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“Their length defensively is a pretty big problem,” Elks coach Brook Cupps said.
The longest are 6-foot-10 Jaxon Hayes, who has signed to play at Texas, and 6-5 Jeremiah Davenport, who has signed with Wright State. They led a Moeller (8-3) defense that forced Centerville (7-5) to probe and probe for an open shot and chew up the clock with longer possessions than it wanted.
“It’s frustrating, but then after a little bit you just have to get used to it,” Elks senior guard Donnie Shelton said. “You just have to move the ball and then you find openings and get some easy layups like we did in the second half.”
Davis Mumaw scored with 2:20 left in the first half to finally get the Elks off zero. They went to halftime down only 16-7.
“I was really pleased with us defensively in the half court,” Cupps said. “They got some transition stuff on us and I think that was the separation of the game. Even though we started slow scoring, their transition baskets are what made it the gap that it was.”
Hayes averages 13 points a game and started the night with an alley-oop dunk, but that was all he got. Centerville’s Jevon Henderson is only 6-2, but he’s heavier and more physical than the slender Hayes.
“If you let him catch it where he wants to catch it, you’re in big trouble,” Cupps said. “But Jevon was able to force him to catch in areas that he wasn’t as comfortable in, which made it harder for some of his finishes. And he just missed some, too.”
Davenport had nine points, which is six below his average, but the Crusaders got 15 points from Carlos Garcia and 11 from Isaiah Payton.
The Elks, who were led by Alec Grandin’s 14 points, got going on offense in the third quarter and trailed 30-20 on Shelton’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer. He hit another early in the fourth, but the Crusaders never let the Elks get closer than nine.
“We just need to make sure we get stops,” Shelton said. “I think that was the big thing.”
The Elks have played a difficult schedule, which includes losses to GWOC rivals Springfield and Wayne. For Cupps, this stretch is teaching his team that it must remain disciplined to have a chance to knock off the top teams in the region.
“You don’t want to have this false sense of security,” he said. “And so that ‘s why you play people like Moeller and Springfield and Wayne. Our guys are finding out who we really are. If we play really well, we can compete with them.
“I think it goes both ways. It gives our guys a little bit of confidence and reinforces what we’re trying to do. And also, they’re better than us so we have to continue to work and get better.”
Shelton would rather win, but he likes playing teams like Moeller.
“It’s nice to play against them,” he said. “It’s good competition.”
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