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(TC GORDON | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Graham’s Brodie Martin gets past Eastland defenders and makes a layup at the rim Tuesday, Dec. 3 in the team’s 67-51 win over the Mavericks. -
(TC GORDON | THE GRAHAM LEADER) The Steers’ Cooper Wilde makes a crosscourt pass on the run as the team looks for a quick basket early in the game Tuesday, Dec. 3 against Eastland, which Graham won 67-51. -
(TC GORDON | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Graham’s Tyler Allen shoots a close range shot over an Eastland defender Tuesday, Dec. 3 in the Steers’ 67-51 win over the Mavericks. -
(TC GORDON | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Graham head coach Kyle Wood (middle) talks to his team during a timeout in the second half of the Steers’ dominant 67-51 win against Eastland this past Tuesday, Dec. 3. -
(TC GORDON | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Bryce Martin sets himself up and releases a 3-point attempt during the first half of Graham’s 67-51 win Tuesday, Dec. 3 against Eastland. -
(TC GORDON | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Nikolas Wankowicz reaches and extends for a shot while getting fouled in the lane Tuesday, Dec. 3 in Graham’s 67-51 win over Eastland.
Graham may have only ended up winning by 16 points, but the reality of the team’s 67-51 win over Eastland is that the Steers dominated the game from start to finish.
Sixteen points is not even a close gap, but it’s the closest the Mavericks got after about two minutes into the second quarter. Graham’s Nikolas Wankowicz drove into the lane for a layup to make it 20-4 in the Steers’ favor shortly into the second frame, and Eastland never got any closer.
Graham led 40-10 at halftime and by nearly 40 points at the end of the third quarter when Eastland trailed 60-23. It wasn’t until the fourth and final quarter that one of the Mavericks’ players got hot and closed the gap to what the final score ended up being.
“We've started slow the last few games. I thought this game, we actually did a good job of kind of trying to set the tempo,” head coach Kyle Wood said. “Credit to the guys, I think they warmed up better…and naturally you're going to start better if you've kind of been a little bit more aggressive in the pregame.”
Due to the large lead late in the game, Wood was able to empty his bench and get every player some minutes. Eight out of the 11 players on the team scored points in this game, led by Brodie Martin who finished with 18 points and Tyler Allen who ended with 16 points.
The Steers also did an excellent job at scoring in a variety of ways. Not only did their defense lead to plenty of transition baskets, the team knocked down multiple 3-pointers and scored in the halfcourt offense as well.
“I thought we did a good job of pushing the ball, getting the ball out wide and pushing up the court. I thought we scored well early in transition, and then I thought we made an extra pass pretty well. We were pretty unselfish with the ball…obviously we shot the ball pretty well,” Wood said.
Graham began the game on a 12-0 run led off by a 3-pointer from Martin. Eastland didn’t get on the board until nearly five minutes into the game, but Jagger Nees extended his team’s lead with a 3-pointer from the corner to make it 15-4 at the end of the first.
The Steers lit up the court from beyond the arc in the second quarter as Allen knocked down a couple of 3-pointers along with one each from Obed Trejo and Wankowicz.
Eastland’s offense struggled, and with Graham’s fierce defensive presence the Mavericks couldn’t get anything going.
Allen scored his team’s final two points of the half near the rim off an assist from Nees, and Graham led 40-10.
The home team picked things up a bit in the third quarter, but it still paled in comparison to Graham’s offensive output. Brodie Martin scored six of the team’s first nine points of the second half, and his brother Bryce Martin drained a 3-pointer after that.
Midway through the quarter, Wood started substituting in reserve players and taking out the starters. Jaden Neal had a huge block on the defense end that led to a transition layup for Nees. The sophomore finished with 7 points in the game.
In the fourth quarter, one of Eastland’s players heated up in a major way. The Mavericks scored 28 points in the final period, and one player alone had 19 of them. It didn’t seem to matter what Graham threw at him, but ultimately it didn’t make a difference in the outcome.
Kason Martin scored the Steers’ first points of the quarter on a layup assisted by Meldi Romeral. Trejo had the team’s other five points in the frame as the Steers cruised to the 67-51 win.
“Those guys work their tail off in practice, and so it's nice that you can have a game, and get them in, and then actually go out and execute well and shoot the ball well and play well,” Wood said. “Their work has paid off to get them to a spot where they can get in and get some good quality court time.”
Following their participation in the Lions Club Breckenridge Shoot-Out tournament over three days from Thursday, Dec. 5 through Saturday, Dec. 7, the Steers will be on the road at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 10 against Henrietta.
