To open the second quarter, East senior guard Jalen Love made two defensive plays so quickly that it would have been easy to miss them. In 11 seconds, Love stole the ball twice from West and scored on two easy lay-ins for a nine-point lead.
While Love’s plays were special, it was that kind of defense leading to offense that helped East get the 80-54 win over visiting West on Tuesday night.
“I was pretty pleased with our defense,” said East coach Ron Allen, whose team forced 27 turnovers. “They turned the ball over quite a bit. We got into transition. We made some pretty good decisions in transition and we got some easy baskets and started taking off.”
East’s DaAnte Brandon had five steals and three blocked shots, while Love had four steals, Nathan Jackson had three and Larry Dennis, DeShawn Terrell and Kimron Burris each had two.
West battled back in the second quarter. Leroy Moore came off the bench and hit a three from the left corner to start a 9-2 run — Moore scored seven points in that span. After Dequane Brown scored inside with 3:37 remaining in the period to get West within 26-24, Allen called time.
He settled the Aces, who got a basket from Brandon on a putback with three minutes remaining in the first half. That sparked East, which went on a 16-4 run.
Love had a three to put East up 34-25. Then after Terrell stole the ball, Love scored on a dunk. Even though Love was given a technical for pulling himself up on the rim on the dunk, it didn’t stop East.
Jackson got a steal on West’s possession after Daylin Thomas hit one of the two technical free throws. Samajae Haynes-Jordan scored off the turnover, then Love got a steal and Brandon scored in transition.
“That’s the kind of ball we play,” said Allen, whose team led 44-30 at the half. “…The kids love playing like this because this is the way we practice.”
East dominated inside, outrebounding West 32-22, including 15-8 on the offensive boards. Dennis had 11 rebounds and 12 points, while Brandon had eight rebounds.
“I was pleased with the way the big kids competed on the boards,” Allen said. “My bigs, Larry and DaAnte, did a good job inside.”
Jackson finished with 16 points, Love with 14 and Burris with 13. Moore led West with 10 points.
| West (4-13, 1-12) |
11191014—54East (12-6, 9-5016282115—80
West: Olberding 3 1-3 7, Wilson 3 1-1 7, Thomas 1 4-7 6, Kelly 1 0-0 2, Clark 3 0-0 7, Mboob 1 2-2 5, Assimonye 1 0-0 3, Robinson 1 0-0 2, Brown 1 0-0 2, Moore 4 0-0 10, Jones 1 0-0 3, Hardy 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 (6) 8-13 54..
East: Jackson 7 1-1 16, Dennis 3 6-9 12, Brandon 3 0-0 6, Love 6 1-2 14, Terrell 1 0-0 2, Normore 4 0-0 8, Burris 6 0-0 13, Hester 0 3-4 3, Haynes-Jordan 1 4-4 6, Sanders 0 0-0 0, Martin 0 0-0 0, Griffin 0 0-0 0, McGairty 0 0-0 0, Medlock 0 0-0 0. Totals 31 (3) 15-20 80..
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