Defense Dismisses Rams Early in 'Canes Dominant Win
- By: Jerome Alexander Reed
- Jan 22, 2017
- 2 min read
Gainesville teammates celebrate a 61-24 win over Eastside High School on Friday, January 20, 2017 at Santa Fe College in Gainesville, Florida. (From left to right, Micaiah Lacroix, Kaijon Scott, Tyrik Baker, Kishon Mayes, Isaiah Wilson.)
What do you want out of a rivalry?
When you walk into the spot, you want to see the teams’ colors mixing in the crowd like tie-die, right? Or, maybe you’re trying to peep the “Bring It On”-style battles both cheer squads get in to.
No matter the desire, one thing you probably don't want are blowouts. The Gainesville Hurricanes (17-2) played the Eastside Rams (9-8) on Friday night like they invented the phrase “You can’t always get what you want!”
The ‘Canes cruised to a 61-24 win with junior forward Christian Miller-Cardwell heading the storm. CMC finished with an efficient 12 points, two rebounds and one assist.
“No Easy Passes” must have been written on their team shoes, somewhere. Early after the tip, you could see their scrappy defense start to force the Rams into playing sloppy ball. Eastside went scoreless for six minutes, creating a 13-2 deficit after the first.
“In any game, that’s big any time you can jump out to double-digits, early,” Hurricanes head coach Kelly Beckham said. “It was a good team effort. I think everybody contributed, tonight.”
You were right, Coach.
He said sharing the basketball leads to people getting open all over the court. It’s great when you have an entire roster who vibes with the idea.
All 12 ‘Canes left their Nike print on the floor and grabbed a bucket, including senior G/F Micaiah Lacroix who’s slowly but surely getting back into gear after a knee injury last year. He finished with two points and one of the team’s 11 steals.
J’len Wilson, though? One, plus five.
The sophomore guard spearheaded the D when it came to forcing turnovers. Wilson notched six steals, forced Rams into “Ramtraps” at half-court and made the passing lanes tough to read. He even gave them fits at the free-throw line, hitting six of six.
Sophomore Jeremiah Tisme and juniors Josh Dudley & Dallas Tealer tied for the team-high in rebounds with three. Six players tied for two. Tisme used his 6’10” frame to notch all three ‘Canes blocks, while Dudley made his mark on offense with two treys and three assists.
Meanwhile, Eastside struggled to sink shots.
During their second possession of the third quarter, EHS missed five consecutive layups around the rim—a culmination of the entire night. With a visit to Ocala-Forest coming on Tuesday, coach Beckham is hoping for that same tenacious mindset to last.
“We got to continue to play defense,” Beckham emphasized. “The game at Forest is huge as far as trying to be the number one seed in the district.”
TEAM LEADERS
GHS Christian Miller-Cardwell - 12 points EHS M. Robertson - 7 points
NEXT GAMES GHS At Ocala-Forest. Tuesday, Jan. 24. 7:30 PM.
EHS Vs. Bradford. Tuesday, Jan 24. 7:30 PM.
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