Granite City too big, too physical for O’Fallon
The Granite City Warriors got an early leg up on the Southwestern Conference field Friday night.
Senior Kenny Berry quietly scored a game-high 18 points and a tight defense kept O’Fallon shooters a safe distance from the basket in a 49-30 win over the Panthers.
Other than Berry, Granite City’s eighth-year head coach Steve Roustio wasn’t entirely happy with his team’s offense, which scored 20 in the first quarter but was held to six each in the second and third.
Defensively, though, the Warriors dominated against shaky O’Fallon shooters who were held to just six field goals through three quarters.
“We gave up 57 points per game last year and we talked about bring that down at least 10 points,” Roustio said. “Coming into this game it was 41 and he held them to 30. You can’t take a night off defensively — you’ve got to bring it. On that front, I’m really proud of our guys.”
O’Fallon coach Rick Gibson also was happy with the Panthers’ defense — “We held them to 40 which should give us a chance,” he said — but unfavorable match-ups with the bigger Warriors made scoring a problem.
Ryan Fulton opened the scoring with a 3-pointer for O’Fallon, then the shooting went stone cold. Granite City bunched up in the paint to neutralize the Panthers’ top scorer, senior Chance Armstrong, who was held to six points.
“We are going to struggle against teams that are long and athletic, especially if we can’t get a basket to fall,” Gibson said. “Their length bothered us and made it tough for us. When we did kick it out, we couldn’t sink our shots. Then we didn’t get any second chances because they did a good job getting rebounds.
“They did a number on us.”
Granite City improved to 4-1 while O’Fallon, 1-4, lost its third in a row.
Key Moments
Granite City took the last lead it needed in the first quarter. After falling behind by five, the Warriors rallied 16-2 to go ahead for good. Berry had 10 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, in the first quarter alone.
The teams then combined for just eight total points in the second quarter, six of them scored from the free-throw line.
In all, there were 39 free throws taken during the game — Granite City hit 17-of-20, while O’Fallon shot just 9-of-17.
“When you start missing shots for outside, you’re going to go to the free throw line and miss some shots,” Gibson said. “It’s a mental game and you could see it in the body language.
That comes from being young and inexperienced, but they’ve got to get over that or else games like this are going to be common.”
Key Performances
Ron Allen complimented Berry’s 18 with 10 points of his own. Torrey Deal added eight.
For O’Fallon, Fulton reached 10 points, Armstrong had six, and Ronald Anthony and Steven Sharp had four each.
What’s Next
O’Fallon is at home Saturday against Centralia; Granite City faces Belleville West Tuesday.
This story was originally published December 4, 2015 at 10:52 PM with the headline "Granite City too big, too physical for O’Fallon."