by JOHN HOWLEY / sportingpumpkin.com
CARROLL — Early turnovers put Circleville in a hole and late ones kept them from getting out of it in a 74-58 loss at Bloom-Carroll Friday night.
The Bulldogs’ forced the Tigers into nine turnovers in the first quarter and turned a number of those into quick baskets in leaping out to a 22-6 lead.
Circleville survived seven turnovers in the second and cut two points off the Bloom-Carroll advantage to trail 35-21 at the half. Preston Hulse hit two threes to start Circleville’s scoring in the period and Briley Cramer had Circleville’s other nine points.
“The first quarter they came out with a little more energy than us. We came out flat and put ourselves in the hole,” Circleville coach Cody Carpenter said. “I don’t like the fact that we are comfortable playing from behind.
“I feel like our energy picked up in the second quarter. They didn’t make any changes, we just started playing basketball the right way. We started getting the right positions, moving the basketball, crashing the glass and, getting a few stops defensively, we were able to stop their transition.”
Turnovers weren’t an issue in the third period as each team had only one over the eight minutes as they combined for 52 points.
Toward the end of the third, the Tigers got a three from Cramer and two buckets from Slater Search to narrow the difference to nine points — the first time it was in the single digits since the first quarter. After Chase Chapman scored for the Bulldogs, Search scored again to get the difference back to nine. Three-pointers from Jayse Rockwood and Michael Whitcraft, along with a basket from Jackson Wyant, while Circleville added only a free throw from Joe Wray, put Bloom-Carroll back up by 16 as the period ended 62-46.
The Tigers started another run at the Bulldogs as Cramer accounted for the first six points of the fourth quarter to cut it 10. After a pair of free throws by Bloom-Carroll, Search scored to again make it 10 and that was as close as the Tigers could come. Bloom-Carroll scored the next six and 10 Tiger turnovers in the quarter led to the 74-58 final.
“The third quarter, offensively, we played a great quarter, but defensively we didn’t. We were just trading buckets and that can’t happen when you’re down,” Carpenter said. “We weren’t moving our feet, we were putting them at the free throw line and by the fourth quarter we gased out. We got fatigued and couldn’t finish it out.”
Bloom-Carroll (7-3, 6-2 MSL Buckeye) had four players finish in double-figures. Whitcraft led the Bulldogs with 18 points, Wyant had 14, Michael Malone had 13 and Rockwood had 11.
Cramer led Circleville with a game-high 22 points and pulled down 11 rebounds. Search also recorded a double-double as he had 12 points and 10 rebounds. Hulse finished the night with 12 points.
Circleville (7-7, 3-4) finished the night with a 39-22 rebounding edge.
Circleville is home Tuesday for a non-league contest with Unioto while Bloom-Carroll goes to Liberty Union Tuesday.
Bloom-Carroll 74, Circleville 58
Circleville — Preston Hulse 4-0-12, Nolan West 2-0-5, Briley Cramer 8-4-22, Joe Wray 1-2-4, Ian Warden 1-0-2, Slater Search 6-0-12, Elijah Blanton 0-1-1. Three-point goals — Hulse (4), West, Cramer (2). Total — 22-49 7-13 58.
Bloom-Carroll — JettJones 1-0-2, Michael Malone 5-2-13, Tryce Chaffin 2-1-5, Jackson Wyant 6-0-14, Owen Conrad 0-1-1, Michael Whitcraft 7-1-18, Jayse Rockwood 4-1-11, Chase Chapman 1-6-8, Carson Davis 1-0-2. Three-point goals — Malone, Wyant (2), Whitcraft (3), Rockwood (2). Total — 27-50 12-20 74.
Quarter scores 1 2 3 4 F
Circleville 6 15 25 12 58
Bloom-Carroll 22 13 27 12 74
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