The Evergreen boys basketball team took care of the ball in the second half.
The Plainsmen went inside in the second half. They played superb defense in the second half.
Pretty much, they did everything in the second half that they did not do in the first half Tuesday night. Consequently, they handed Hudson’s Bay its first loss of the season.
Caleb Dressler had 19 of his 22 points in the second half, Stefan Foulstone added 20 points, and the Plainsmen beat the Eagles 73-64 at Evergreen High School.
“At the beginning of the game, we didn’t go inside. We were just playing rat ball,” Dressler said. “At halftime, the coach said, ‘We have a 6-10 guys. Let’s get the ball down low.’ ”
Just so happens Dressler is that 6-10 guy.
Dressler scored six points in a row early in the third quarter, helping the Plainsmen (7-3) rally from a 12-point deficit.
“It really just sparked us,” he said.
Then Foulstone found his shooting touch. He scored 12 points in the period, as the Plainsmen went from 12-down to up-1 going into the final quarter.
“Once we got it into the bigs, the defense started collapsing, and the outside opened up,” Foulstone said.
He also credited his coach, Kelly Blankenship.
“The coach talked to us, and he got us pumped up,” Foulstone said. “We played as a team in the third quarter. It’s all about the team. We also had a really good half of defense.”
True.
Hudson’s Bay (8-1) led 39-27 at the break, but the Eagles were held to 25 second-half points.
The Plainsmen also got more cautious with the ball. After committing 15 turnovers in the first half, Evergreen turned it over six times in the second half.
Still, it was close until the last minute of the game.
Derrick Brooks, who led the Eagles with 15 points, hit a 3-pointer to tie the game 56-56 with 6:27 to play. A half-minute later, Tra Ponder tied it again, this time 58-58.
Dressler, though, would score the next five points. After a free throw by the Eagles, Warren Edmondson was true from 3-point range to give the Plainsmen a 66-59 advantage, a lead that would hold.
Bay did score the next five points, but the Plainsmen broke the press defense and Oshay Piper scored a lay-up with 1:10 remaining. From there, it was a free throw game for the Plainsmen.
Dressler had another double-double, this time with 22 points and 18 rebounds, including eight offensive boards. Foulstone was 7 of 12 from the floor and 6 of 8 from the line. Edmondson added 11 points for the Plainsmen.
Brooks added four steals with his points for the Eagles. Darius Goldman had 12 points, four steals, and seven rebounds. Pounder had eight points and nine rebounds.
While it was a non-league game, every contest has meaning to the players, Dressler and Foulstone said.
“Every win, there’s a moment to celebrate, but then there’s a moment you have to get serious about your next game,” Dressler said. “Every game brings its new challenges and new things we have to build on.”
“We look at these games as the same,” Foulstone added. “Obviously, (the league games) count more, but we have to play each game like they’re all league. We just gotta work hard.”
