RANDOLPH — Speed, precision and efficiency.
That was the name of the game for the Randolph boys basketball team as they erupted for an electrifying 72-26 win over Portville in front of a rambunctious Cardinal faithful Wednesday, Jan. 24.
Randolph wasted no time in the CCAA East matchup and used its speed to blitz the Panthers from the jump. The way the Cardinals utilized their speed was what made it such an asset on the night. Immediately, and for the majority of the game, Randolph used a full-court press on defense forcing numerous turnovers with its quick hands and reactions which then turned into easy, uncontested fast break points.
Cardinals coach Kevin Hind said that utilizing his players’ speed was the game plan all along. After an unconvincing start in the reverse fixture at Portville early in the season, Hind wanted to make sure that his team embraced the energy of the packed gym and came out swinging.
“(We) just want to play fast,” Kevin Hind said. “We’re not very big, (Portville) out-sizes us at every spot, but we just want to play fast. Get the ball, push it and shoot it … We had a slow start over (at Portville), they got a good jump on us in the first game, and on a night like this where I know the energy is high. It’s what I want to be doing.”
The Cardinals did in fact ride off the energy of the night as they took a 32-point lead into halftime and at the center of it all was Drew Hind. Randolph’s leading scorer on the season may not have led the team in points on the night, but he instead took up the role as the team’s facilitator in the minutes that he played. With great effectiveness, Drew Hind was able to drive through gaps in the Portville defense and pick out passes with precision. According to Kevin Hind, this year he has seen the true identity of Drew Hind as a player. With a plethora of shooting options around him, there is less pressure on him to create as well as score, now he can do both, individually, with much more ease.
“That’s him,” Kevin Hind said. “I mean, you look at all the guys we have around him scoring, when the ball goes in his hands, sometimes he’ll hit pull-up jump shots and hit 25 (points), other times he’s going to the post. He’s just a different dimension than he was last year with the shooters I have around him right now. That’s what’s becoming the (norm).”
One such great shooter of the ball that Kevin and Drew Hind have at their disposal this year is sophomore standout Kevin McElwain. With over 160 total points on the season, he is second to only Drew Hind in the points-per-game category for Randolph. Against the Panthers, McElwain was dialed in as he drained seven 3-point attempts on his way to a game-high 23 points. From Kevin Hind’s perspective, it’s the consistency that has been key.
“(Kevin) McElwain has just been lights out,” Kevin Hind said. “Every day in practice, every game, he’s as consistent of a shooter as I’ve ever coached … As a sophomore, it’s just so consistent.”
It wasn’t just the scoring that was firing on all cylinders for the Cardinals either. On the defensive end, they were just as successful by keeping Portville out of the paint, where its size would dominate.
“We’re little,” Kevin Hind said. “So, it’s all about positioning for us. We’re not just going to give you anything easy … We’ll generally go into a shooting contest with most people. So, we’re going to make you take tough shots. It’s usually a good advantage for us.”
Portville coach Tom Yanetsko chalked up his team’s struggles to get the ball down low to Randolph’s quickness and discipline on defense. Even when the option looked as though it was there, in the blink of an eye the Cardinals collapsed in to cut it off.
“(Randolph’s) defensive spacing in their 1-3-1 press that they have is so quick,” Yanetsko said. “They cut off those lanes. It was open, but as soon as we looked and threw it there, they had it cut off. I mean, they have speed, they have agility, they’re not really big, but they’re quick. And they’re well coached.”
With it all put together — the speed, defense, shooting efficiency and coaching — it has led to the Cardinals’ undefeated 13-0 record on the season as they sit comfortably in the CCAA East’s top spot. The defense of their state title has gone perfect thus far as they remain in search of another.
AT RANDOLPHPortville (26)Wilson 2 0-0 6, Pettit 1 0-0 2, Young 3 0-0 6, Stives 1 0-0 2, Obergfell 1 0-0 3, Fowler 0 1-2 1, Petryszak 2 1-2 6. Totals: 10 2-4 26.Randolph (72)Kelly 5 0-0 10, Hind 6 1-3 14, Nelson 1 0-0 3, McElwain 7 2-2 23, Freeman 3 0-0 6, Brooks 5 0-0 14, Huntington 1 0-0 2. Totals
Portville 6 10 20 26Randolph 22 42 54 72Three-point goals: Portville 4 (Wilson 2, Obergfell, Petryszak), Randolph 13 (McElwain 7, Brooks 4, Nelson, Hind). Total fouls: Portville 7, Randolph 12. Fouled out:
JV: 47-38 (Randolph).
