Albion stakes claim to SMAA title on Hornets' watch

By RJ Walters / Daily News Sports Editor

As published in the Hillsdale Daily News on Feb. 28, 2009

Living from beyond the arc proved to be a bit too dangerous and the Hills­dale Hornets ran into a hungry, wheeling and deal­ing Ablion Wildcats team Friday night.


The result — a crushing blow to the Hornets SMAA title hopes.
Albion paid Hillsdale (13­5 overall, 7-3) back for when Hornets senior Mitchell Gabriele buried the Wildcats with a long banked in 3-pointer in overtime in January with a 64-48 win at the Hive.


The victory all but guar­antees the Wildcats another league crown, with only two games remaining for each team and the Hornets now owners of three SMAA defeats.


The Wildcats controlled the boards all evening long and junior Justin Edmonds proved he was the most ath­letic player in the gym in a game Albion players have been looking forward to for weeks.


"We worked real hard to try and stay focused and not overlook anybody...we knew they would hold serve and our focus was to hold serve until this matchup and we knew it was going to be a dog fight," Albion head coach Durant Crum said. "My hats off to coach Felix and his guys, they played really hard. We're just happy to come out of here with a win."

Crum said it was his team's plan to contest every single shot Friday night, knowing Hillsdale had drained 12 and 13 3-point­ers in recent games, but right away it looked like his plan might go awry.


Just seven seconds into the game Hornets senior Mitchell Gabriele drained a 3-pointer from the top of the arc and senior Kyle MacDonald knocked one down from distance the fol­lowing possession to put Hillsdale up 6-0.


What transpired the next eight or so minutes of the contest though was what Hornet coach Brad Felix said ultimately determined the outcome.


The Wildcats put on the jets and started running- and-gunning at a frantic pace, while also dumping the ball off to Edmonds and Eoghann Stephens for easy points in the paint at an alarming rate.


The Hornets turned the ball over seven times in the first quarter and a 15­2 Wildcat run put them up 23-13 after that period. Felix said playing catch-up isn't the way to beat a team like Albion.


"Quite frankly I think the difference in the game was the run-outs early. We gave them way too many easy baskets and when you get behind they go to that spread they were run­ning... we just couldn't quite get over the hump and we missed some good shots."

Most of those good shots were from the perimeter though, with the Hornets shooting 10-for-29 from 3­point range. All nine of the Hornets second quarter points were via long balls and in the third quarter Hillsdale made three more triples to just one two-point field goal.


Scott Lantis scored all 15 of his points from a distance and Gabriele knocked down three 3-pointers en rout to 15 points, after going off for 28 in the last head-to-head.


Nonetheless, Felix said he couldn't fault his boys too much.


"We probably shot too many of them tonight, but it's really tough for us as coaches and for the kids be­cause we've playing well and shooting it well,' he said. 'And really the 3-pointers we were taking were good looks...I don't think we were forcing them. The way we've been shooting with good shot selection...they just weren't going down."

What both Felix and Crum agreed on though was the presence of Edmonds out on the floor.


The lanky forward fin­ished the night with 14 points, seven rebounds and four assists.

"He's a tough kid for us to defend out there and he plays well against us, I don't know what it is. His num­bers are average at best against everyone else in the league, but when he plays us he plays well and we can't play with him inside at all," Felix said. "He plays elbows over the rim and we've not one who can touch the net so he's a tough guard for us. He was the defensive re­bounder for them tonight too."

The Hornets grabbed only 24 rebounds, and only a handful on the offensive glass, something Felix said he was disappointed in.

Crum said Stephens played well inside, but it was Edmonds who really shifted the momentum in his team's favor.


"When he's playing well and he's focused he's a hard matchup — he's got speed, he's got size, he leaps well, he handles the ball pretty well and when he's on target he's a load. He really showed up big for us tonight," Crum said.


Helping Edmonds out was Ryan Hopson, who scored 20 points, including two huge 3-pointers and Stephens who totaled 10 points, seven boards and four blocks.


Felix was complimentary about Albion's performance, but not ready to say the bet­ter team necessarily won Friday.


"Based on one game, one night they played a little bet­ter, but I'm not going to dis­credit my kids by saying they're the better team. Tonight they were better, in January we were better," he said. "To be honest with you coming into the season we felt like if we split with Al­bion we'd be doing well. It's the couple other losses that are kind of setting us back right now."