By Ty Marzean
WKTV Contributor
In a game postponed due to bad weather Tuesday, Mona Shores grabbed their second OK Green win in a row with a 75-53 victory over host Wyoming on Wednesday night.
Wyoming’s Gage Behrenbrinker won the opening tipoff, but the Sailors quickly picked the pocket and converted a three-point shot before 10 seconds left the clock.
The rest of the first quarter was a back-and-forth matchup, with Mona Shores on top 17-11 after one quarter.
“When I think early in the game, we had missed layups and free throws,” said Wyoming veteran Coach Thom Vander Klay, whose team fell to 4-7 overall. “We went 1-6 from the line in the first quarter, and those are wasted opportunities,”
“The shots just didn’t hit”
Mona Shores (8-3 overall) enjoyed a 17-point lead at the half on the back of an off-shooting night for the Wolves. Wyoming shot 6-29 from three-point range on the night.
“It’s frustrating for everybody; we have some guys that have worked pretty hard on knocking shots down,” Vander Klay explained. “I thought our spacing was good. I thought we made good decisions with the ball and made easy passes; the shots just didn’t hit.”
The Wolves tried to claw their way back in the third quarter as they outscored Mona Shores 25-23 to get within striking distance.
“We cut it down to 13 points in the third, but then they would come back and answer,” Vander Klay said. “We couldn’t chop it down.”
The Sailors took advantage of the missed opportunities by the Wolves and created points on the other end.
“Part of that is Mona Shores’ defense, and they took advantage and finished those shots off in the paint. They had a lot of good looks.”
Mona Shores scored a quick four points early in the fourth and coasted to the final score and 22-point victory.
“That’s when it set in, if we didn’t start lighting it up, we were done, and we didn’t light it up,” said Vander Klay of the quick points by the Sailors.
Mona Shores finished the game with four players in double digits, led by junior forward Jonathan Pittman with 16 points.
Wiggins led all scorers with 18
Wyoming senior guard Avonte’ Wiggins led all scorers with 18 points and cleaned up six rebounds.
“He was trying to do what we were telling him,” said Vander Klay of his leader. “He was trying to take it inside. He had eight free throws in the third quarter, and that helped us some. Mona Shores had to start playing some defense.”
Wolves’ senior Donavyn Edwards collected 13 points.
“Donny plays so hard; he’s a menace on defense,” Vander Klay said. “He’s pretty banged up right now; he came out from football and hasn’t really recovered from all the nicks and bruises and twists and pulls.”
