MANSFIELD, Ohio — For a coach whose team had just won for the 10th time in 11 games, Plymouth’s Troy Keene was in a foul mood Tuesday at St. Peter’s Franciscan Activity Center.
“This is the ugliest 20 point win that I’ve ever seen,” Keene said after the Big Red sleep-walked to a 52-35 win over the Spartans. “In the second half we just decided not to come out of the locker room. They were making shots and we were turning it over at the opposite end of the floor.
“We took care of business when we had to, but I’m not happy with this one.”
The Big Red (10-1) limited the Spartans (6-5) to two points in the second quarter and built a 26-9 halftime lead. Plymouth’s Tyrell Edmiston opened the third quarter with a thunderous dunk on an alley-oop from point guard Hunter Bailey, but St. Peter’s responded with a 8-0 run to cut Plymouth’s advantage to 28-17 and force Keene to call timeout.
“Those are the types of things we have to avoid,” said Plymouth’s Tyson Beebe, who buried back-to-back 3-pointers to half the St. Peter’s run. “We came out slow in the second half. We held them to nine points in the first and second quarters combined and then they scored 13 in the third.
“Those are the things we need to improve on. When we have a team down, we have to finish them.”
The Spartans trailed 36-22 after three quarters and never seriously threatened in the fourth.
“We missed some shots and turned it over in the first half,” St. Peter’s coach Joe Jakubick said. “You can’t do that against a quality team.
“Right now we’re not built to come back from things like that.”
Beebe led Plymouth with 30 points. Edmiston added 14.
Adam Blunk paced St. Peter’s with 14 points. Michael Berick was next with six.
Growing Pains: The youthful Spartans have lost three of their last four after winning three straight last month.
“We’ve just got to get more consistent on the offensive end,” Jakubick said. “If we do that, hopefully we will become a better team.”
That could be a tall order considering the schedule. St. Peter’s will play four of its next five on the road.
The good news for Jakubick is, for the first time all year, he will have his team in its entirety beginning with Friday’s rivalry game at Mansfield Christian. Madison transfer Kyle Osgar and Mansfield Senior transfer Tyson Stevenson both had to sit out the first 11 games, but will be eligible Friday.
“I know those kids are going to be overanxious. It’s going to take them a while to get into the flow of everything,” Jakubick said. “Overnight we become a deeper team. Hopefully that gives us more options on the offensive end.”
Helping Hand: Nobody benefits more from Edminston’s uncanny passing ability than Beebe. The two hooked up on several occasions in the fourth quarter to keep the Spartans at bay.
“With a passer like Tyrell, if you cut to the basket he’s going to get you the ball,” Beebe said. “He has such great vision. He’s sees everybody on the court.”
Jakubick agreed.
“He’s a man among boys,” Jakubick said. “He’s a terrific player and the biggest credit to him is he makes everybody around him better.”
