Manchester West boys basketball rolls past Goffstown (video)
GOFFSTOWN - The Manchester West High School boys basketball team knows that a lot of teams are going to try to defend the Blue Knights with a zone.
Against Goffstown Monday night, West played against a zone about as well coach Danny Bryson has seen this season.
The Blue Knights were patient with the ball, moved it well, and got balanced scoring in a 46-30 win over the Grizzlies in a Division II game. The win helps West improve to 2-1 in division play, while Goffstown falls to 0-3.
Joe Simpson scored 11 of his game-high 14 points in the first half, with all four of his field goals coming on 3-pointers, while Keenan Caron was also in double figures with 10 points. Carlos Dominguez added eight points and Akok Akok chipped in with seven.
"We know a lot of teams are going to zone-up against us and our big emphasis is always being patient with the ball," Bryson said. "That was probably our most complete 32 minutes that we've put together against a zone. We were patient, we ran a minute off the clock and looked for an open shot.
"I'm proud of the way they played and how they played as a team. We had contributions off the bench. Everyone stayed up and worked together."
West led by as many as 21 in the second half before the Grizzlies were able to chip away. Goffstown went on a 10-0 run in the final four minutes of the third quarter to get within 11 points, 37-26, but the lead proved to be too much.
Casey Gervais led Goffstown with eight points while Michael Bailey and Aaron O'Melia each added six. Tim Comeau was in foul trouble for most of the game, finishing with four points and creating a gap in the middle of the Grizzlies' zone.
"We need him a lot," Goffstown coach Mike Gasper said. "He offers us a guy who is constantly competing, along with Gervais. Those guys have the football mentality of not stopping. They don't look at the scoreboard, I don't think. Those two guys are so important to the team."
Even with Comeau on the floor, West was able to get off to a hot start. Simpson hit back-to-back 3s to open the game, Akok added a three-point play and a layup, and the Blue Knights led 11-0 before the Grizzlies could score.
Goffstown's first points didn't come until a basket by Robert Girardin with 1:58 left in the opening quarter and the Grizzlies trailed 16-4 at the end of one.
"They have a lot of firepower," Gasper said. "We played our zone against these guys because I don't want to run around playing man (defense) against these guys for 32 minutes."
With the Grizzlies in the zone, it meant the Blue Knights had to be on from the perimeter, and they were early in the game. West hit six 3-pointers in the first half, with Simpson accounting for three of them.
"Against the zone, it's going to eliminate stuff in the middle because it takes away our bigs," Bryson said. "We were patient. We know coming in that everyone is going to focus on Joe Simpson. That's the man. But if you look at our games, we've had balanced scoring throughout. Joe has been the man, but we've had other people in double figures."
West appeared to put an exclamation point on a blowout win when Caron got the ball at the end of a fastbreak and slammed it home to give the Blue Knights a 37-16 lead. But Goffstown answered right away with a basket by Gervais, followed by back-to-back 3s by Bailey.
Bryson took a timeout, but West's offense would go more than six minutes without scoring. Fortunately, for the Blue Knights, after the Grizzlies' 10-0 run, they were able to step up on defense, holding Goffstown scoreless for almost six minutes.
"We went into that lull in the third quarter and then we got back to our basic stuff," Bryson said. "The biggest focus in practice is defense and guys rotating. We're not where we need to be but we look pretty good."
