The Saline Hornets played aggressively on both ends of the floor in a 50-45 win over the Lincoln Railsplitters Tuesday night. The Hornets' normally explosive Reece Dils had a quiet night, but the play inside the paint for Saline more than picked up the slack.
“It’s good to have balance. We actually had a size advantage on Lincoln. We said that the ball had to hit the paint before we shot. We were pretty specific on what we wanted,” said head coach Jay Plitzuweit.
There were no fouls by either team in a first period that saw Lincoln jump ahead early lead but Saline clawed its way to a 13-10 lead when it ended. Play was fast and assertive, but whistles were almost non-existent.
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The second period went much the same way, with each team only having three fouls each. Saline had some trouble with forced shots and hurried passes and went in at the half down 23-21.
Coming out of the break, Saline played stronger defense, talking more and getting better help between players. The Hornets quickly tied and then took the lead in the game and would not let go for the rest of the night.
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“Our defense communicated and their awareness was much better in the second half. Garrett [Stark] probably tipped three or four shots and that’s huge. Any time you can contest shots, kids get a little nervous about shooting,” said Plitzuweit.
The Railsplitters would keep it close throughout the fourth quarter, but David Hendrickson had two key steals late in the period to keep Lincoln out of the scoring column. Strong play on the boards allowed Saline to finish the night from the free throw line.
The Hornets were led by Derek Owings' 19 points and seven rebounds, while Hendrickson added 14 points and Garret Stark led the team with five steals.