17 20 -- 60

3-point shooting -- Bloomfield 7-20 (Cochrane 5-10, Hamm 1-4, Vandeventer 1-3, Karl 0-1), Shakamak 7-12 (Newton 5-6, Tyler Richardson 2-3, Smith 0-2, Sparks 0-1. Total fouls -- Bloomfield 16, Shakamak 17. Fouled out -- Langford. Rebounds -- Bloomfield 23 (Vandeventer 5), Shakamak 27 (Newton 9). Steals -- Bloomfield 5 (Hamm 2), Shakamak 7 (Smith 3). Blocked shots -- Bloomfield 0, Shakamak 1 (Newton). Turnovers -- Bloomfield 14, Shakamak 14.