REBOUNDING KEY TO IKE’S WIN OVER SOUTH LAKE, 67-51
Rebounding has become an exercise in teamwork for Eisenhower’s boys basketball team.
“That’s one of our points of focus this year since we lost our 6-8 kid from last year, (Ethan Mychajluk)” said senior point guard Braden Buza, who scored 19 points Monday in the Eagles’ 67-51 victory against Lake Shore in a Macomb Area Conference crossover game.
“We’ve got a lot of little guys so we have five crashing at once. We can jump and we’re physical.”
Two of Eisenhower’s top rebounders, Cody Raymond and Preston Crum, played football so they’re no strangers to physical play.
“If we don’t win the boards we’re probably not going to win the game,” said coach Tom Antishin. “We send as many guys to the boards as we can and so far it’s working. Cody Raymond is great. He works so hard when he’s in there. He’s coming off football so he’s still working on his game, but it’s tough to outrebound him. Preston Crum
plays the four, sometimes the five, and he’s been outstanding around the glass as well. He always knows what to do when he has the ball.”
Eisenhower got a lot of second-chance baskets as it built a 42-25 halftime lead. The Eagles had two significant runs in the game — a 12-0 spurt in the first quarter that overcame a 13-9
lead by the Shorians and a 13-2 surge to close out the first half.
Ian Patterson had eight of his 10 points in the first-quarter run and Crum had four points in the later one, including a basket on a putback.
Eisenhower’s lead eventually reached 29 points late in the third quarter before the Shorians went on a 17-1 run to slice the margin to 60-47 with 4:51 left in the game.
“We’re still young and trying to figure out how to stay in games and how to pull these games out,” said Lake Shore coach Mike Jackson Jr. “We have to understand how to run our offense and make easy baskets, then get back on defense and get the rebound. We’ll figure it out. We’re still building. By midseason we’ll be better, no question.”
Rebounding isn’t the only reason Eisenhower started the season with four wins in five games.
“It’s our depth and our confidence,” Buza said. “All the coaches have confidence in us guys. We’re going to keep pushing and grinding. We’re going to give three minutes hard work, three minutes out. We’ve got enough guys to rotate in and keep it going.”