By CHUCKIE MAGGIO
IRONDEQUOIT, N.Y. — Not many high school basketball players are entrusted with the kind of freedom Gates-Chili guard Keith Slack gets to run the Gates-Chili Spartans offense.
Then again, not many high school players can make shots like Slack.
The senior captain scored 26 points, including five three-pointers, to lead the Spartans to a 72-56 victory over Elmira at the Bishop Kearney Christmas Showcase on Saturday. The Spartans improved to 4-1, bouncing back from Friday night’s loss at Irondequoit.
“I’ve gotta let Slack be Slack,” Gates coach Terry Nowden said. “He’s an excellent shooter, excellent player, high IQ basketball player, so sometimes when we come down and we don’t even have a set going, I trust his actions. He’s always going to put someone in a different position, or he might get his own score.
“I let him be the coach on the floor periodically, and that way he can be free-flowing; he doesn’t have to worry about too much of anything else except doing his job.”
Slack did his most damage in the second and third quarters, combining for 21 over those two periods, but the Spartans had two other scorers in double-figures as Adam Williams poured in 18 points and Devin Walton added 10, evenly distributed between the two halves. Turner Harris made four baskets for eight points. The effort was decidedly a team one.
VIEW MORE SUE KANE PHOTOS HERE.
“It was a team victory. Team defense always takes us there, but it was also our energy after playing a game last night,” Nowden commented. “It was like a bounceback game, and the kids wanted to play, so it was a good time to get out there, forget about yesterday and get back to action.”
That energy was present on the bench, where the players in reserve chanted, clapped and willed the on-court participants to victory. Nowden took note of the winning culture and the excitement his team brought to the gym.
“It’s a brotherhood, man. They’re understanding where I want the program to go,” Nowden said. “If one player is doing great, clap for him… if everybody’s clapping and everybody’s energetic, everybody’s engaged in the game; I don’t have to worry about somebody coming off the bench and not knowing what’s going on in the game. They’re all engaged, all locked in, lot of energy and that builds everybody else on the court.”
The Spartan win didn’t come without a late charge from Elmira. The Express went on an 8-0 run early in the fourth quarter, with seven points scored by forward Bryce Smith, to make it an 11-point game. A Slack bucket stopped the run, then Gates drew an offensive foul on the ensuing possession. The teams traded baskets after that, with Williams making two field goals to seal the victory.
Markel Jenkins scored Elmira’s first eight points and finished with 15. Nyson Quinitchett also scored 15, while Luke Baldwin posted 12 and Smith recorded 11.
It wasn’t always a sound second half, but the Spartans made the plays when tested.
“It was foul trouble, and we also went zone,” Nowden noted. “They had two 6-6, 6-7 (foot tall) kids in there in zone, and you can’t find the matchups to box out in the zone, so they outrebounded us which led to their run. But once I actually thought about it I said, ‘Alright, we can’t zone them anymore. We’re gonna go back to man-to-man and go back to helping each other.’
“That prevailed us to the victory.”
Leave a Reply