Wildcats find right range to stop Leopards

January 12, 2008|By JACK HILL III

SMITHSBURG - The Williamsport boys basketball team needed a little time to warm up, especially in its first game since Jan. 2.

Once the Wildcats did, they were sizzling hot.

The Wildcats outscored Smithsburg 39-15 in the second half on Friday on the way to a 56-38 MVAL Antietam win.

"We came out a little flat," Williamsport coach Scott Mowbray said. "We haven't played for nine days. We expected them to be in a 2-3 zone. It was just a matter of us making some shots. We didn't shoot the ball well in the first half. In the second half, we did a lot better job attacking the gaps in their zone. We found some open guys and they hit some open shots. We just flat our shot the ball better in the second half from both the floor and the foul line."

After sinking only five of their 14 free throws in the first half, the Wildcats did a complete turnaround by hitting 16 of their 21 in the second half to finish with a decent 21-for-37 overall from the line.

Williamsport center Greg Minnick scored 15 of his game-high 17 points in the second half, including nine of his 10 foul shots.

"I didn't come out ready to play in the first half," Minnick said. "So, I had to step up in the second half. I started to concentrate better with my shooting. We had to come out to play at our pace and do what we needed to do. I feel that we are looking pretty strong at this point in the season."

Travis Sluger came off the bench for 12 points and six rebounds for Williamport (8-1, 4-0). Sean Dixon added 10 points and eight rebounds, Eric Wilfong scored 10 points and Colby McCauley had three steals for the Wildcats.

Josh Edwards and Patrick Springer led Smithsburg (3-7, 1-3) with eight points each. Terry Sword got five rebounds, while Josh Conway and Edwards had three steals each.

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