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| Published January 19, 2004 :: Home |
Rams Keep Cool
Under Hot Lights “Did I sweat through it?” the West Valley coach asked? Nope. Although his players worked extremely hard, assaulting both backboards as if their season depended on it, Berndt handled the Tourneytown.com Shootout’s marquee game exactly as his Rams had — cool as a cucumber. “The difference,” Brewster coach Tim Taylor said after West Valley’s 55-45 conquest of his Bears, “was their patience on offense. They ran their stuff to a T. Eventually they’d break us down, and then they’d make us pay for it.” In truth, all it cost Brewster was its 38-game winning streak. And Taylor considered that a small price to pay for the opportunity to match his defending Class 1A state champions against a team of West Valley’s caliber. On t his occasion, with an announced crowd of 3,850 watching in the SunDome, the Rams were something to see. They ran the “Flex,” a half-court offense of passing, screening and cutting, as efficiently as you’ll ever see a high school team run it. Such patience and selflessness will produce precious few highlight-film plays, if your bag is three-on-one fast breaks, behind-the-back passes and rim-rattling dunks, but it will evoke smiles from people like Dean Nicholson and John Wooden. And it will win games. “They were way more patient than we were,” said David Pendergraft, Brewster’s Gonzaga-bound 6-foot-6 senior. “They just kept executing and executing. We’d wait for a mistake, but it didn’t seem like they ever made any.” Not many, anyway. West Valley finished the game with five turnovers. Most prep teams would be elated with twice that number. Then again, there was a playoff game last season, against Grandview, in which the Rams didn’t commit their first turnover until midway through the third quarter. “I believe it,” Taylor said, “the way they take care of the ball, set their screens and just keep moving. Eventually they get you leaning one way and then they go the other.” Usually resulting in a layup. As for the highly-anticipated Pendergraft vs. Andrew Strait matchup, each played extremely hard and each was probably a bit tight early. Strait, an early signee of the University of Montana, finished with 24 points, eight rebounds, one assist and one block and Pendergraft had 17 points, eight boards, two assists and two blocks. Pendergraft shot better, 6-for-13 to 10-for-28, but Strait had more help in the form of guard E.J. Schoen, who nailed 9 of 16 shots en route to 21 points. There was 6-5 Corey Wehr, too, who hustled eight rebounds. “Andrew’s a great player,” said Pendergraft, adding that he’d played against Strait in several summer league games. “He knows how to get the ball in the hole and he plays hard.” Taylor, meanwhile, was a bit disappointed in his team’s 39 percent shooting, including only 1-for-14 from 3-point range, but he was also realistic. “We missed some shots we ordinarily don’t miss,” he said, “but on the other hand we usually don’t have a 6-8 kid and a 6-5 kid running at us. We definitely saw things tonight we don’t ordinarily see, but that’s fine. “As for the streak, I’m almost happy it’s over. It was great for us to get to come down here and play a team this good in this arena. If I’d wanted to keep the streak going, I’d have scheduled a bunch of (Class) B teams.” Then, turning to Pendergraft, Taylor smiled and said, “Weird, huh? Meaning losing. It’s something Brewster rarely does. But Monday night under the hot lights of the SunDome, West Valley found the formula — poise and patience. And a coach who kept his coat on.
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