Traverse City Record-Eagle

Sports

March 2, 2012

Gladiators emphasize defense in win

St. Francis beats Gaylord, hosts district game next

By MIKE ECKERT meckert@record-eagle.com

TRAVERSE CITY — It was a final tune-up for the playoffs.

Host St. Francis relied on its defense on Thursday in a 52-34 non-conference basketball win over Gaylord to close out the regular season.

"It was really good," Gladiators coach Keith Haske said. "Gaylord's a quality team out of the Big North and we've really been struggling with our defensive energy the last couple of weeks. We actually sat and watched a whole game today, which I never do because it takes so long with the kids. Last night and today we said we've really got to defend if we want to make a run. I thought our kids really took that to heart and played good defense. It's one of those deals where if you don't shoot well, you've got to play good enough defense to win."

St. Francis (18-2) knows all to well about coming up short on defense, especially in the playoffs.

"Last year we didn't do that," Haske said. "We lost to Elk Rapids in the district game because we didn't score and we weren't a good defensive team. So I'm hoping they're going to buy into that. If you really want to make a tournament run, it's got to be based on your defense."

The Gladiators forced Gaylord (6-14) into 21 turnovers on the night.

"Compared to last year, when we didn't play well offensively, this is a game we would have lost last year," Glads senior Sean Sheldon said. "Our defense has been stepping up the last couple of games. That was big. We pulled it together as a team and our defense won the game for us."

Leading the charge on defense was senior point guard Devin Sheehy, who tallied six steals.

"I try to be aggressive," Sheehy said. "Coach tells me in practice to be as aggressive as I can and if I can't get the steal to get back on defense."

Sheehy had four points in the first quarter, but didn't score again. Still, he contributed in other ways with the six steals to go with four assists and three rebounds.

"I wasn't shooting well, so I was trying to get our other players involved," Sheehy said. "Coach told me to do that before the game, so that's all I was trying to do."

"He does that all the time," Haske said. "The last couple of nights he hasn't shot well. I know he's a great shooter and he's in the gym all the time, so I don't worry about that. He's our motor. And when he's going, it makes a huge difference."

One of Sheehy's assists came on a big alley-oop to Sheldon in the first half, which got the crowd on their feet.

"We had the off the backboard one (against Kalkaska), but that was the first one in the air," Sheldon said. "We called that play and were looking for it. We were lucky they didn't drop down too much on us. After that first one, though, they were looking for it, because we tried to go back to it again."

Sheldon finished with 21 points, nine rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block. Haske was able to get a lot of players into the game, including senior Riley Corcoran, who hit a long 3-pointer at the buzzer to finish the game.

"All of the guys have been great," Haske said. "I keep a lot of guys because I think they're great guys. They've been awesome. They've been working hard and helping us. So that's fun. And the way we play, we like to play a lot of guys. So it's good to see everyone contributing."

For Gaylord, Troy Gahn finished with 14 points.

Both teams turn their attention to the playoffs on Monday. The Blue Devils will host Petoskey in Class A while the Gladiators will open the Class C district at home with Glen Lake.

St. Francis beat the Lakers 60-51 on Tuesday.

"We feel good," Haske said. "We got to see them the other night. (Glen Lake junior Mike) O'Brien's a 1,000 point scorer already and he got loose on us a little bit in the fourth quarter. So we've got a couple of days to try to get a handle on him. Hopefully their other guys don't go off, because you've got to put a couple of guys in there. He's just too good of a player."

Gaylord won the JV game 56-40 behind 16 points from Steven Fitzek. Noah LaLonde scored nine for the Glads. St. Francis won the freshman game 46-46 thanks to 18 points from Jack Krcmarik and 10 from Matthey Seybert.

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