Dylan Vincent scores 41 in Eisenhower’s emphatic win over Maize

Every time Dylan Vincent jogged down the court, his non-dribbling hand tucked to his chest and signaled three — a constant forecast of rain on the Maize side of the court Tuesday night.

Vincent, Eisenhower’s senior point guard, hit five three-pointers in the first half and scored 41 in the Tigers’ 88-68 road victory. His performance was four shy of the school record. He said he didn’t notice he was making the three with his fingers before he shot.

He scored 21 points in the first quarter.

“The rim looked huge,” Vincent said. “And everything I shot just felt amazing coming out of my hand. I’m a confident player, especially when I get going.”

Vincent’s career-high came against a Maize squad that had beaten some of the best teams in the state over the past 11 days, including Heights, Southeast and Bishop Miege. The win kept Eisenhower undefeated and gave Maize its first loss since before the holiday break.

Eisenhower coach Steve Blue said he was probably more nervous than the players about playing a team as hot as Maize. But after Vincent hit his first couple of shots, Blue didn’t have to give too much direction.

He just let him go.

“I’ve seen it in practice where he can’t miss,” Blue said. “But never in a game against elite defenders like J.J. Johnson and Caleb Grill.”

Vincent entered Tuesday’s game averaging 26.5 points, the area’s leading scorer. But he had eclipsed that average by halftime with 27.

Senior forward Jeff Wake, who scores about 15.5 points per game, finished with 16, but he said there wasn’t too much he needed to do offensively in the first half as Vincent nearly outscored the Eagles by himself.

“The hardest I’m working is just cheering him on while he keeps splashing threes,” Wake said.

Maize coach Chris Grill said his team was mentally exhausted after playing six straight high-caliber teams in two weeks.

Grill said because of the long stretches of games, the mentality wasn’t as sharp as it had been.

“Those things can show in different ways,” Grill said. “I thought our focus in executing what we wanted to do, both offensively and defensively, it showed. I didn’t see guys like they were fatigued and couldn’t do things.”

Maize’s leader, junior Caleb Grill, said the team didn’t necessarily change how it guarded Vincent, rather how it contested his shots.

To start the game, the Eagles contested high, trying to block Vincent’s shots. As the game wore on, Maize went for the steals, contesting low. That was mostly effective.

Maize eventually cut the Eisenhower lead to nine with 3:42 left, but Vincent started distributing. He finished with 11 assists as Eisenhower started to pull away again.

“I knew I had to step up big in this game,” Vincent said. “I just wanted to do it for my teammates.

“We blew ’em out by 20, so I think we’re the No. 1 team in the state.”

This story was originally published January 23, 2018 at 11:05 PM with the headline "Dylan Vincent scores 41 in Eisenhower’s emphatic win over Maize."