×

Linsly does little things right in defeating visiting Shadyside

WHEELING — Quite often winning a game simply boils down to doing the little things.

As it pertains to basketball, free throws, defense and turnovers are some of the aspects on the list.

It just so happened Linsly did all three extrmely well Tuesday evening inside the Stifel Fieldhouse and it resulted in a 58-52 victory against Shadyside.

“I thought our kids did a really good job of understanding how to play guys, the matchups we wanted and we controlled the tempo, which was a big part of the gameplan,” Linsly head coach Dave Wojcik said. “I give my kids credit because they did what they were supposed to do.”

The Cadets and Tigers spent most of the night in a nip-and-tuck affair, but an 8-2 run early in the fourth allowed Linsly to 13 at 46-33, but then Shadyside seemed to snap out of its funk.

Sophomore Bryce Amos got a conventional 3-point play to ignite a 9-0 run, which was capped by back-to-back buckets from senior Tyler Parr.

“The first three quarters, it felt like we were just going through the motions and they were playing much harder than us,” Shadyside head coach Ed Andes said. “We finally started playing, found some rhythm, but we just ran out of time.”

Linsly stopped the bleeding when senior Marshall Taylor got free for an inside bucket, pushing it back to 48-42.

“We had a three-minute stretch, late, where we lost focus a little bit and let them back into the game,” Wojcik said. “We came back and executed.”

Senior Kelly Hendershot, who was limited to just six points in the game, got the Tigers back within four when he drove down the lane for two. A steal and bucket from junior Jordan Joseph got Shadyside within two at 50-48 with just a couple of minutes to play.

From there, however, the Cadets made it a free-throw shooting contest. And most nights, they’re going to win those

“We’re shooting 74 percent, as a team, from the line, and that’s been a big part of our success,” Wojcik continued. “I told the kids, and coaches, before the season that half our games were going to come down to the free throw line. And I am not talking at the end of games, but more over the long haul. Our kids have done a good job of that.”

All told, Linsly knocked down 13-of-14 from the stripe in the fourth and 21-of-25 for the game.

Taylor, who led the Cadets with 18 points, was six-of-six from the line in the fourth. No fewer than five players knocked down at least one foul shot in the final chapter.

“I was asking (my assistants) if there was anyone we could foul, but they kept finishing,” Andes said. “That was huge because we got to the point where we had to foul, hoping we could find someone who would miss, but we couldn’t.”

Prior to the fourth-quarter fireworks, Linsly held a 17-16 lead at halftime and upped it to 38-31 at the final stop.

George Donovic fueled the third-quarter spurt for the Cadets, scoring nine of his 13.

Defensively, Linsly limited Shadyside’s two leading scorers — Hendershot and Korey Beckett — to four total field goals and just nine combined points.

“We wanted to try to take Kelly out of it if we could, but he’s a heck of a player,” Wojcik said. “We were sitting (in the lane) waiting for him to drive it, looking to take charges. Our guys executed. The biggest thing was we controlled the tempo of the game.”

Along with Taylor and Donovic’s scoring, Luca DiLorenzo came off the bench to score 10.

Shadyside was led by Parr’s game-high 19. Amos finished with 12, all of which coming in the second half.

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *

Starting at $4.73/week.

Subscribe Today