Spartans lock down on defense to keep record unblemished
By Conor O'Neill
Burlington Times-News
Posted Jan. 19, 2016 at 12:35 AM
Updated at 12:37 AM
MT.HERMON — With points at a premium from the start, The Burlington School’s defense reached an even better level in the first half.
The Spartans held East Chapel Hill without a point for 11½ minutes between the first and second quarters, which was the key stretch in a 43-31 victory in a non-conference boys’ basketball game at Southern Alamance’s Tony Perrou Classic on Monday afternoon.
“Our main thing is defense, so we know how important it was to come out and limit the other team in scoring,” The Burlington School’s Jordan Nelson said. “When their best player (guard Carter Collins) gets going, it’s kind of hard for them to slow down. So we put our main focus on him, to try to calm him down.”
Collins led East Chapel Hill (13-3) with a game-high 15 points, but he and his teammates couldn’t solve undefeated The Burlington School’s defense for a long portion of the first half.
East Chapel Hill took a 7-4 lead with 3:09 left in the first quarter, and the score was 7-6 at end of the frame. The BurlingtonSchool (22-0) scored the first 15 points of the second quarter, while East Chapel Hill’s next points didn’t come until the 1:36 mark of the second quarter.
“They run some really good sets on offense, so we spent time on that, being able to defend the things they like to do,” The Burlington School coach Ron Johnson said.
The Spartans received contributions from four players during their 17-0 run, with seven points from Nelson, four from John Meeks, three from T.J. Jeffers and a 3-pointer to cap the run by Carrington Young, who was playing in his former gym at Southern Alamance.
Meeks led the Spartans with 13 points and nine rebounds, while Jeffers scored 11 and grabbed six rebounds. Nelson chipped in 10 points.
East Chapel Hill rallied to within six twice at the end of the third quarter. That came during a stretch in which the Spartans departed from what had helped them secure as much as a 15-point lead in the first half.
“I think what had gotten us the lead on the offensive end … was moving the ball,” Johnson said. “I think we … forgot kind of what got us the lead and we wound up taking some quick shots and some bad shots, so I was kind of reminding them of that.”
The reminders worked, while the Spartans’ defense continued to stifle — evidenced by holding the Wildcats’ to one fourth-quarter field goal.
“You’ve just gotta slow their run down as much as you can. We just had to contain them and slow them down,” Jeffers said. “Kind of had to remind youself to get back, focus, get the team back, get some energy back and keep going.”
There were changes within The Burlington School’s defensive schemes from the first half to second half, with the obvious difference being that the full-court pressure applied in the first half was used less frequently.
“We went to this other trap to try to slow them down from advancing the ball real fast, try to slow their tempo down,” Nelson said. “They didn’t get a lot of fast break points.”
By Conor O'Neill
Burlington Times-News
Posted Jan. 19, 2016 at 12:35 AM
Updated at 12:37 AM
MT.HERMON — With points at a premium from the start, The Burlington School’s defense reached an even better level in the first half.
The Spartans held East Chapel Hill without a point for 11½ minutes between the first and second quarters, which was the key stretch in a 43-31 victory in a non-conference boys’ basketball game at Southern Alamance’s Tony Perrou Classic on Monday afternoon.
“Our main thing is defense, so we know how important it was to come out and limit the other team in scoring,” The Burlington School’s Jordan Nelson said. “When their best player (guard Carter Collins) gets going, it’s kind of hard for them to slow down. So we put our main focus on him, to try to calm him down.”
Collins led East Chapel Hill (13-3) with a game-high 15 points, but he and his teammates couldn’t solve undefeated The Burlington School’s defense for a long portion of the first half.
East Chapel Hill took a 7-4 lead with 3:09 left in the first quarter, and the score was 7-6 at end of the frame. The BurlingtonSchool (22-0) scored the first 15 points of the second quarter, while East Chapel Hill’s next points didn’t come until the 1:36 mark of the second quarter.
“They run some really good sets on offense, so we spent time on that, being able to defend the things they like to do,” The Burlington School coach Ron Johnson said.
The Spartans received contributions from four players during their 17-0 run, with seven points from Nelson, four from John Meeks, three from T.J. Jeffers and a 3-pointer to cap the run by Carrington Young, who was playing in his former gym at Southern Alamance.
Meeks led the Spartans with 13 points and nine rebounds, while Jeffers scored 11 and grabbed six rebounds. Nelson chipped in 10 points.
East Chapel Hill rallied to within six twice at the end of the third quarter. That came during a stretch in which the Spartans departed from what had helped them secure as much as a 15-point lead in the first half.
“I think what had gotten us the lead on the offensive end … was moving the ball,” Johnson said. “I think we … forgot kind of what got us the lead and we wound up taking some quick shots and some bad shots, so I was kind of reminding them of that.”
The reminders worked, while the Spartans’ defense continued to stifle — evidenced by holding the Wildcats’ to one fourth-quarter field goal.
“You’ve just gotta slow their run down as much as you can. We just had to contain them and slow them down,” Jeffers said. “Kind of had to remind youself to get back, focus, get the team back, get some energy back and keep going.”
There were changes within The Burlington School’s defensive schemes from the first half to second half, with the obvious difference being that the full-court pressure applied in the first half was used less frequently.
“We went to this other trap to try to slow them down from advancing the ball real fast, try to slow their tempo down,” Nelson said. “They didn’t get a lot of fast break points.”
