Back on Track

 Ferris is right back at it, beating North Central 72-58 in Friday’s home game

The heartbreaker against Mead a week prior to the Saxons’ game on Friday did not slow up this playoff-hopeful Ferris team. The boys got back on the winning road, beating the visiting North Central Indians by 14 on Friday. This was their second home game in the past six league match ups for Ferris, and they made the most of it. The Saxons jumped out to an early lead and were able to outscore their visiting counterparts in three out of the four quarters, including their superb first quarter.

The first period of play was a strong and successful effort by the Ferris team as a whole, and there was one Saxon in particular who led this initial offensive charge. Junior point guard Riley Stockton used these first 8 minutes of play to drop thirteen points by himself. A sturdy Saxon defense gave up just 12 points in this initial period, meaning Riley outscored North Central by himself (Ferris beat N.C. 20-12 in the first quarter). However, Stockton didn’t buy into the one-man-show idea. He credited this performance to the team’s mindset at tip-off: “As a team we just tried to come out and be aggressive. Everybody’s shots seemed to by falling.” Riley finished the game with 20 points. But he also left with something else, something he didn’t get credit for on the scoreboard.

In the fourth and final quarter of the game, Riley and a North Central defender got tangled up and hit the floor. Riley remained there for a second and then popped up to his feet, but this wasn’t something he could walk off. Stockton’s head hit the floor which left him with a gash just above his left eye. He was benched for the remainder of the game, apparently in need of stitches. The junior noted that he was “coming around a screen and my leg got tangled with Antoine’s. I should be O.K. for tomorrow’s game.” However, his injury left him on the bench for the little remaining time in their contest with North Central.

The second quarter was another victory for Ferris. They outscored the visiting Indians 15-9, and thus went into intermission with a commanding 35-21 lead. At this point, déjà-vu struck many-a-Saxon supporter. After all, it had been exactly one week since the Mead game, in which Ferris lost control of a 17-point halftime lead and ended up losing in overtime. So, despite this comfortable lead, the Ferris population continued to hold their breath. North Central gave the home crowd something to worry about as the third quarter came and went, too.

The third quarter was the first and last quarter of this game in which N.C. would outscore their opponents. A new mindset for the Indians led way to a very offensively productive quarter. The visitors scored 21 points – equivalent to their point total throughout the entire first half of the game. Ferris managed just 12 points in this quarter, meaning that their lead had reduced to just 5 points. And all of the sudden, the game had become close again. However, the boys proved to be a determined group of Saxons. They refused to let this one come down to the wire, as it did with Mead. The Ferris boys lit it up in the fourth quarter, throwing 25 points up on the scoreboard and allowing 16. It was a hugely offensive quarter for the home team, which proved to be exactly what they needed. This 25-point killer of a quarter propelled them to the 14 point advantage that they ended the game with. The final score was 72-58.

Besides Stockton, other key players offensively for Ferris were senior Connor Halliday and the youngster, sophomore Chris Wilson. Halliday finished with a whopping 18 points, with one three-pointer. He shot 7-9 from the stripe. Wilson had a pair of long-range buckets, as is typical of Chris, and sunk a pair of two-pointers as well. He shot a perfect 3-3 on free throws to add three more points to his total and the team’s total. Wilson finished with 13 points. Also, junior Jordan Tonani dropped eight points, but unusually all of these points came from the free throw stripe (he attempted 12 free throws over the course of the game). Senior Jason Bates had seven points as well.

Free throws have not been the strong suit of this Ferris team thus far through the season. However, they played a crucial role in Friday’s victory over N.C. The Saxons went 22-30 as a team on foul shots (about 73%). In a 14 point game, these 22 points were necessary for success. The Indians on the other hand were only given 11 free throw attempts, and capitalized on 8 of them.

Ferris is back on the winning track. With this triumph over North Central, Ferris returns to fourth place in the GSL with a record of 7-3 (9-6 overall). They will face off with Rogers next. Rogers is 3-7 in league, and these two teams have not played each other yet. Good luck boys!