Admittedly, coach James Newberry’s Middle Park Panthers are snowboarders and track stars before they are basketball players.
Things appear to be changing.
The Granby-based Panthers got points from nine players Tuesday night, attacked the interior and pressed nearly all game to brush aside Bishop Machebeuf 73-50 in a Class 3A Metropolitan League matchup.
The Panthers (11-1, 4-1) got a game-high 21 points and six rebounds from Arelijus Sutkus and 18 points and six rebounds from junior Joey Cisneros to dominated the inexperienced Buffaloes for their third consecutive win.
Middle Park opened with a 22-4 run and pushed its lead to 29 points late in the third quarter while forcing 16 turnovers and limiting the Buffaloes (5-7, 3-4) to 32 percent shooting.
“We are more disciplined on offense,” Newberry said. “But at the same time, defense is what has changed our program around.”
The Buffaloes, who lost for the fourth time in five games, got 13 points from junior Nick Branch and nine points from Alex Bullock.
The Buffaloes had moments of cohesion but suffered from an impatient attack.
“We’re 12 games into the season and we’re still a pretty green team,” Buffaloes coach Tom Tesone said.
The Buffaloes cut a 31-11 deficit to 35-21 by halftime before the Lithuanian-born Sutkus erupted in the third quarter. The 6-foot-1 junior scored 14 points in less than five minutes as the Panthers were up 55-29 with 2:24 left before the fourth quarter.
“A big factor is our coach,” Sutkus said. “He likes to challenge us a lot.”
Middle Park 24 11 24 14 – 73
Bishop Machebeuf 8 13 12 17 – 50
Middle Park – Landa 3 2-2 8, MacDonald 0 0-0 0, Maddux 1 0-0 2, Green 0 0-0 0, Carter 4 2-4 10, Bujanovich 0 2-2 2, Morrow 0 0-0 0, Finnegan 2 2-2 6, Z. Sutkus 1 0-2 2, Cisneros 6 6-7 18, Gleisberg 2 0-0 4, A. Sutkus 8 4-5 21. Totals 27 18-24 73.
Bishop Machebeuf – McIntyre 1 1-3 3, Myer 0 0-0 0, McDonald 1 1-2 4, Tenorio 2 3-4 7, Bullock 4 1-2 9, Hensen 2 3-4 8, Tuggle 2 0-0 4, Branch 5 3-9 13, LeRoy 1 0-0 2. Totals 18 12-24 50.
3-pt. goals – A. Sutkus; Hensen, McDonald. Total fouls – Middle Park 22, Bishop Machebeuf 17. Fouled out – None. Technicals – None.
