Saturday, January 30, 1999

Tigers serve turnovers; Calvert feasts

By Ed Fox
Sports Writer

Turnovers equal points is an equation very familiar to the Calvert boys this season.

In the first half of Friday's 96-53 rout of North Baltimore, the Senecas scored 25 points off the same number of turnovers by the Tigers.

At the same time, North Baltimore could only tally 22 points in falling behind by a 54-22 score at intermission.

It was 9-9 following a jumper by Joe Harvey and the Senecas went on to score the next 10 points and had an 18-2 advantage over the final four minutes of the quarter for a 27-11 lead.

''Going into the game, one of the things I felt we needed to work on was keeping pressure on them and we really did a good job in that area, especially after (Andy) Allison went out of the game early,'' said Calvert head coach Tony Mass. ''We were able to cash turnovers into points and were able to run off a few points in a row to take charge.''

Harvey had nine points and Dan Walter added eight for the Senecas in the first period.

''Once Andy went down with a tailbone injury, we had trouble getting the ball into our half court offense,'' said North Baltimore mentor Jon Eichar. Andy has that ability to penetrate well and dish off or take the outside shot and we just weren't in sync without him on the floor.''

Allison came in as the second-leading scorer for the Tigers, 2-10 overall and 2-4 in the Midland Athletic League, with 13.3 per game. He also was the leading 3-point shooter for North Baltimore.

Dustyn Risner, who scored nine points in the second quarter when the Senecas also had a 27-11 edge over North Baltimore, finished as the leading scorer with 19 points while Harvey and Dan Walter each had 15, Joe Walter followed with 11 and both Matt Hammer and Eric Welty just missed double digits with eight apiece.

North Baltimore finished with 37 turnovers for the game and the Senecas had 20 steals with Welty leading with six while Joe Walter and Harvey each had three.

''The kids have really been doing a better job scoring off steals and turnovers. According to the latest MAL stats, I think we're forcing opponents into more than 20 turnovers. It was good to see that scoring balance, but that is nothing new with this group,'' said Mass.

The Senecas didn't let up once the second half got underway as they outscored North Baltimore by a 12-3 margin over the first four minutes of the third quarter. It was well spread around with six different players scoring two points for Calvert while the Tigers struggled with just 1-of-9 from the floor.

They went on to outscore North Baltimore by a 21-13 count in the third quarter to take a 75-35 lead into the final stanza. With all the regulars on the bench, Calvert still outscored the Tigers by a 21-18 margin in the final eight minutes.

''I liked the fact the kids kept their intensity up in the second half. That shows me that the killer instinct is there. You just don't want to let a team keep hanging around for any length of time or they will build off that.

''Everybody who played scored for us and we were able to rest our starters much of the second half and give some of the other kids playing time which could be very important later on,'' said Mass.

The Senecas, who are 10-1 overall and leading the MAL with a 5-0 mark, were 41 of 78 from the floor while North Baltimore hit just 22 of 63.

North Baltimore was led by 6-6 sophomore Jeremy Miklovic with 18 points and 14rebounds while Nate Rice had 15 points and 11 boards/

''We've had a couple players quit and another suspended and Miklovic was just recently moved up from the jayvee squad. He's really been doing a good job inside,'' siad Eichar.

The Senecas jump right back in it tonight, visiting Mansfield St. Pete's.