Greeneview boys too strong for Tigers

Greeneview improves to 5-0 in OHC thanks to 24 points by Bradds.

Kyle Combs (12) of Greeneview is guarded by Landon Hormann (33) and Grant Burden (32) of West Liberty-Salem during Friday night's basketball game at Greeneview on Dec. 23, 2011.

Barbara Perenic/Staff Photo by Barbara J. Perenic Kyle Combs (12) of Greeneview is guarded by Landon Hormann (33) and Grant Burden (32) of West Liberty-Salem during Friday night's basketball game at Greeneview on Dec. 23, 2011.

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By Jeff Gilbert, Contributing Writer Updated 8:54 AM Saturday, December 24, 2011

JAMESTOWN — Greeneview has played five Ohio Heritage Conference games and most opponents are counting on a zone defense to slow down the league’s best team and the league’s best player, Evan Bradds.

So far, it hasn’t worked.

Some, like Catholic Central earlier this week, stick with the zone. Others, like West Liberty-Salem, are forced to abandon it when the Rams start making 3-pointers. Eric Green was the zone buster Friday night with three 3-pointers in the first quarter, sparking the Rams to an early lead and a 56-34 victory over the Tigers.

Green finished with 14 points, and Bradds scored 24. The Rams (5-1, 5-0 OHC) broke open a 10-8 game with two 3-pointers by Green to close the first quarter with an 18-10 lead. Bradds scored seven points late in the first half for a 27-15 lead, then he scored 12 points in the third quarter as the lead grew to 41-20.

West-Liberty Salem coach Aaron Hollar said the best-case scenario was to limit the number of times Bradds touched the ball and hope nobody else got hot. The worse-case scenario was what happened.

“I’ve seen everybody play so far, and they’re clearly the best team right now,” Hollar said. “Once we were down double-digits, it’s hard to sit back in a zone. At times our man was good, but it’s hard to sustain it when they’ve got that many good players on the floor. It was too much for us tonight.”

The Tigers (1-5, 1-4 OHC) were not porous on defense as much as the Rams were patient in waiting for the good shot, whether it was an open 3-pointer or an opportunity for the 6-foot-7 Bradds to create off the dribble for a jump shot or catch a lob pass inside.

“It’s hard to play defense when people are moving the ball around,” Green said. “When we get our shot, we’ll take it. We try not to take too many bad shots, so if that takes a minute, we’ll wait. If we get good shots every time, we have a good chance to win.”

The experienced Rams are also making it tough on opponents to score, holding them to an average of 38 points. The Tigers’ leading scorer, Landon Hormann, worked hard for his 16 points, but the Rams’ aggressive man-to-man defense rarely gave any of the other Tigers an open shot.

“Our defense has been our key,” Rams coach Bill Green said. “They’ve played it, they talk, they know how to rotate, they listen, they play with intensity.”

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