{"id":22481,"date":"2024-12-15T17:07:48","date_gmt":"2024-12-15T22:07:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/?p=22481"},"modified":"2024-12-15T17:07:48","modified_gmt":"2024-12-15T22:07:48","slug":"heritage-ac-boys-teams-continue-to-cruise-with-saturday-wins-weekend-round-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/2024\/12\/15\/heritage-ac-boys-teams-continue-to-cruise-with-saturday-wins-weekend-round-up\/","title":{"rendered":"Heritage, AC boys’ teams continue to cruise with Saturday wins: Weekend round-up"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By DEAN JACKSON<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

WZBD.com<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

FORT WAYNE \u2013 Three games in, and Adams Central has had to contend with a unique playing style for each.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u00a0ten from Aran Padmalingam.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Trace Maller led all players in scoring as the Jets moved to 2-1 on the season. (Photo by Dean Jackson)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Three-pointers weren\u2019t dropping. Turnovers were mounting. The offense was sputtering. It was a grind to keep any flow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cToday it was just sloppy,\u201d\u00a0Adams Central coach Aaron McClure explained.\u00a0\u201cCanterbury plays\u2014what I call\u2014in chaos. They like to play chaotically.\u00a0 They want to mix it up. They want to push the ball. They played fast, and it led to us being sloppy.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Unofficially, AC committed 16 turnovers, and Canterbury finished with 22.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey weren’t necessarily so long or so quick, but they were physical. And that’s a trait of Coach (Deric) Adams’ teams,\u201d McClure reasoned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We\u00a0didn’t\u00a0handle it well.\u00a0That’s\u00a0what you get early in the season. We have several guys who are moving in their roles.\u00a0We’ve\u00a0had three games. The first game was one that we just overmatched (Southern Wells).”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Against the Bearcats, McClure said his squad played clean, only committing ten turnovers, but their athleticism was too much to handle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe 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\u2019m hopeful it carries us into next week.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AC will face Whitko on the road on Tuesday, and host Woodlan this Friday. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was just one of those days we had trouble scoring from top to bottom. We\u00a0didn’t\u00a0hit a three the whole game. It comes down to you having to battle through, and you make plays.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chipping away. Valuing possessions. Staying on task. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A 15-second span in the third quarter embodied the Adams Central effort perfectly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

McClure praised the effort on the board.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I\u00a0thought we did a good job on the boards. They\u00a0didn’t\u00a0get a lot of second shots.\u00a0It’ll\u00a0be 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\u00a0didn’t\u00a0hit a three-point shot the entire game.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Drew Johnson puts up a shot in traffic at Canterbury Saturday. (Photo by Dean Jackson)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Adams Central then went on a 13-0, four-minute run to go up 42-34. Maller scored seven points in that spurt. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The win is Aaron\u00a0McClure\u2019s\u00a0200th victory in his nineteenth-season tenure with AC.\u00a0He\u2019s\u00a0253-271 overall.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Adams Central head coach Aaron McClure picked up win #200 with the Jets Saturday. (Photo by Dean Jackson)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Heritage 59 Bellmont 29<\/p>\n\n\n\n