The Pilot News - Solmos, Falcons make it rain on CMA

“It was similar,” said Huss. “They hit some shots, and we didn’t compete quite as well as we should have... They turned the pressure up a little bit, and turned us over a few times. I thought we handled it well for the most part in the first quarter. Second quarter they ratcheted the pressure level up, the intensity level up, and we failed to match it.”
“Turnovers — especially in the second quarter — were kind of the beginning-point of us getting into a little bit of a defensive rhythm, and that got our offense going,” said Glenn basketball head coach Travis Hannah. “Our offense in the first quarter was just terrible. I mean, we got shots, we just couldn’t knock them down. That’s when you’ve got to depend on your defense, and fortunately, our defense was able to step up.”
Glenn started out slow Wednesday, possibly due to the low audience turn-out at Plymouth as well as expectations of an easy win in light of the Falcons’ last meeting with the Eagles in January, but pulled ahead by three at the end of the first frame on a trey by sharpshooter Brody Solmos in the last minute.
After missing his first two shots at the game, Solmos zeroed in with 8-of-10 shooting, including 5 of 6 from deep to lead his team with 23 points for the night.
“In the second and third quarters, Brody (Solmos) kind of came around, and got some open looks, and once he knocked down one, he was pretty much off and running,” said Hannah.
The senior shooter personally outscored the Eagles in the second and third stanzas as the Falcons held CMA to five and four points in those two quarters, respectively, and he wasn’t the only shooter to make it rain for Glenn. Lonnie Shetler came off the bench with 11 second-half points for the Falcons, including 3 of 3 triples off a quick release.
All total, Glenn shot 49 percent from the field against the Eagles. The Falcons made almost as many shots as CMA took for the night — with 25 buckets compared to 28 attempts by the Academies — and just one less from behind the arch than Culver hit from the entire field with 10 treys versus 11 total buckets by the Eagles. In fact, the Falcons shot better from deep than two-point range, drilling an incredible 67 percent from the perimeter and 33 percent from everywhere else.
“The 3-point shot has been a big part of our game all season long, and you see that with the games we haven’t been successful in,” said Hannah. “Or late in games where we haven’t been able to knock down shots, teams have been able to make runs on us. Again, I hate to sound repetitive, but that’s a big reason you like to draw this first game in the sectional, because you can come out and hopefully find a shooting rhythm in this gym and hopefully carry over some of that confidence into the semifinals Friday night.”
Along with shooting, team depth was one of Glenn’s strengths at The Rock.
Besides Shetler, many Glenn reserves put in solid performances Wednesday. The sophomore guard may have led the bench in points production — and the starters for that matter, with the exception of Solmos — but forwards Nathan Ridgway and Austin Davis played quality minutes for the Falcons as well.
Ridgway sparked a 10-3 run with six points inside at the start of the second quarter as Glenn gapped CMA 19-9, and Davis played a strong second half with a game-leading five caroms and an inside-out assist to Shetler at the top of the key in the final frame.
In all, Falcon substitutes were good for 25 points Wednesday. It was the second-straight game for Glenn in which 10 players broke into the scoring column after a regular season-capping win on the road at New Prairie last week.
Glenn built its offense off air-tight defensive pressure, tallying 21 points off the Eagles’ 28 miscues. Led by starting junior forward Michael Fansler’s three steals and a block, the Falcons recorded nine steals Wednesday.
Blayne Baker scored nine points, grabbed four rebounds and a steal for his team, but CMA simply couldn’t overcome 28 miscues and missed offensive opportunities and ended its season with a record of 2-19.
“We just wish we had another year with a couple of seniors,” said Huss. “I mean Conrad Chura, you build a program with kids like that. He just fights so hard, he scraps so hard... Even though we didn’t compete very well this season, I thought our seniors continued to lead us. They were a positive influence in the locker room, which says a lot to their character.”
Glenn (8-13) survives for a rematch with the Cougars Friday. The Falcons pulled out a 58-53 win in Cougars territory when the two teams met last Friday, but that win came partly sans leading New Prairie scorer, post-player Austin Kubit, who sat out the second quarter in foul trouble.
“New Prairie — people look at that record and say 3-18, but I’ll tell you what, they are a very dangerous basketball team,” Hannah said. “They have all the parts. They have a big kid underneath that gave us fits, and the scary thing for us is he only played three quarters, because he was in foul trouble the other night and didn’t play the second quarter.”
• JOHN GLENN 63,
CULVER ACADEMIES 26
At Plymouth
GLENN (63): Jared Rhodes 0 2-2 2, Lonnie Shetler 4 0-0 11, Brody Solmos 8 1-1 23, Conrad Schubert 1 0-0 2, Mark Knape 1 1-2 4, Austin O’Connor 2 0-0 5, Nathan Ridgway 3 0-0 6, Phil Van Wanzeele 1 0-1 2, Michael Fansler 4 0-0 8, Austin Davis 1 0-0 2, Jake Singleton 0 0-0 0, Daniel Stegemiller 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 25 4-6 63.
CMA (26): Trent Sanders 0 0-0 0, Blayne Baker 4 0-0 9, Michael Grover 1 0-0 3, Chris Hamm 0 1-2 1, Conrad Chura 0 0-0 0, Carl Rivera 2 0-3 4, Pete O’Daniel 2 0-0 5, Alex Cuk 0 0-0 0, Trace Thews 1 0-3 2, Trevor Weaser 1 0-0 2. TOTALS: 11 1-8 26.
Score by quarters
JG: 9 29 51 63
CMA: 6 11 15 26
3-pointers: Glenn 10 (Solmos 5, Shetler 3, Knape, O’Connor), CMA 2 (Baker, Grover); Rebounds: Glenn 27 (Davis 5), CMA 15 (Baker, Chura 4); Assists: Glenn 10 (O’Connor 3), CMA 3 (Grover 2); Steals: Glenn 9 (Fansler), CMA 6 (Sanders, Thews 2); Turnovers: Glenn 13, CMA 28; Fouls (Fouled out): Glenn 12 (None); CMA 14 (None). Records: Glenn 8-13, CMA 2-19.