Zane Dominates as Cosby Beats Benedictine
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style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";
background:yellow;mso-highlight:yellow'>TDIT 3rd Place Game Final - - Cosby 70,
Benedictine 63:
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Perhaps the most surprising result of the entire 20th
Annual Richmond Times-Dispatch Invitational Tournament came in the third place
game on Tuesday afternoon when the Cosby Titans defeated the Benedictine
Cadets, a five-time Champion of the event, by a count of 70-63.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>[rl]Carrying the way for the Titans, now 4-4 overall, was
6-foot-6 senior power forward Zane
class=SpellE>Najdawi. Playing
admittedly the best game of his career, The Citadel signee burned Benedictine
for 30 points. He had 22 at half-time
alone while the Cadets scored 21 as a team through two quarters.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>There was plenty of motivation in facing a team that
was on the TDIT each of the last two years and featured upwards of four
Division I College Basketball prospects.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"I played against a lot of them in AAU and didn't want
them to get the better of me," Najdawi told
VirginiaPreps.com afterwards. "This was
a good win for us. I think we're heading
in the right direction."
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Coming in, Cosby was a team searching for answers.
style=> They had suffered three losses by 20-plus
points to L.C. Bird, George Wythe and John Marshall.
style=> Against quality opponents, the offense was no
where to be found either.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Through the season's first seven games, the Titans
averaged just 48.4 points per game. How
their 70-point outburst occurred even surprised Head Coach Ron Carr.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"It's hard to explain," Carr admitted.
style=> "In our first games, we turned the ball over
so much we couldn't even get shots. The
other night against John Marshall, we had 22 turnovers and 14 field goals.
style=> That's been the whole point; to make sure we
get a shot. We got the ball to Zane
early and he was very good."
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Although Cosby attempted 21 fewer shots than
Benedictine, they made them count. The
Titans finished 23-of-40 from the field (57.5%), a marked difference from the
31.1% Benedictine shot. In addition, as
the defensive pressure rose, Cosby didn't crack and shot it even better in the
second half to the tune of 12-for-19 (63.2%).
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Cosby's lead swelled to as many as 17 points with 2:31
to go in the third quarter. Benedictine
would then make a run to draw within seven early in the third quarter as the
pressure began to turn up with the Titans committing 21 turnovers.
style=> In addition, the Cadets started to get second
chance opportunities with 21 offensive rebounds.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>However, the Titans would turn to Najdawi
passing out of the double team to stop the bleeding.
style=> On one occasion, Kellen Hardcastle drained a pivotal
three-pointer, and Walker
class=SpellE>Scaglione's
baseline jumper ended an 8-0 run by the Cadets.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"At the beginning of the game, I was getting some good
looks. I knew they were going to double
team, so I squared up and just looked for guys cutting and they got open,"
class=SpellE>Najdawi noted.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>A three-pointer from North Carolina Central signee
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>C.J. Wiggins, Benedictine's leading
scorer with 21 points, cut the Cosby lead to six with 15 seconds to play.
style=> Cosby didn't score a field goal in the final
4:02 of regulation, but pulled it out by going 13-of-19 from the foul line as a
team in the second half.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>In the off-season, Cosby saw two starters transfer out
in Gus Rowland (Henrico) and Justin Henry (Benedictine), yet this victory over
the Cadets is just the springboard that was needed going into the New Year for
a team hoping to return to the regional playoffs out of Conference 3 in Group
6A-South.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"I think it has to give us a big confidence boost and
makes the holiday a lot easier, too. We've
got a week off here and another week of practice before we play again.
style=> I think it puts the guys in the frame of mind
where they'll want to practice rather than being dreading practice," remarked
Carr, pleased with the effort his guys gave and improvement they are making.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"I really like my team.
The kids are fun to coach and are playing together.
style=> We do lack some experience at the guard
position and we make some bad decisions.
It's been hard to live with at times.
I thought we took a step forward today.
We still had trouble with their pressure, but we never panicked or got
completely out of control."
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";
background:yellow;mso-highlight:yellow'>
Player of the Game:
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
style=> Cosby F Zane Najdawi
- - Taking
a closer look at his marquee performance of 30 points, 12 rebounds, three
assists and three blocks, what mind-boggles me is how incredibly efficient he
was to go with his outstanding production.
115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Najdawi
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
made 9-of-11 field goals, sinking his lone shot attempt in the second half, and
was 12-of-14 from the foul line.
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"The best thing about Zane is he plays hard every
play. He doesn't take plays off, is always
going to rebound the ball on both ends of the floor and when he does his
scoring follows suit," Carr stated. "Today
I thought he did a nice job with his post moves, his fakes, got himself to the
free-throw line and he had their big kids guessing."
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>In the first half, Najdawi
didn't commit a single foul. When the
defense buckled down on him, he handed out all three of his assists during the
second half.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"He's very unselfish and he's going to be a good player
for The Citadel when they can put some better players around him," Carr added.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
mso-highlight:yellow'>Keys to Victory:
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>#1
- - Spacing the Floor:
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>What
was crucial to Cosby's offensive success was that their guards didn't force
things in the half-court and over penetrate.
They found their post presence, utilized him and did an excellent job of
spacing the floor to create room for him and others to operate.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"They're so long," Carr said of Benedictine.
style=> "I thought we would have trouble scoring at
the rim, and surprisingly we got some easy baskets at the rim.
style=> They didn't play much zone, which against
Highland Springs the other night they played almost the entire game.
style=> That's what we prepared for and was surprised
they came out man-to-man and waited so long to press us."
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
#2 - - Zone Them Up:
style=> Carr used a 1-3-1 zone defense from the
opening tap and it gave Benedictine's offense problems as the Cadets were never
able to get in a groove. The Cadets shot
28.6% from the field in the first half and didn't do much better in the second
half, going 11-for-33 (33.3%).
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>As a team, Benedictine went 5-for-22 from three-point
range and settled for a lot of long jumpers, many of which were ill-advised.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Wiggins managed to score 21 points, but all of those
came via three-point makes and at the foul line.
style=> There were no easy drives and the Titans kept
him out of the paint completely.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"He's a very good ball player, but I thought our zone
did bother the rest of their team," Carr commented.
style=> "A lot of their kids looked hesitant when
they had open shots and didn't look like they were sure they wanted to shoot
it, so I felt as long as that was the case then we needed to stay in it.
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
#3 - - Limit Easy Buckets:
115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
Benedictine really had to work for its points.
style=> They struggled to get easy baskets, a staple
of theirs in the past and something all great teams get to expand leads.
style=> Just think back to the opener; L.C. Bird
immediately pounced on Cosby with an 11-0 lead not even three minutes into the
game.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Benedictine's largest lead was by one with 6:22 to go
in the first quarter, and from there Cosby controlled the pace of the play.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>On the night, the Cadets finished with just four
fast-break points, two in each half.
Cosby isn't known for its transition game at all, but they had twice as
many fast-break points, breaking the press on a few sequences for lay-ups.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>
115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";text-decoration:none;text-underline:
none'>Postgame Audio with Cosby Coach Ron Carr
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
Final Stats:
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Cosby
Titans 70:
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
style=> (4-4 Overall)
Zane Najdawi - - 30Pts. 9-11FG, 12-14FT, 12Reb. 3Ast.
3Blk.
Nate Williams - - 14Pts. 5-8FG, 4-4FT, 4Reb. 2Stl.
Kellen Hardcastle - - 8Pts. 3-5FG, 2-2 3's, 2Ast.
2Stl. (Fouled Out)
Chance Callahan - - 7Pts. 3-6FG, 2Stl.
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Benedictine
Cadets 63:
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
style=> (6-4 Overall)
C.J. Wiggins - - 21Ps. 4-20FG, 4-13 3's, 9-10FT, 4Reb. 5Ast. 4Stl
class=GramE>.
Anthony Roberson - - 12Pts. 5-7FG, 9Reb. 2Ast. 3Stl.
Jackson White - - 11Pts. 3-7FG, 5-5FT, 6Reb. 2Blk.
DeAndre Thomas - - 7Pts. 3-7FG, 3Reb. 2Stl. (Fouled
Out)
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>
115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";text-decoration:none;text-underline:
none'>Matthew Hatfield
style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>
serves as State Basketball Analyst for
href="http://www.virginiapreps.com">
style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";
text-decoration:none;text-underline:none'>VirginiaPreps.com
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115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>, part of the Rivals.com
Network. Check out
href="https://www.twitter.com/hatfieldsports">
text-decoration:none;text-underline:none'>Hatfield's Twitter page
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115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'> for more sports related updates,
and you can also read his work in the
href="http://www.suffolknewsherald.com">
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text-decoration:none;text-underline:none'>Suffolk News Herald
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To contact Matthew, please e-mail
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