Cannon comes out different in second half, resulting in victory over Rabun-Gap
The visiting Eagles kept Cannon in check in the first two quarters and had a five-point lead at halftime. However, the Cougars scored 25 points in the third quarter and went on to secure a 71-60 victory to improve their record to 9-4 on the season.
“I thought in the first half, their size, they gave us a lot of fits,” said Roth. “I give them a lot of credit: Their high-low stuff is really good. Those kids are big and strong, four or five years older than our guys. I thought they controlled pace. They like to play a little slower than we do.”
Cannon struggled in the first half with the Eagles’ size in the front court and was unable to get to the paint consistently while Nikola Vuksanovic put up 11 of his 17 points in the first half.
However, when Cannon came out of halftime, it moved the ball crisply on offense and got into the paint. When freshman Jaden Bradley began to attack the basket and the Eagles started to key on him, that left sophomore Jarvis Moss open. On the next possession, after Rabun Gap opened a 36-31 lead, Bradley kicked out to an open Moss in the corner in front of the “Cannon Crazies” student section. The 3-pointer was on target to make it a two-point game, part of an 11-point quarter for Moss. The crowd got back into the game in a big way, and the Cougar defense got a stop. Bradley drove and kicked out to Moss in the corner again, and another 3 dropped, giving Cannon its first lead since the second quarter.
“In practice, we play three-possession games,” Roth said. “To me, basketball can flip on three possessions, and it did. That’s the reason we do it. If we go back, and I watch it on the film, I think it was Bradley-to-Moss, Bradley-to-Moss, and that’s not by accident. We draw it up that way.”
The Cougar defense got another stop, and this time Bradley kept it and scored, part of a nine-point quarter for him. He finished the night with a game-high 27 points, all during the final three quarters.
“I thought he was the best player on the floor tonight,” Roth said of Bradley. “I thought he controlled every aspect of it. For a young kid, he has a tremendous feel for the game. He’s got a really good understanding of time-and-score situations. I thought he picked his spots really well, where he could finish, but I thought he did an exceptional job setting ‘Jarv’ up, because he commands so much attention. His vision is really good. Passes were hitting ‘Jarv’ right in the shooting pocket.”
Moss was not far behind with 22 points, including four 3-pointers, three of which came in the decisive third quarter.
“’Jarv’ is a knock-down shooter,” Roth said. “That’s what he does for us. One, two could turn into five, six, seven quick. His shot starts going in, then he starts putting it down and going to the hole.”
The Cougars defense held the visitors to only third-quarter 10 points.
“Second half,” Roth said, “we made a decision in the locker room: ‘We’re going to come out, we’re going to be a lot more aggressive. We’re going to attack.’
“I thought we got stops, and I thought we ran our stuff. We stopped settling for 3’s and started getting to the rim, inside-out 3’s. I thought it was a completely different second half than it was the first.”
- BY JEREMY PIKE Special to the Independent Tribune
The visiting Eagles kept Cannon in check in the first two quarters and had a five-point lead at halftime. However, the Cougars scored 25 points in the third quarter and went on to secure a 71-60 victory to improve their record to 9-4 on the season.
“I thought in the first half, their size, they gave us a lot of fits,” said Roth. “I give them a lot of credit: Their high-low stuff is really good. Those kids are big and strong, four or five years older than our guys. I thought they controlled pace. They like to play a little slower than we do.”
Cannon struggled in the first half with the Eagles’ size in the front court and was unable to get to the paint consistently while Nikola Vuksanovic put up 11 of his 17 points in the first half.
However, when Cannon came out of halftime, it moved the ball crisply on offense and got into the paint. When freshman Jaden Bradley began to attack the basket and the Eagles started to key on him, that left sophomore Jarvis Moss open. On the next possession, after Rabun Gap opened a 36-31 lead, Bradley kicked out to an open Moss in the corner in front of the “Cannon Crazies” student section. The 3-pointer was on target to make it a two-point game, part of an 11-point quarter for Moss. The crowd got back into the game in a big way, and the Cougar defense got a stop. Bradley drove and kicked out to Moss in the corner again, and another 3 dropped, giving Cannon its first lead since the second quarter.
“In practice, we play three-possession games,” Roth said. “To me, basketball can flip on three possessions, and it did. That’s the reason we do it. If we go back, and I watch it on the film, I think it was Bradley-to-Moss, Bradley-to-Moss, and that’s not by accident. We draw it up that way.”
The Cougar defense got another stop, and this time Bradley kept it and scored, part of a nine-point quarter for him. He finished the night with a game-high 27 points, all during the final three quarters.
“I thought he was the best player on the floor tonight,” Roth said of Bradley. “I thought he controlled every aspect of it. For a young kid, he has a tremendous feel for the game. He’s got a really good understanding of time-and-score situations. I thought he picked his spots really well, where he could finish, but I thought he did an exceptional job setting ‘Jarv’ up, because he commands so much attention. His vision is really good. Passes were hitting ‘Jarv’ right in the shooting pocket.”
Moss was not far behind with 22 points, including four 3-pointers, three of which came in the decisive third quarter.
“’Jarv’ is a knock-down shooter,” Roth said. “That’s what he does for us. One, two could turn into five, six, seven quick. His shot starts going in, then he starts putting it down and going to the hole.”
The Cougars defense held the visitors to only third-quarter 10 points.
“Second half,” Roth said, “we made a decision in the locker room: ‘We’re going to come out, we’re going to be a lot more aggressive. We’re going to attack.’
“I thought we got stops, and I thought we ran our stuff. We stopped settling for 3’s and started getting to the rim, inside-out 3’s. I thought it was a completely different second half than it was the first.”
