Raytown Blue Jays Vs Oak Park Northmen Playing What School
By Dennis Sharkey / NorthlandBuzz.com Editor
The North Kansas City Hornets' basketball team had a chance to tie the game at the buzzer but fell to Raytown 53-51 in new Head Coach Edwin Fritz's first game on Tuesday, Nov 30, in The Hive.
Fritz, who comes to Northtown from Blue Valley Northwest, told the Northlandbuzz he was disappointed and had higher expectations after the game.
"We shot ourselves in the foot all night from the opening tip off; I think we had seven turnovers in the first quarter," Fritz said. "We didn't finish layups. Instead of putting them in, we tried to dunk them. Instead of making fundamental plays, we tried to make athletic plays. I put out a bad product tonight."
Northtown also faced a barrage of three-point shots from the Blue Jays including three made baskets in the first quarter. The Hornets took a timeout with 2:21 left on the clock after Raytown extended the lead with a three-point shot to 13-8. After the timeout, Northtown turned the ball over five consecutive possessions without taking a shot. Fritz said the turnovers and not taking easy shots were the difference in the game and he needs to do a better job of getting the players acclimated to his system and laying out expectations.
"Raytown did a great job of playing under control and when we played good defense we turned them over a lot," Fritz said.
Northtown went into halftime down by two possessions at 26-21 but came out of the break looking like a different team. Junior guard Alex Gunnels started off the third quarter with a fast-break bucket that led to an 11-2 run by the Hornets that prompted the Blue Jays to call a timeout with 3:49 left in the period. The break helped as the Blue Jays hit a three-point shot to regain the lead 33-32.
Raytown's momentum quickly faded and the Blue Jays were held without a bucket the rest of the period. Northtown took a 40-34 lead into the final period of the game. However, the Blue Jays started playing the way they did in the first half and the turnover bug for Northtown returned in the fourth quarter.
With 2:34 left in the game, Raytown took a two possession lead after completing a traditional three-point play to lead 51-46. Northtown got an answer from an unexpected spot when freshman Avian Webb hit a three-point shot to pull the Hornets back to within a bucket. Webb, who led all scorers in the game with 19 points, had a play set up for him but his open three-point shot rimmed out of the cylinder and Northtown had to foul.
Raytown missed the front end of a one-and-one on the other end of the court setting up the final play. Senior Jon Elful had his dunk attempt disrupted at the rim right before the buzzer. Fritz said he did not expect that kind of effort from Webb but was pleased with how the freshman played.
"He gives us an ability to score because he can shoot a little bit," Fritz said. "He's got a long way to go but he did okay tonight."
Gunnels was the next leading scorer for Northtown with nine points followed by Elful and Dallas Whitney whom each had six points.
Fritz said he's glad the move to Northtown was made where he intends on having more of an impact on the players he coaches.
"I love the school and I love the facilities here and we're looking to get it going," Fritz said.
Raytown Blue Jays Vs Oak Park Northmen Playing What School
Source: http://northlandbuzz.com/hornets-fall-short-in-fritzs-debut/
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