In the annual duel between two of the top Class 5A boys basketball programs, East’s challenge to ThunderRidge was simple: en garde.
The Grizzlies never had a response.
The Angels’ guard tandem of Donnell Wells and Blake Swain ruled the floor Saturday at Manual’s Thunderdome, outscoring ThunderRidge’s starting backcourt 34-9 to pace a comfortable 55-42 nonleague victory for East.
The Angels (10-2) leaned heavily on their 2-3 zone defense and concentrated on neutralizing the Grizzlies’ size around the paint. Consequently, East gave up plenty of good looks from the perimeter but ThunderRidge (9-3) couldn’t make the home team pay, converting just 3-of-17 attempts from 3-point range and scoring just 13 baskets total.
Wells and Swain had no such trouble at the other end. They combined for six 3-pointers and were effective off the dribble and in transition as the Angels, winners of four straight, took the lead early and never were in danger of losing it.
“We depend on our point guards to kick out the ball and from then on it’s our job to put it in the hole,” said Wells, a senior.
Wells poured in a game-high 22 points and Swain, a junior, scored 12 – all in the first half.
The Grizzlies used their size effectively on the defensive end, outrebounding the Angels 34-25, but shot just 27 percent from the field and wasted many good looks in close.
“They swarmed on the bigs and made it hard to post up,” said 6-foot-8 junior Justin Becker, who scored a team-best 10 points for the Grizzlies and grabbed nine rebounds.
ThunderRidge guards Chris Gaiter and Jesse Stender scored two and seven points, respectively. Zach Tiedgen added six points and six rebounds and 6-6 senior Matt Stern contributed six points and eight boards.
The Angels led by 11 points on four occasions in the first half, but poor free-throw shooting prevented them from extending their advantage. Both teams struggled from the free-throw line, where East was 7-of-16 and the Grizzlies 13-of-23.
The Angels led by 13 points in the third quarter and had their biggest lead (47-30) early in the fourth quarter after a 3-pointer by Wells and layup by Da Vaughn Thornton with 6:16 remaining.
“We came out and we were just more physical then they were,” said Thornton, who scored eight points and grabbed eight rebounds. East defeated the Grizzlies for the 2004 state championship, while the Grizzlies won titles in 2002 and 2003.
ThunderRidge 13 11 5 13 – 42
East 19 14 9 13 – 55
ThunderRidge – Stender 3 1-5 7, Gaiter 1 0-0 2, Stern 1 4-4 6, Arnold 0 0-0 0, Tiedgen 1 4-6 6, Day 2 0-0 6, Becker 4 2-6 10, Jelniker 1 2-2 5. Totals 13 13-23 42.
East – Verner 0 0-0 0, Swain 5 0-1 12, Wells 9 0-2 22, Da. Thornton 4 0-3 8, Gilbert 1 3-4 5, De. Thornton 2 0-1 4, Hildreth 0 4-5 4, Martinez-Doublin 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 7-16 55.
3-point goals – Day 2, Jelniker; Wells 4, Swain 2. Total fouls – ThunderRidge 17, East 17. Fouled out – None. Technicals – None.
