MONTAGUE – Obviously the best way to beat Shelby is to disrupt the Tigers’ offense and contain their two big scoring threats, Joseph Hayes and Bishop Lee.
The Montague Wildcats had a perfect strategy to pull that off on Thursday night, starting with 6-7 sophomore post player Isaiah Atchison.
The big skinny kid is still developing his talents, but his ability to block and alter countless shots is already there.
He registered six blocks on Thursday, helping to derail the Shelby offense and allow Montague to pull away for a 57-45 victory in a West Michigan Conference clash on its home court.
“A lot more than I expected,” Atchison said about his blocked shot total. “I feel pretty accomplished when I block a shot.”
[1]“He changed shots,” Montague Coach Dave Osborne said about his tall sophomore. “He was there and he altered shots, then some other guys were there to get rebounds. I still think he has a lot in the tank, and we can get a lot more out of him.”
Montague’s win answered a lot of questions about the state of the championship race in the West Michigan Conference.
Simply put, it’s wide open.
Shelby fell to 2-1 in league play while Montague improved to 3-2. Ravenna and Whitehall currently sit on top of the standings with 4-1 records.
“The league has a lot more parity this year,” Osborne said. “There are going to be a lot of close games. A lot of teams are pretty even.”
Montague showed a lot of patience and mental toughness in the contest, particularly after a very bad start.
Shelby opened the game with a pair of buckets by Mason Garcia and Hayes, a three-pointer by Carson Claeys and a layup by Garcia to take a 9-0 lead with 2:27 left in the first quarter.
[2]But Montague, which missed its first six shots from the floor, did not panic. The Wildcats finished the first quarter with a 6-0 run to narrow their deficit to three, then put together a big second quarter, outscoring Shelby 16-6 to take a 22-15 lead at halftime.
Montague’s Owen Raeth had seven points, including a triple, in the second quarter, while Tate Stine had five points, including a three-pointer of his own.
Shelby went ice cold from the floor in the second quarter, hitting only 2 of 19 shots. That had a lot to do with Atchison, who blocked several shots and started forcing the Tigers to alter the way they attacked the basket.
“With his height, you could tell our kids were ducking away,” Shelby Coach Rick Zoulek said about Atchison. “They see that big, long arm and they change their shots.”
Shelby pulled itself back together in the third quarter, outscoring Montague 13-10. Hayes had a layup and free throw with 10 seconds remaining in the quarter, pulling the Tigers within two points at 30-28.
[3]Colton Blankstrom nailed a putback layup with two seconds left, and Montague went into the fourth quarter with a 32-28 lead.
Claeys opened the fourth with a three-pointer for Shelby, making it a one-point game, but Montague quickly answered with a 7-0 run, with three-pointer and a layup from Blankstrom and a bucket from Tugg Nichols, to take a 41-32 lead.
The Wildcats closed out the win by nailing 7 of 9 free throws in the closing minutes of the game. Stine made six of those free throws and finished with a team-high 13 points.
Nichols and Rodney Brassfield added 10 points apiece for the winners while Atchison scored eight. Atchison and Brassfield each snagged eight rebounds.
Shelby’s Hayes and Lee came into the game averaging around 18 and 12 points per game, respectively. Hayes finished with 16 on Thursday and Lee scored eight while Claeys totaled 12 points for the Tigers.
“We were ready to play, but they turned their physicality up a notch and that’s what disrupted us,” Zoulek said. “We don’t have too many big strong kids. We play well together, but we’ve got to learn to play a little tougher against bigger, stronger teams.”
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