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Dunkirk makes light work of Maple Grove

OBSERVER Photo by Ron Szot Dunkirk’s Tyrese Kristan-Johnson (12) is fouled by a Maple Grove defender during Tuesday’s CCAA West 1 boys high school basketball game.

Dunkirk (7-5, 4-1) had six players score in double figures Tuesday night as it cruised to a 101-57 thrashing of Maple Grove (2-8, 1-3), during CCAA West 1 boys basketball action at Dunkirk Senior High School.

“It was a good scoring night for us,” Marauders’ head coach Jack O’Brien said. “I thought we took the ball to the rack very well and we knocked down some shots. It was nice to see the scoring wealth go around. And some of the guys that we’ve normally seen maybe score more, maybe didn’t have their nights (Tuesday), but other guys stepped it up and were able to go in, finish and give us some good minutes out there.”

After a back-and-forth first quarter that saw Dunkirk come out with a 22-17 lead, the Marauders sprung a game-changing 17-4 run, highlighted by 10 points from Noah Sobilo, to increase their advantage to 39-21 with 4:01 remaining before halftime.

“Noah started the season out hot, but he’s been going through some ups and downs, so it was really nice to see him get out there and finish as strong as he did and knock down some shots,” O’Brien said. “He’s another guy, that, when he’s out there on defense, he’s getting in front of guys, getting on the floor for loose balls and that does so much for our team energy-wise. And those things might not show up in the book, but they really show up as far as our energy goes and what we want to do.”

Dunkirk finished the first half outscoring Maple Grove 12-9 for a 51-30 lead at halftime.

OBSERVER Photo by Ron Szot Dunkirk’s Darnell Butts (20) drives past Maple Grove’s Peter Auer (1) during Tuesday’s CCAA West 1 boys high school basketball game.

“We wanted to come out and rebound (with a win) for sure,” O’Brien said. “That was a tough loss for us (last Friday against Chautauqua Lake). It was a hard-fought game and you never know how you’re going to come out and play after a game like that, but I’m very pleased with the way we responded.”

Things went from bad to worse for the Red Dragons in the opening minutes of the third quarter, as the Marauders pushed their lead to 69-30 with an 18-0 run over the first 3:31 of the frame. Evon Hernandez and Tyrese Kristan-Johnson, who finished with a game-high 21 points, combined for nine points during the stretch.

“The way Tyrese runs the floor and plays the back end of our pressure defense, I mean you can’t say enough about it,” O’Brien said. “He is unbelievable at anticipating when a guy is in trouble and jumping passing lanes. When you watch him, whether he gets the rebound or not, he’s usually the first guy down the floor. Then he’s to the rim and he’s in (the paint).

“I thought the beginning of that third quarter was some of the best basketball we’ve played all year,” O’Brien added. “Our guys were hustling on defense, stepping up to help and flying down the court, finishing and shooting the ball well.”

With such a large lead, Dunkirk went to its bench, but Maple Grove was still unable to slow the Marauders down, as Jarrett Waclawski poured in Dunkirk’s final eight points of the quarter, helping the home team to a commanding 86-37 cushion.

“Jarrett is an excellent scorer,” O’Brien said. “He finds a way to get open, he has soft hands and a great touch and he did a great job rebounding the ball for us. And I saw a lot of great things from him on the defensive end, so that was really nice to see.”

Maple Grove’s best quarter came in the fourth when it outscored Dunkirk, 20-15, using a 17-2 run to cut into the Marauders’ lead, 88-54.

“Maple Grove is tough,” O’Brien said. “They’re banged up a little bit, but the way they play is going to create problems for anybody. They trap, they apply high pressure and they run the floor a lot like Chautauqua Lake. But it was nice that we kind of matched that pace and did a little bit better job of defending in transition and we got out in transition a little bit better, threw long on their press and those kinds of things that we didn’t do well against Chautauqua Lake.”

That spurt was followed, however, by another cold spell, as Dunkirk finished the game on a 13-3 run, breaking the century mark on a basket by Waclawski with 1:15 remaining.

“We’re out here to play basketball,” O’Brien said. “We’re out here to give our effort all the time and we preach that every day in practice, so it was nice to see those guys go out there and try to take charges, get on the floor for loose balls and box-out for rebounds. It was great to see.

“We’ve been playing well at home and that’s nice to protect your home floor,” O’Brien continued. “The way it has worked out is we have Olean and Chautauqua Lake on the road first and obviously those are the two teams in the standings that we’ve got to beat if we’re going to contend for the league title. And we’ve got them at home down the stretch and we’ve got to beat them.”

Dunkirk will get its first crack at Olean on Monday, Jan. 23, in Olean while it will host the Huskies (10-2, 4-1) on Thursday, Feb. 2. Meanwhile, Chautauqua Lake (11-1, 6-0) comes to town on Thursday, Feb. 9.

NOTES: Carson Crist had a team-high 20 points in the loss… Michel Padilla had 16 points for the Red Dragons, scoring six of them in the first quarter…  Kristan-Johnson added 13 rebounds to go with his 21 points… Sobilo and Waclawski each had eight rebounds in the win… Hernandez finished with 10 points and seven assists, Devaun Farnham-DeJesus had 10 points and Shamon Stewart 12 points to round out the six Marauders who finished with 10 or more points on the night.

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