Depth, a complete game, and a total team effort are about the only ways to describe Esko's 76-33 win over Carlton in boys basketball on Friday night. The Eskomos played 12 players and played a solid game from start to finish to gain the victory.
"We played our most complete game of the year," said Esko coach Mike Devney. "We have developed some excellent depth and used all 12 players extensively during the game."
"Esko came out and pressed us man-to-man basically the entire game and we just didn't take care of the basketball," commented Carlton coach Mark Cool. "We probably had 10-15 turnovers by halftime and I don't care what level of basketball you are playing, you won't be able to compete if you turn it over that much."
Using a suffocating man-to-man defense the Eskomos were able to pressure Carlton all game long, causing the Bulldogs difficulty at getting into their offense.
The Eskomos took a 45-13 halftime lead and cruised to the victory with a 31-20 second half.
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"They got most their points off layups from the pressure they put on us," explained Cool. "I thought we did okay with our half court defense, but when a team gets 10 layups in the first eight minutes of the game, the biggest thing you have to stop is passing the ball right to them for uncontested layups."
A 15-point effort from Jake Olson led the Eskomo attack, while Jeremy Syrjanen scored 13, Jamie Stokes added 10, Ryan Eskuri and Jake Toman both finished with seven, Tyler LeRoux scored six, Kyle Hall, Bryan Lindquist, Scott Lindquist and Kevin Rengo all recorded four points, and Micah Tengesdahl had a pair of points.
"Our man-to-man pressure was very effective and Carlton had some trouble handling our pressure," explained Devney. "We are starting to play at a higher level. I like the direction we are going. The kids have bought in and I believe that is the important thing for our future success."
"Give Esko credit, they aren't big inside but Devney hs a good group of kids," suggested Cool. "His kids all work together and they work hard."
Leading the Carlton offense was Matt Ostby with seven, Josh Dahl scored six, Jake Adams and Marc Isaacson finished with five, both Chris Domogalia and Travis Gran scored four points and Mike Lundquist added a pair of points.
Pine Journal sports reporter Kerry Rodd can be contacted at: kdrodd@aol.com .
