Wyomissing looked nothing like a team playing its delayed season opener Tuesday night.
The Spartans were in midseason form, especially on defense, peppering unbeaten Tulpehocken 47-33 in a Berks III-IV crossover game at Wyomissing.
Because the Wyomissing football team reached the PIAA Class 3A football title game on Dec. 11, the Spartans didn’t begin basketball practice until Dec. 13 and had several games postponed.
They had just six practices before Tuesday night. Four of the basketball team’s starters played on the football team.
“We just focused on learning our plays and skill stuff,” Wyomissing coach Ryan Ludwig said. “It’s been months since many of these guys touched a basketball. We’re still banged up from the football season.
“Give credit to these guys for putting in the hard work. We had a couple practices that were pretty long. It’s been an adjustment for everybody.”
The Spartans looked sharp on defense, holding the Trojans (1-1 Berks IV, 4-1) to a season low in points and 30 points below their average.
Byce Mellen, who had been averaging 21.3 points a game, and David Bednarczyk, who had been averaging 20.3, combined for just 19 points, 15 by Mellen and four by Bednarczyk. Both fouled out in the fourth quarter.
“We just weren’t ready,” Trojans coach J.D. Ricapito said. “We didn’t come out and play. These first four wins got the best of us tonight. We thought we could just show up and expect to win.
“We had some key guys who got in their own heads. We just went downhill from there. Tonight was a step back.”
Wyomissing’s Julian O’Brien scored a game-high 19 points, one off his career high and all in the first half. Amory Thompson had nine points.
Drew Eisenhower and Nevin Carter, a pair of outstanding football players, showed they can play defense in basketball, too. Eisenhower guarded Bednarczyk most of the night and held him to four points on 2-of-6 shooting. Carter played Mellen and limited him to 15 points on 7-of-17 shooting.
Wyomissing scored the first nine points of the third quarter to grab a 35-18 lead and frustrated the Trojans, who never got closer than 12 the rest of the way.
O’Brien dominated the first half, scoring all of his points and draining four 3-pointers. Tulpehocken opened with an extended zone and switched to man-to-man, but it didn’t matter.
O’Brien had 11 of the Spartans’ 13 points in the second quarter, including a 3-pointer that beat the buzzer and gave Wyomissing a 26-18 lead at the break.
“With the football guys we have, defense is really our strength,” Ludwig said. “We’ve always been very good on defense. I want to hold teams in the 30s or low 40s every game.”
The Spartans did just that Tuesday night.
Source: Berkshire mont
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