Dragon fire too hot for Bronchos

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Holly's Nick Stoll passes the...

SWARTZ CREEK, Michigan - The Holly Bronchos were coming to Swartz Creek Friday night hoping to avenge a 73-57 loss to the Dragons in the late stages of the 2010-2011 season. But a strong effort by the home team was too much again as Holly fell to Creek, 69-51.

One of the older gyms in the Flint Metro League, Swartz Creek high school has that “old, smelly gym feel” that seems to intimate opponents. Traditionally a team that relies heavily on the three-pointer, the Dragons repeatedly attacked the basket and it paid off.“They scored most of their points inside and give them credit,” said Holly coach Lance Baylis. “It’s the first game we played really bad defensively.”

That combined with on off night from the field and a horrible seven for 22 effort at the free throw line were too much for Holly to overcome.

“Psychologically, there were points in the game had we made the front end of our free throws we had a chance to get back in the game. Get within 10 or 11 points, but it just didn’t happen,” Baylis said.The dominant play of two Creek juniors didn’t help either. Max Cummings singed Holly for 28 points and J. D. Tisdale added 14. The six foot three Cummings used a combination of strong moves to the basket with some good outside shooting to lead his team to a big win.

“Swartz Creek is a very good team. They are deep and they bring guys (off the bench) and they play hard,” said Baylis. He noted the correlation between Holly’s two losses and early foul troubles for the Bronchos’ Nick Stoll. As he did in the Fenton loss, Stoll was hit with two fouls in the first quarter, seriously limiting his playing time.

As in the Fenton game, he never appeared to find any feel for his game after the early fouls and it showed.

Baylis credited seniors Jared Plawski and Donovan Williams with having good games. Plawski led Holly with 15 points and Williams had 12.

“We are not a great shooting team and our defense just wasn’t there today,” said Baylis.

The good news for the Bronchos is that they control their own destiny. Holly is still 8-2 in the Flint Metro League and 9-2 overall and looking at home games against league leader Fenton at 9-1 and the Dragons who are now also 8-2 in the league.

Holly looks to lick its wounds with a home game Tuesday against the last place Clio Mustangs.


HOLLY

Donovan Williams         6    0-1    12
Michael Alexander        0    0-0     0
Jared Plawski              5    4-9    15
Austin Hopkin             4    2-4    11
Nick Stoll                    3    0-3     6
Isaac Casillas                2    0-1     4
Logan Spiker               0    0-0     0
Parker Rowse              0    0-0     0
Blake Ordiway              0    0-0     0
Justis Kerner                1    0-0     2
Morgan Baylis               0    1-2     1
Cannon Konzer             0    0-2     0
Patrick Reddy               0    0-0     0

Three-pointers: Plawski 1, Hopkin 1
Rebounds: Williams 6, Hopkin 6, Plawski 5, Konzer 5, Stoll 4, Alexander 2, Casillas 2, Baylis 1, Ordiway 1, Rowse 1, Spiker 1

Holly                      9    14    12    16    =     51
Swartz Creek        11    17    25    16    =     69