Gallery by Karen Akers
When youโve reached the pinnacle the standard rises.
Thatโs what Shady Spring coach Ronnie Olson has been preaching to his team all season. Itโs also why he wasnโt satisfied after Mondayโs sectional opener.
The Tigers began their title defense with a 75-43 victory over PikeView, advancing to Wednesdayโs sectional championship game against Westside.
While the score reflected a blowout win, it wasnโt enough to satisfy Olson. Following a recent trend, he again called a timeout in the first two minutes of the game to focus his team.
โIโve got to save those for down in Charleston,โ Olson said. โThose are pretty important. I just think we played average today and thatโs not who we are. You canโt play average and just turn it on when you want. Maybe Iโve got to do something different pregame but they played average tonight. The score didnโt seem average but we played average to our standard. Thatโs all Iโm going to say on that.โ
If Mondayโs performance was average, awful may have been enough for the talented Tigers to still eek out a victory.
A layup from Jaedan Holstein put the hosts on the board before Jared Vestal split the deficit with a free throw. Hope faded for the Panthers shortly afterwards when Cameron Manns nailed a 3-pointer and later a layup to make it an 8-1 game.
The early avalanche continued later in the quarter when Cole Chapman scored five straight with a 3 and a pair of free throws to push the lead to 18-1.
PikeView finally broke its drought when David Thomas hit the teamโs first field goal at the 1:37 mark but a 3-pointer from Braden Chapman and a layup from Ammar Maxwell pushed the lead to 20 where it hovered for the remainder of the game.
โItโs hard when you get in the hole,โ PikeView coach Colton Thompson said. โYou got to start early and try to be in a one-possession, back and forth game and itโs so hard with them. We felt like we got a few shots we could live with and we just couldnโt convert on the other end to keep up with the scoring pace. We held them at a number we wouldโve had a chance if we could find some buckets but we just couldnโt find them tonight.โ
Even when the Tigers werenโt generating and scoring off of turnovers โ the forced 23 on the evening โ they were still a force in the half court.
On defense they limited PikeView to 36 percent shooting from the floor (16 for 45), taking 21 more shots than the Panthers.
On offense they assisted on 17 of their 29 field goals, finding cutters out of the high post and open shooters from beyond the arc, converting on 10 3-pointers.
โThat was something weโve been really working on because we know a lot of teams are going to want to play us zone, so weโve worked hard on it,โ Olson said of the half-court offense. โWeโve worked hard on teams playing 3-2, matchups and 2-3 zones. Theyโre basically all the same thing. Youโve got to get it into the high post corner and move it. They moved the ball well, especially towards the end of the second quarter so I think weโre going to see that on Wednesday but weโve been working on that. I do like the execution. Youโre going to have some close games in Charleston youโll have to win like that if we make it.โ
That was one of the bright spots for Olson as he was adamant he wasnโt pleased with what he deemed an average performance. Average was good enough to place four Tigers in double figures, led by 16 points from Cole Chapman.
More than anything the concerning part for the highly successful head coach was, and has been, the lack of energy at times. He has a list of qualms though.
โI want to see communication No. 1,โ Olson said. โI know my guys, just like they know me. I want them to be as engaged as I am in the game to start. We shouldnโt be off the ball two or three feet. We should all be talking and I didnโt see anybody talking. Thatโs what we do in practice. We went over it in Nicholas County. I was upset in the first half because we werenโt communicating. You canโt always feed off the crowdโs energy. Their energy comes from big games and when you get to the pinnacle that theyโve got to, sometimes you get kind of complacent.
โI donโt coach complacent and I donโt want them to play complacent. Theyโre going to have to find a different energy than just from the crowd. Weโre used to having a lot of energy here and it was a good crowd for a sectional game. But I know people thought we beat PikeView twice so theyโre waiting for Wednesday but there was kind of a lull. The crowd isnโt where our energy is supposed to come from. Thatโs supposed to come from within and the team. I want them to have a little more energy themselves and not have to feed off the energy of the crowd.โ
PikeView finishes the season at 4-19 while Shady Spring improves to 21-1 and will host Westside in the sectional championship on Wednesday.
Email: tylerjackson@lootpress.com and follow on Twitter @tjack94
PV: 5 10 12 16 โ 43
SS: 23 15 19 18 โ 75
PikeView
Peyton Greer 5, Nathan Riffe 5, Kameron Lawson 5, Drew Damewood 4, Braden Harvey 2, Kaleb Dunn 2, David Thomas 4, Dylan Blake 7, Zach Rose 6, Jared Vestal 3
Shady Spring
Braden Chapman 11, Cole Chapman 16, Jaedan Holstein 7, Cameron Manns 15, Ammar Maxwell 11, Sam Jordan 7, Jalon Bailey 2, Ty Austin 3, Nathan Richmond 3
3-point goals โ PV: 4 (Riffe, Lawson, Rose 2)