Spartans find winning touch versus Blue Devils

GREAT BARRINGTON – Monument Head Coach Mike Saporito “believed” in his Spartans’ ability to rally from adversity against Drury last Friday night.

And they did.

Monument trailed the Blue Devils 28-16 at halftime before scoring 39 points in the second half to outlast Jack Racette’s Blue Devils, 55-47.

“We talked about it at halftime, we didn’t represent well in the first half,” Saporito said. “You have to believe at halftime that we are going to turn the corner [in the second half].”

The Spartans’ Ezra Marcus (14 points) was instrumental in his coach’s faith in the second half when he hit two jumpers in the final minute of the first half to end a 12-0 Blue Devil run.

“They have been flashes of what we have needed from [Marcus] on the court,” Saporito said. “I thought Ezra had one of his best games.”

Marcus continued flashing his brilliance at the start of the second half, when he hit a baseline jumper and an awkward turnaround post move to cut the Drury lead to 28-20.

Monument’s Taylor White followed up with an offensive rebound and put back, and Marcus started a fast break with a defensive board and an outlet to Cam Powell, who hit a tough runner to cut the Blue Devil lead to 28-24.

“Once we started getting that momentum of hitting shots – basketball at every level is a momentum thing – and the pendulum swings pretty hard both ways,” Saporito said.

Drury answered by knocking down a pair of three-pointers to add to their lead in the third quarter, 34-24.

However, the Spartans’ Peter Oggiani (17 points) started to believe in his shot as he hit a three from the wing, to cut the lead to seven, forcing Racette to call timeout.

It didn’t help.

The Spartans went on a 13-1 run to close the third quarter, as Powell (nine points) hit an acrobatic layup and pulled down an offensive rebound before putting the ball back up and in with a foul to cut the Blue Devil lead to 35-32.

Powell added another driving layup and Oggiani hit a three-ball at the buzzer to give the Spartans a 37-35 lead after three quarters.

“That was the attitude we came out with, to play hard – let the offense take care of itself – and know that guys are going to make shots in the second half,” Saporito said.

Oggiani continued his hot hand at the start of the fourth quarter as he hit a short jumper in the lane and knocked down a driving runner to give the Spartans a 43-37 lead.

Drury’s Nolan Bird (15 points, with 13 coming in the first half) knocked down his only second-half jumper in the fourth to cut the Spartans’ lead to 43-39.

The Blue Devils would get no closer, as Marcus converted on a pair of three-point plays under the basket to build the lead back up to 47-40.

Marcus, White and Oggiani each hit a pair of free-throws down the stretch for the 55-47 Monument win.

“We started to play with more passion and we started hitting more shots, and once Pete started feeling good about himself – he hit a couple of important shots for us – and overall I am pleased with the effort,” Saporito said.

Posted by Tim Davis on February 6, 2013. Filed under High School Sports,Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry