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Skylights,
Lights face tough road test against Carroll By Ryan Divish/Havre
Daily News Sports Editor/rdivish@havredailynews.com The Carroll College P.E.
Center might not be the toughest place to play in the Frontier Conference,
but it is far from the easiest. To put it simply, Carroll basketball teams
just don't lose there. The Montana State
University-Northern women's and men's basketball teams will try to hand the
Saints rare Frontier Conference home losses tonight in Thursday game's that
were supposed to be televised statewide on Omega Television Productions. However, Omega said
today that it will not broadcast the games. So fans who want to follow the
games will have to listen to them on 92.5 KPQX-FM. Television or not, the game
is still very important to both the Skylights and Lights. The Skylights, who are
fourth in the Frontier with a 6-4 conference record, will open the night,
facing a conference-leading Saint squad in the midst of a three-game winning
streak. The Saints could make it
a three-game win streak over the Skylights with a win tonight. Carroll, 9-1
in conference and 24-4 overall, has already defeated Northern twice this
season, the most recent being a 70-59 win in Havre on Jan. 24. In that game, Northern
came out flat and disinterested as Carroll rolled to a 25-10 lead midway
through the first half. The Skylights rallied to cut the Saint lead to single
digits. But behind the shooting of Tara Zoanni and Laci High, Carroll put
Northern away midway through the second half. Skylights head coach
Mike Erickson knows his team can't make the same mistake of not being ready
to play tonight. "I definitely think
we'll be much more prepared this time around," Erickson said. "We
know we can't put ourselves in a hole like that against Carroll. They're just
too good offensively to try and come back on." Indeed, the Saints are
frighteningly efficient on offense, averaging 76.4 points per game while
shooting 42 percent from the field and 37 percent from three-point range.
They have a multitude of weapons led by Zoanni, who is second in the
conference in scoring at 18.6 points per game. "Zoanni is a senior
and their leader," Erickson said. "She's not afraid to take big
shots and they look for her when they need a basket." Carroll also gets a
healthy contribution from sophomore Emili Woody, who is averaging 14.7 points
per game and a conference-best 9.4 rebounds per game. "Woody just kills
teams with her offensive rebounding," Erickson said. "She has a
real knack for getting offensive boards. We're going to put Brettney
(Vermandel) on her to try and keep her from getting (Carroll) second-chance
opportunities." As always for Northern,
it boils down to defense and rebounding. If the Skylights can do both well,
they will have success. However, Carroll's strengths play directly against
those factors. "It comes down to
us defending and slowing down a couple people," Erickson said.
"Obviously, everyone is a threat for them, but it seems like the same
two or three people beat you. If we can take them away, it's going to force
other players to do things they aren't used to doing." Carroll outrebounds its
opponents by an average of five rebounds per game and leads the Frontier,
averaging 14.5 offensive rebounds per game. "We cannot give up
offensive rebounds," Erickson said. "They're tough enough to stop
defensively, we certainly don't need to give them second chances on
possessions." Still, with all the
offensive firepower and talent, Erickson doesn't think his players are
intimidated by Carroll or its league-leading status. "They're definitely
beatable," Erickson said. "We didn't play well at all offensively
in our last game and we were still there. I definitely think we have a chance
if we play like we're capable of." While the Carroll women
continue to roll, the Carroll men have bogged down since falling to Northern
98-95 in double overtime on Jan. 24. The Saints have lost three of their last
five games since then and have uncharacteristically struggled on offense. Carroll, 4-6 in
conference and 17-8 overall, did not break the 60-point barrier in its last
two games - a pair of losses to Westminster College and Lewis-Clark State.
But despite the Saints' current woes, Lights head coach Shawn Huse isn't
about to let his team overlook Carroll. "Our kids realize
that Carroll is very tough to beat at home," Huse said. "I think
you have to throw out Carroll's conference record. They have Chris Bond back
now and they will be very hungry to get a win after losing the way they did
to us earlier in the season." When Northern and
Carroll met earlier this season, Bond was in street clothes with a bad ankle.
Sophomore Jeff Hays filled Bond's role quite ably, scoring 33 points and
pulling down nine rebounds for Carroll. But Bond has played in Carroll's last
four games, and along with Hays, will be a factor. "We know that Bond
and Hays are as good of post players as there are in this league," Huse
said. "You have to pay a little extra attention to Bond because he can
be a difference maker. He certainly has the talent to do so. And you can't
just focus on him and Hays because Carroll has plenty of other weapons." Bond is averaging 14.4
points per game, while Hays is scoring 13.2 points and pulling down a
team-high 6.3 rebounds per game. Their frontcourt mate Andy Brown also
averages in double figures at 12.0 points per game while shooting 57 percent
from the field. Carroll point guard Greg Johnson leads the Frontier in
assists, while Chester native Jeff Graham and senior Newell Roche provide
outside shooting. Besides defending all of
Carroll's offensive weapons, Northern will also have to win the battle on the
boards. Carroll is a very good rebounding team, but in the earlier win the
Lights edged the Saints in rebounding 35-34. "We were one
rebound from being even and three points from being even," Huse said.
"Every game from here on out, we have to rebound if we even hope to have
a chance." Northern senior Trenton
Harbaugh leads the Frontier in rebounding at 7.3 per game while Dustin
Sawejka and Reid Stovall also provide help on the boards. Another aspect the
Lights must improve is free-throw shooting. Northern's free-throw shooting
has been deplorable at best and has made games much closer than they should
be. "Basically, our
free-throw shooting can only improve because it can't get any worse,"
Huse said. "Hopefully we'll be able to knock our free throws down, get
some rebounds and get a big road win." Thanks to three-straight
wins, Northern has moved into fourth place and is clinging to one of the very
valuable home-playoff spots. But Huse knows that their position in the
standings can change quicker than the Montana weather. "We have taken a
big step in our last three games, but we need to take an even bigger step in
these next four games," he said. Indeed, the Lights will
face the top three teams in the Frontier in their final three games, which
makes getting a win tonight even more critical. It's a task, Huse feels his
team is up for. "Our intensity
level has been very high and they have been very focused," he said.
"I think we're really hungry and playing toward a common goal." The Skylights will tip
off at 6 p.m. and the Lights at 8 p.m. |
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