SHELBY — It took a little longer than expected, but Shelby finally got the tempo to their liking Thursday night.
Senior Jeremy Holloway scored nine of his game-high 18 points in the second quarter as the Whippets knocked off a week’s worth of rust and cruised to a 58-36 Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference win over Clear Fork at Shelby High School.
The Whippets (8-2 overall, 5-1 in the MOAC) came in averaging 66.3 points a game, but the Colts (0-10, 0-6) were able to slow the game down during the first quarter. Clear Fork led most of the period before Shelby’s Bryson Baker tied it at 9-9 on a layup with 12 seconds remaining.
Enter Holloway.
The 6-foot-5 swingman opened the second with a layup to give the Whippets the lead for good and closed the quarter with an offensive rebound and putback, sending Shelby to the locker room with a 28-14 halftime advantage.
“We didn’t come out with a lot of energy or intensity,” Holloway said. “In the second quarter we got into a full court press and we were turning some steals into layups.”
That was all part of the plan, first-year Shelby coach Greg Gallaway said.
“We feel good in transition. We want to play fast,” Gallaway said. “We want to create some chaos defensively and see if we can create turnovers and play in the full court.”
Shelby put it away with a 10-4 run to open the third quarter. Five different Whippets scored during the stretch.
“We felt like any of the eight guys that we play could give us double digits on any night,” Gallaway said. “We have an unselfish bunch. We keep emphasizing to not settle for a good shot when we can get a great shot.”
Andre Hill backed Holloway with seven points, while Baker and Carson Brubaker each had six. Alex Bruskotter, the MOAC’s leading scorer at 20.3 points a game, had five points, as did Max Hess.
Adam Vanausdle led the Colts with nine points. Kaden Riddle added eight.
“Offensively, it’s been a struggle all year,” Clear Fork coach Steven Bechtel said. “Defensively, I think we executed the game plan to the best of our ability against a very good basketball team.
“I was very pleased with the effort.”
