Warriors streak past Heat, 154-112
June 10, 2006 - World Basketball Association (WBA)
Cartersville Warriors News Release
Cartersville, GA - The Cartersville Warriors can be like an 800-pound boulder sitting at the top of a steep hill: It might take a while to get them going, but once they get rolling, they're awfully hard to stop.
Cartersville used a 20-4 run in the second quarter to take control and outscored the Anderson (S.C.) Heat, 88-65 in the second half, to steamroll its way to a 154-112 victory Saturday. It was the second win as many nights and sixth straight for the Warriors (12-3).
"The guys were a lot looser than I was before the game," said Cartersville coach David Archer Jr. "We started slowly, but it seems like we always start off slow. Once we got going, we were able to score more freely. This was a good effort all the way around. "I think I worry more than the players do and that's good. If it were the other way around, it might cause problems trying to get into the game."
Anderson (1-14) was only down 29-28 with 53 seconds left in the first quarter before Cartersville got a pair of free throws from Terrence Hill gave the Warriors a 31-28 lead after the opening period. Cartersville kicked its offense into high gear in the second quarter, outscoring the Heat 18-4 over the first 6:37 of the period, to open up a 49-32 lead. Anderson went 6:19 without a field goal, with a jumper by Stanley Abdef finally ending the drought and making it 49-35, Warriors.
"We're able to score points in bunches when we start getting transition baskets," said Archer. "Our pressure defense created a lot of transition offense for us and we were able to start scoring off of it." The Warriors forced 17 turnovers in the first half and 31 for the game, the second straight night Cartersville has forced more than 30 turnovers. Cartersville took a 66-47 lead into the halftime break behind 21 first-half points from Mike Dean (6'2''-G-82, college: Middle Tenn.St.) and 12 points and seven rebounds from Delvin Thomas, who had his second straight strong game after a 27-point, 11-rebound performance against Marietta Friday night.
The Warriors came out firing in the second half, opening the third quarter with a 19-5 run and outscoring the Heat, 46-28, in the period to lead 112-75 going into the final 12 minutes. Cartersville eventually led by as many as 48 points, at 141-93 after a Rey Luque layup with 4:37 to go, and cruised to the victory.
"I feel pretty good about how we're playing right now," said Archer. "(Friday's game against Marietta) let us know that we're able to stay focused and maintain our level of play despite what's going on with our opponents."
Dean scored 31 in 29 minutes to lead the Warriors, who were 37-for-53 (69.8 percent) from the field in the second half. Thomas finished with 28 and 10 rebounds, Ron Dokes added 20, six rebounds and four assists, Luque had 19, five rebounds and four assists, Hill chipped in 14, Steve Thomas filled the box score with 12, 14 rebounds, five assists and three steals and Tony Scruggs finished with 12 in the romp.
B.J. Puckett was the high scorer for Anderson with 29 points and 11 rebounds. Former Warrior Dale Miller, who was released by the team Thursday, had 23, five assists and four rebounds, Roy Binion of Anderson Heat netted 16, Jonathan Haymon had 14, 10 rebounds and three assists and Kamau Catron finished with 12.
Cartersville is back in action Monday, traveling to Marietta to take on the Marietta Storm and wrap up a string of three games in four days.
Notes: Cartersville's Bobby Brown did not suit up for the game Saturday. Brown dislocated his right thumb on Friday night against Marietta. His condition is day to day. The Warriors also re-activated Terrence Hill, who returned from a stint in the Dominican. Hill averaged 18 ppg in the Warriors first three games of the season.
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