Perry’s Elijah Caudill tries to get the ball away from Pandora-Gilboa’s Derek Maag during Friday night’s game at Pandora-Gilboa. See more high school basketball photos at LimaScores.com.
Don Speck | The Lima News
PANDORA —Pandora-Gilboa shook off its first game jitters early. Perry never did and it resulted in the Rockets roaring past the Commodores 73-47 in the season opener for both squads Friday night.
The Rockets, by getting physical on both ends of the board, controlling the boards and the tempo, were able to secure the victory and it began at the tail end of the second quarter.
“It’s early and not only for our bunch but for everybody” P-G head coach Mike Lee said. “I was pleased that we got out in transition and that will be more of our style but when you shoot the ball there for a stretch it makes you look pretty good.”
Lee added that there is still things to clean up on both ends and he said he addressed that with the team and pointed out that they will be working on these things as they introduce new players into a lineup on a team that returns three starters.
With the starters returning Lee looks to up the Rockets’ tempo this season as opposed to last year whee the team focused on its defense and taking the open shot.
“With the experience we do have coming back are pretty good ball handlers and naturally we knew we were going to see some pretty good quickness this evening, probably a style we might not see for the regular season but naturally I think Clay is in the same situation where you hope your kids get better each and every night out
Perry head coach Clay Tucker said his team is still a work in progress as he finds himself replacing four starters from last year’s team that won the Northwest Central Conference title.
“We knew coming in Pandora was going to get up in us and try to make it tough for us to run our sets,” Tucker said. “They were aggressive with their switching and we expect the same from Ottoville tomorrow. We have five or six new guys that are in a new system and haven’t played before. We have to bounce back against Ottoville and hopefully this was a humbling experience for us.”
Going into the second stanza, P-G held a 16-12 lead and the score remained close throughout the eight minutes as both teams looked to find their shooting touch. Up 27-25 with less than a minute to go, the Rockets tallied the final six points of the quarter to open up a 33-25 advantage.
But in the second half, P-G’s offense began to assert itself and the Rockets went on a quick 11-5 run to open up a double e-digit cushion to go up 44-30 with 4:30 left in the third period and maintained that lead until the buzzer sounded and the Rockets held a 53-37 lead.
“They got after us like they did in the second quarter,” Tucker said. “They got up on us physically and cut some of our things off offensively and the six or eight guys we had didn’t understand the counters and what to look for but hopefully those guys will watch video in the morning so the can correct it.”
P-G’s Aiden Harris, who had a game-high 25 points, scored 10 of those points in the third quarter.
Controlling the caroms was also a key for the Rockets as they outrebounded the Commodores, 40-24. Making their presence known inside were Jake Maag who finished with 10 points and five rebounds and Nate Maag who came off the bench and pumped in six points and grabbed seven rebounds.
“There was a stretch where we did pretty well on the glass but there was a stretch in the third quarter where we have got to get better,” Lee said. “We are not very big but we can’t have teams have two or three good looks at the rim.”
Perry’s Ayden Simpson and Kameron Moore each scored 10 to lead the Commodores.
Reach Jose Nogueras at 567-242-0468.
