Lights crush Okanagan
By Ryan Divish/Havre Daily News Sports Editor/rdivish@havredailynews.com
On the bright side for the
Unfortunately for the Lakers, they have to play the Lights again tonight.
After fighting hard for a victory the night before, Northern (8-5) took the
intrigue out of the game early against the undermanned Lakers almost
immediately following the opening tip.
Jordan Matthews nailed a three-pointer and Marcus Wilson scored a pair of
baskets inside on the Lights' first three possessions to take an early 7-0
lead.
Okanagan, which hails from Kelowna, British Columbia, made things interesting
early by tying the game at seven on a three-pointer and two baskets from Henry
Sarikas.
However, Reid Stovall scored off a nice pass inside from Matthews to retake the
lead. From that point, the game turned from interesting into lopsided.
Northern outscored Okanagan 21-8 over the next
eight minutes to turn the game into a blowout. The Lights continued to pour it
on in the first half, rolling to a 56-27 lead and shooting a scorching 59
percent from the field.
"We came out strong and set the tone early on," said Lights head
coach Shawn Huse. "It was good to see after having a tough game the night
before."
The second half wasn't much better for Okanagan. The Lakers did manage to score
42 points in the second half in comparison to Northern's 50 second-half points.
But the Lakers got most of their buckets mainly because the Lights tried to
shore up their full-court pressure and assorted defenses.
"We were able to work on some different things and try some different
defenses and personnel combinations," Huse said. "Some things worked
well, some things didn't work well at all, but that's what you do in games like
that. It's important to work on things that need to be improved."
Stovall rebounded from a frustrating performance on Wednesday night against
Haskell University to lead a group of six Lights players in double figures with
24 points and 10 rebounds. Against Haskell, foul trouble limited Stovall to
just 19 minutes and four points and two rebounds.
"Reid really hustled and got his points by cleaning up some of our
misses," Huse said. "I know he wanted to come out and play well after
not getting much time against Haskell."
Matthews continued his solid play with 15 points and nine assists.
"Jordan shot the ball really well tonight from the outside which is good
to see," Huse said. "He was also very unselfish and made some nice
passes and got a lot of people involved."
Wilson had 14 points and nine rebounds, while Antonio Jordan came off the bench
to score 13 points and dish out five assists. The freshman tandem of Cody
Gillespie and Cory Brothers chipped in with 12 and 11 points respectively.
Sarikas led Okanagan with 29 points, while Matt Gowing added 26 in the losing
effort.
"I was pleased with our effort," Huse said. "It's hard to stay
focused when you are up big compared to when you are down, but we maintained
our intensity. We also stayed unselfish which is good to see."
The two teams will square off again tonight at 7 p.m in Shelby. The venue
change is just something Huse wanted to try after working with basketball coach
with Shelby High School boys basketball coach and former HHS standout Tom
Reynolds during the summer.
"We're excited about the opportunity to play in Shelby," Huse said.
"It gives people out of the area a chance to see us play. We are going to
play the game and the Shelby booster club is having a pot luck dinner
afterward. We get a chance to meet new people and hopefully establish some new
fans. It's a real positive on night that many people associate with negative
things."
MSU-NORTHERN 106, OKANAGAN 69
OKANAGAN UNIVERSITY COLLEGE (n/a)
Alain Rivere 2-2 0-0 4; Matt Gowing 10-16 6-8 26; Kris English 0-5 1-2 1; Chad
Pratch 3-6 0-0 7; Henry Sarikas 11-18 3-4 29; Tyrone Reeder 0-0 1-2 1; Tom
Nguyen 0-1 1-4 1; Joel Brazier 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 26-49 12-20 69.
MSU-NORTHERN (8-5)
Reid Stovall 11-16 2-2 24; Marcus Wilson 7-12 0-1 14; Jordan Matthews 5-11 2-2
15; Landen Grant 3-6 0-0 7; Leo Bullchild 3-7 0-0 8; Cory Brothers 4-6 1-2 11;
Antonio Jordan