Bulldogs bite early, survive in victory

 Bulldogs bite early, survive in victory

By Keno Sultan

Stark County Prep Press writer

www.starkcountypreppress.blogspot.com

PERRY TWP.--Canton McKinley came out as ferocious as the iron fists of Mike Tyson with an early 15-0 run that had the looks of an early running clock victory.

Instead of folding up ala Michael Spinks from 1988, Perry channeled their Evander Holyfield in them and swung haymakers back into the contest.

Tyson obviously didn't beat Holyfield in reality (Tyson bit his way out of the rematch via disqualification) but McKinley was fortunate to make solid plays down the stretch of their Federal League affair and stretched their record to 5-1 (3-0 Federal League) with a much closer than anticipated 63-56 victory in a game that became somewhat testy in the second half with three technical fouls, one warning, and a clock malfunction at the end of the quarter.

BULLDOG FOR TWO. Canton McKinley guard Jayveion Carter lays in two of his eight points in the Bulldogs victory at Perry Friday night. (Keno Sultan/Stark County Prep Press).

McKinley now has captured three wins in a row after a two-point loss to Division II district title contender Warren Harding but the fact that they ended up setting for a seven-point victory was unnerving to Bulldogs floor boss Sean Weatherspoon, who necessarily didn't feel that his battalion of Bulldogs didn't deliver the knockout blow they nearly had in the opening seven minutes as they held Perry without a shot attempt in that run before junior center Nico Martelli applied a much needed tourniquet on the Panthers bleeding.

"It's very disappointing," Weatherspoon said of his team's plus seven differential in the victory. "I thought in the first quarter we played lights out and guys were playing in tune and then we went deeper into our bench, guys weren't ready to play. And that showed and it was a ripple effect with us playing bad the rest of the way."

McKinley had everything going their way with a carnivorous defense that hassled the host Panthers into a frightening 15 first half turnovers. Their ball pressure was reminiscent of the 2004, 2005 and 2006 McKinley teams combined that didn't leave anything to chance in letting opposing teams get their offenses set.

Perry eventually settled into the contest with a decent second quarter as they battled back into the contest and trailed by 12. But the first half turnovers were on the mind of Panthers head coach Matt Voll, a successful head coach at Carrollton for many years.

"We had 15 turnovers in the first half, WAY too many. And they (McKinley) caused a lot of those issues for us. Once we were able to envision and slow down, we were able to maintain and finish and score," he said. "If you're turning the ball over and missing shots, whoo, they're fast and they get it out and they run and they are an extremely talented group of kids."

The tenor of the contest swung in the second half when Martelli and Bulldogs forward Anthony Chavers were called for offsetting technical fouls midway through the third quarter and Reed Sims Sr. was called for an otherwise questionable technical foul, much to Weatherspoon's consternation.

With momentum on their side, senior guard Drake Jacobsen connected on a flawless three-pointer from the left corner that truncated the McKinley lead to four after a layup and a dunk from Panthers guard Darnell McLeod. That was as close as the Panthers would get as two steals and layups by Chavers and Carter sealed the finality of the contest.

Jaylen Jeter paced the Bulldogs with 15 points and Chavers contributed with 13. Jacobsen was the top scorer for Perry with 15 while McLeod and Luke Wolf both applied 14 apiece.

Perry now has endured two straight setbacks after a 4-0 start to the season. They do have going for them the fact that they 13 days off before they return to action again when they host Green. The two weeks off will be beneficial to the Panthers as they not only spend time with their families but also find a way to return back to the win column according to Voll's testimony.

"We don't come back till January 3rd at home. So we have to come back and get back to fundamentals and basics and yes, we just have to make sure we are more together, more connected and just ready to go and our guys, this group, I don't question their character and their will to and want to but we definitely had a rough week and tonight the last three quarters we got our team back," he said.

McKinley will have eight days off before returning home for two contests against Gilmour Academy, a team that is two years removed from a Division II Final Four appearance and then defending Division I champion Cleveland St. Ignatius. The Lancers are coached by Dan DeCrane in his seventh year as their general and are carrying a 4-1 record at press time while Ignatius is coached by Cam Joyce and the Wildcats are 5-1 and currently ranked #1 in Ohio.

Weatherspoon will investigate more about his charges within those two games. And the Perry result is an early factor.

"Tonight's game was a life lesson for us. Credit to Perry for continuing to fight. As we continue with our schedule, we got tough teams coming up, we cannot play like this against versatile teams if we are going to come out on the right end," he said.

Canton McKinley came out with the iron fists of Mike Tyson with an early 15-0 run, just enough to have their hand raised in victory.

Girls basketball: Canton McKinley 66, Perry 58

PERRY TWP.--After spotting Perry a generous 18-10 first quarter lead, the visiting Bulldogs outscored the Panthers 56-41 over the final 24 minutes and evened their record to 5-5 with an eight-point victory in the Perry gym.

Mya Taylor eclipsed the 1,000 point plateau in the second quarter and finished with a game-high 34 points. Perry on the other hand was led by Lila Kleve's 19 points.

McKinley head coach Ryan Gracia, a part of two state championships as an assistant coach on the boys basketball team under Dave Hoover was pleased with his team's defense after yielding Perry an early advantage.

"I let them know that we weren't playing to our ability and I needed some more effort out of them and needed them to wake up and take one possession at a time. They imposed their will, picked up our defense and started playing defense because defense is our best offense," he said.

1,000 SCORER. Mya Taylor smiles as she is recognized for scoring 1,000 points in her career at McKinley Friday night during the second quarter of the Bulldogs contest against Perry. McKinley improved to 5-5 with the victory. (Keno Sultan/Stark County Prep Press)

Keno Sultan is a writer for Stark County Prep Press. He can be reached at 330-445-4575 or email at KenoSultan@hotmail.com.