By DEAN JACKSON
WZBD.com
FORT WAYNE – Three games in, and Adams Central has had to contend with a unique playing style for each.
The latest was about effort, focus, and the little things. The result was a 44-41 victory over Canterbury Saturday afternoon in high school boys basketball.
Trace Maller led the Jets with 22 points, including 12-of-14 at the line. Braylend Reber chipped in with ten. Canterbury (3-2) got eleven from JP Rohwer and ten from Aran Padmalingam.
Three-pointers weren’t dropping. Turnovers were mounting. The offense was sputtering. It was a grind to keep any flow.
“Today it was just sloppy,” Adams Central coach Aaron McClure explained. “Canterbury plays—what I call—in chaos. They like to play chaotically. They want to mix it up. They want to push the ball. They played fast, and it led to us being sloppy.”
Unofficially, AC committed 16 turnovers, and Canterbury finished with 22.
“They weren’t necessarily so long or so quick, but they were physical. And that’s a trait of Coach (Deric) Adams’ teams,” McClure reasoned.
In the season opener, the Jets (2-1) topped Southern Wells 68-27 on Dec. 6 and fell to Muncie Central 57-48 on Monday.
“We didn’t handle it well. That’s what you get early in the season. We have several guys who are moving in their roles. We’ve had three games. The first game was one that we just overmatched (Southern Wells).”
Against the Bearcats, McClure said his squad played clean, only committing ten turnovers, but their athleticism was too much to handle.
“We saw a lot of length and quickness. This game was a slugfest – if you want to call it that. And so it’s good. We’ve had to play three games. We’ve played three different games. I’m hopeful it carries us into next week.”
AC will face Whitko on the road on Tuesday, and host Woodlan this Friday.
“It was just one of those days we had trouble scoring from top to bottom. We didn’t hit a three the whole game. It comes down to you having to battle through, and you make plays.”
Chipping away. Valuing possessions. Staying on task.
A 15-second span in the third quarter embodied the Adams Central effort perfectly.
Trailing 27-25 with 3:45 showing, the Jets launched two shots, they played hot potato, hustling for at least five touches. None of those efforts translated to points, but they kept after it.
McClure praised the effort on the board.
“I thought we did a good job on the boards. They didn’t get a lot of second shots. It’ll be interesting to look at the stats and see how many shots we took versus how many shots they took. But it was a day when we didn’t hit a three-point shot the entire game.”
Canterbury enjoyed its biggest lead – five-point to start the fourth quarter. Aiden Greider grabbed a steal and netted a layup to make it 34-29 at the 6:44 remaining.
Adams Central then went on a 13-0, four-minute run to go up 42-34. Maller scored seven points in that spurt.
The win is Aaron McClure’s 200th victory in his nineteenth-season tenure with AC. He’s 253-271 overall.
Heritage 59 Bellmont 29
Boys’ Scoreboard
Friday Scores
South Adams 40 Churubusco 38
Goshen 52 East Noble 49
Bluffton 54 Lakeland Christian 26
Carroll (FW) 46 Concordia Lutheran 41
Bishop Luers 81 FW Northrop 35
FW South Side 66 FW North Side 50
FW Wayne 61 FW Snider 50
Homestead 72 Bishop Dwenger 40
Saturday Scores
Anderson 68 FW Northrop 25
Bluffton 60 Elwood 15
Carroll (FW) 47 East Noble 30
Blackhawk Christian 56 Norwell 34
Bishop Luers 50 Portage 44
Jay County 58 New Castle 56, 2OT
Leo 49 Woodlan 40
Manchester 71 Huntington North 49
New Haven 58 Homestead 55
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