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Beloit's early surge buries Craig boys

Photo

Photo by Dan Lassiter

Craig's Evan Holznecht looks for a way around Beloit's Robert Douglas.

Photo

Photo by Dan Lassiter

Craig's Jon Condon attempts to dribble between the defensive pressure applied by Beloit's Ahmad Shamsid-Dean (33) and Sharod Stone.

BELOIT — A couple of hundred hardy fans showed up Tuesday night at Barkin Arena in the midst of the season's first major snowstorm see a Big Eight boys basketball game when a track meet broke out.

Beloit Memorial broke loose from the opening tipoff and ran Janesville Craig into the hardwood before the Cougars could respond.

The Purple Knights wound up with an 87-54 victory, but the game was decided in the first four minutes, when Beloit opened with a 20-2 blitz of the Cougars.

It was 25-12 after the first quarter, and Beloit didn't let up as the Knights ran their record to 3-0 overall and 2-0 in the Big Eight, while dropping Craig High 0-3 and 0-2.

In fact, Beloit hardly missed a shot until the last few seconds, when the Knights converted an offensive rebound into a three-point goal at the horn for a 44-23 halftime lead.

Mike Miller, the Cougars' first-year coach, credited Beloit with being able to put such huge point total against Craig after scoring 82 in 21-point win over Janesville Parker here Saturday night.

"The 87 points tells me they're a pretty good basketball team," he said. "We come in and play zone, and they knock down the threes.

"We play man-to-man, and they get the lay-ups. They're long, they're quick, and they're athletic. They're going to do some damage in the Big Eight this year."

"Damage" would be putting it mildly as far as Tuesday's game went for the Cougars. Beloit rebounded at will and dominated its offensive board, including rebounds off missed free throws.

Miller was simply disappointed in his team's play.

"I don't think there's any phase of the game we played particularly well," he said. "All we can do is go back and work on everything."

Meanwhile, Beloit coach Jay Bryant is pleased with the way his team has come out of the gate with a three-game winning streak.

"We have some decent athletes, and we have some decent players," Bryant said. "If you play together and you play defense and you play hard, you have a chance."

Beloit's athletes put on a rebounding clinic against Craig. Miller said the Knights' perceived lack of size is deceiving because they are so "long," meaning several players can play above the rim.

Three Beloit players, all 6-3 or shorter, have slam-dunked in the last two games, and Bryant is getting "team" play from his athletes.

"We had 27 assists and 12 turnovers tonight," he said. "And we're really hustling on defense."

Sharod Stone, Beloit's 5-10 senior point guard. led all scorers with 18 points. Craig's Alex Lowe scored 14 and was the only Cougar in double figures.

For Miller and the Cougars, it's back to the basics this week in practice.

"We're going to be working on everything," Miller said. "I don't think we got into our offense well, we didn't handle the press well, and we obviously didn't defend well. So we're going to go back and address everything."

And the Cougars hope to be ready for a home game Friday against Madison La Follette.

"La Follette is another team that's very quick and athletic and will get after you defensively," Miller said. "So we'll will see many of the same things we saw tonight."

But not another track meet, he hopes.

BELOIT 87, CRAIG 54

Craig (54)—Lowe, 6-0-14; Johnson, 2-1-5; Kitching, 1-0-2; Brault, 1-0-2; Bates, 1-0-3; Condon, 1-2-4; Losching, 2-0-4; Dare, 2-0-5; Viverette, 0-2-2; Holtznecht, 2-2-6; Kyle, 2-3-7. Totals 20-10-54.

Beloit (87)—Payton, 1-1-3; Stone, 7-3-18; Weston, 2-0-4; Crosby, 2-0-6; Roegner, 5-0-12; Broomfield, 7-1-17; Douglas, 2-1-5; Evans, 3-2-8; Shamsid-Dean, 4-2-12; Ross, 1-0-2. Totals: 34 10-87.

Janesville Craig 12 11 17 14—54

Beloit Memorial 25 19 24 19—87

Three-point goals—Craig 4 (Lowe 2, Bates, Dare) Beloit 9 (Stone, Crosby 2, Roegner 2, Broomfield 2, Shamsid-Dean 2). Free throws missed—Craig 5, Beloit 6. Total fouls—Craig 12, Beloit 14.

Sophomores—Craig 55, Beloit 53.