Cougars hold on to defeat Timber Creek 56-53 in season opener

In a game that was way closer than it should have been, the Cougars defeated Timber Creek 56-53. The Cougars never trailed during the game, but they let Timber Creek get close at the end when it counted.

As expected, Sam Rose, Marc Schlessel, Chris Santo, Edou Zaken and Jake Gurkin were the starters.

East started off the game with a bang after a Gurkin three-pointer. The Cougars led 10-2 with 4:48 left in the quarter after a Santo layup and five Schlessel points. Timber Creek got right back into it, scoring five straight to cut the Cougar lead to three. Santo then made two foul shots and then Schlessel hit another three-pointer. Timber Creek came back to cut the lead to 15-14. Then a Dan Melleby three gave East the four point lead. Another Timber Creek three cut the lead to one at the end of the first.

The second quarter was very similar to the first without as much scoring. Turnovers were the name of the game today. East ended the half with a 29-25 lead. Schlessel led the team in scoring with 11 first-half points, especially impressive considering it was his first game back since breaking his left hand. He also led the team in turnovers with four in the half. However, this can be attributed to his lack of time able to play with his teammates in scrimmages before the season began. Santo had nine points in the half as well as two rebounds. Gurkin had an astounding four blocks in the half to go along with four rebounds.

East came out gunning in the second half as they raced out to a 37-27 lead after a Gurkin basket and Schlessel and Melleby threes. East maintained a steady lead in the quarter behind baskets from Santo and Schlessel. The quarter ended with the play of the game as Melleby had a beautiful inbound pass to Santo that he caught and shot in mid air with less than a second left in the quarter. The score was 44-33 at the end of the quarter.

Although the East lead seemed secure, Timber Creek went on a 7-0 run to cut the lead to 44-40 to begin the quarter. A Gurkin three followed by a Timber Creek basket then a Santo layup and one extended the East lead to 52-42. Timber Creek refused to go away as they cut the lead to 52-50. Santo fouled a Timber Creek player who made one shot to cut the lead to one. Santo then made a bucket for the Cougars. With less than a minute left, Timber Creek made an unbelievable layup off the upper part of the backboard. Santo proceeded to convert on a backdoor layup opportunity to give East a three-point lead. Finally, Timber Creek failed to make a three-pointer on their last attempt. It appeared as though the game had been won, but after Santo gathered in the rebound, Rose inexplicably stepped out of bounds. Thankfully, Schlessel played smothering defense on the man who caught the Timber Creek rebound as Timber Creek failed to get off their final shot with .6 seconds left. 56-53 Cougars.

This game was interesting for various reasons. First off, Coach Valore used deviated from using only his starters, something we almost never saw last season. Justin DeJesus, Melleby and Jesse Gold each saw significant action and performed pretty well. Schlessel played well, especially for his first game after his injury. Despite his seven turnovers (likely because he hadn't played in scrimmages with the rest of the team) his presence was definitely needed for the win as he contributed 17 points. If he was not able to play today as originally expected when he was injured, the Cougars likely would have lost.

Perhaps the most positive change noticed from last year was the intensity on the court from Gurkin. He looked like a completely different player out there as he brought down every rebound hard and blocked six shots. Last year, Gurkin sometimes seemed to play a little bit small, but today he played even bigger than he is with the ferocity that a successful rebounder needs. Fittingly, he had ten rebounds.

Melleby also provided a lot of confidence for the upcoming season in the head of a fan. Despite not having a huge impact on the stat sheet, Melleby proved to be a steady asset on the court as he made good crisp passes. He looked like the player we need who made second team all-conference his sophomore year.

Santo also deserves lots of praise for his play today. He really backed up what he said in the papers of his sole goal of winning. He acted like he realized this is the deepest team he played with and provided his teammates opportunities to be successful.

The style of the refs was very unusual tonight. There were more traveling calls in the game than I have ever seen in my life in any level of basketball. There was also confusion at the scorer's table which resulted in three East foul shots and the ball at a critical point.

Player of the Game-Schlessel. Based on the fact that he wasn't even supposed to play today, Schlessel made an extremely positive impact on the game with his hustle and scoring. He applied constant pressure on the Timber Creek offense, something the Cougars need to replace the tight press defense of Seth Friedman and Ben Gerstein last year. His three-point shooting was solid as usual. The turnovers were obviously a problem, but he was definitely the most valuable player on a night when nobody thought he would play just a month ago.

Final Stats

Santo-22 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 blocks, 8-16 shooting.

Schlessel-17 points, 3 assists, 3 steals, 6 rebounds

Gurkin-8 points, 10 rebounds, 6 blocks

Rose-3 points, 5 assists

Melleby-6 points, 3 assists