Douglass dominates with defense
I can’t remember exactly the last time I was at a game when a team scored 100. Pretty sure it would have been the 07-08 season when I was covering Jeff Capel’s boys — Blake Griffin among them.
Five minutes into the Star Spencer at Douglass game Tuesday night, the thought hit me that I might see triple-digits from the Trojans.
They pulled it off with a bucket from DeAngelo Clark with just under two minutes to play, finishing with a 104-27 win over Star Spencer.
It’s kind of tough seeing such a powerful rivalry be so one-sided, but that’s just the state of the two programs this season. It’s not that Star Spencer is as bad as the score might suggest, or that Douglass is 75 points better. It’s just that Star has some young and inexperienced players on the perimeter, and Douglass’ ball pressure was at its best Tuesday night.
Star is in the middle of a rebuilding year, after sending all five starters to college programs last season. And you know coach Patrick Cudjoe will have the Bobcats back to being postseason contenders in no time. Douglass is just a bad matchup for them right now.
The Trojans took advantage of the several turnovers it forced with fast-break buckets or open jumpers on the other end. The Trojans didn’t really shoot the ball incredibly well, but the size with the Jenkins twins and Marquis Buxton-Hill was another big advantage. All three big men finished with double-figure points and they were all over the glass.
Defense was the key, however. And after some lackluster defensive performances earlier in the year, the Douglass players feel like they’re getting things together on that end of the floor. It was a strong win to send Douglass into some tough competition in the Tournament of Champions in Springfield, Mo., starting Thursday.
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