Zone defense helps Tecumseh break away

Switch from man to 1-3-1 zone defense helps Tecumseh win big.

Tecumseh's Jordan Gozelski (34) and Shawnee's Jaelin Williams compete for a rebound during Friday night's game at Tecumseh. Staff Photo by Barbara J. Perenic

Barbara Perenic Tecumseh's Jordan Gozelski (34) and Shawnee's Jaelin Williams compete for a rebound during Friday night's game at Tecumseh. Staff Photo by Barbara J. Perenic

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By Michael Cooper, Staff Writer 11:27 PM Friday, January 6, 2012

NEW CARLISLE — With six minutes remaining and the Tecumseh High School boys basketball clinging to a three-point lead against Shawnee on Friday, Arrows coach Roger Culbertson did something out of the ordinary — he switched to a 1-3-1 zone defense.

“We’ve been practicing it most of the year, and really haven’t had many opportunities to use it,” Culbertson said. “We’ve been pretty sound defensively in our man-to-man. It popped into my mind that we needed something different tonight because things were kind of stagnant. I thought we’d throw it out there and try it and it worked, so we stuck with it.”

The move paid off. Tecumseh led 29-26 before going on a 17-2 run en route to a 51-34 Central Buckeye Conference Kenton Trail Division victory.

The Arrows moved to 4-3 and 3-1 in the Kenton Trail, moving into a tie with the Braves (4-3, 3-1) atop the division. A loss would’ve put Tecumseh two games back of the Braves with six games to play.

“With a 10-game league schedule, if you go down two, you’re going to need someone’s help,” Culbertson said. “From that standpoint, it was really big. Our kids came out excited. We started off well, then we had a lull and had a good finish.”

Chase Culbertson had a game-high 12 points and Gabe Winans-Berner added 10 for the Arrows. Derek Tincher, who struggled with foul trouble most of the game, led the way for Shawnee with 11.

Chase Culbertson hit a 3-pointer to give the Arrows a 32-26 lead, then a steal and slam by senior Jordan Gozelski put them up eight points at 34-26, pumping up the large Tecumseh student section. They reeled off 11 straight points grab an insurmountable lead.

“We lost our poise when they put a little bit more pressure on us,” said Braves coach Chris McGuire. “Every time we made a mistake, they capitalized on it and that’s what kind of turned the tables.”

The Arrows led 13-6 to open the game, but Shawnee fought back to pull to within four points at halftime, 22-18. The Braves cut the lead to two in the third quarter until back-to-back buckets by Dalton Davis and Winans-Berner opened up a seven-point Arrows advantage.

Shawnee is back in action tonight at Vandalia Butler at 7:30.

“We’ve got to bounce back and be ready to go,” McGuire said.

For Tecumseh, the 1-3-1 zone proved to be exactly what it needed.

“It’s always good to have some back-up plans,” Culbertson said.

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