Published: December 17, 2008 02:12 am      

BASKETBALL: New Wash pulls away from Tigers, 65-50

NEW WASHINGTON — Coaches will typically celebrate after a win, but some are just as quick to find a few flaws with the team’s performance.

So as relieved as he was to walk of the court Tuesday with a 65-50 victory over visiting Crothersville — New Washington head coach Jonathan May was still looking at ways to critique his club.

“I’ve just got really high expectations for this group,” said May, whose squad improved to 3-0 with the victory. “I’m not satisfied because I see so many ways we can improve out there.”

The Mustangs struggled to pull away from the Tigers for three quarters before finally take control by double figures in the final eight minutes.

New Wash allowed the Tigers to hit 11-of-13 attempts from the floor in the first quarter as it trailed 23-19 after eight minutes. The Mustangs also committed 19 turnovers, so May wasn’t quite ready to give his club a collective pat on the back following the festivities.

“It’s about competing every day to get better,” said May. “We’ve still got to learn that practice is where we can become a great team instead of a good team. These guys still can be lackadaisical at times in practice and that often carries over on the court into games.”

There were several highlights on the night for the home team — aside from improving to 4-0 in a season for the first time since 2000-01 and matching their victory total from a season ago.

Vincent Minton continued his double-double surge to start the season. The senior led three Mustangs in double figures, scoring 19 points to go with 12 rebounds.

Devin Freels and Ethan Jones both had 13 in the victory and reserve Dustin Hobbs provided eight points off the bench.

Jones nearly matched Minton’s double-double, grabbing eight rebounds and earning high praise from May for the performance.

“It’s a glimpse of what we can get out of Ethan every night,” May said. “He’s become a good, solid player with his back to the basket. When he’s on the floor, he’s tough to defend with his size and he can get on the glass as well.”

After watching the guest shoot the light outs in the first quarter, the Mustangs clamped down to hold the Tigers (1-3) to just 22-of-56 shooting (39.3 percent).

New Wash will seek its fifth-straight win on Friday when it travels to Rising Sun.



CROTHERSVILLE 23 7 14 6—50

NEW WASHINGTON 19 16 16 14—65

Crothersville (1-3) — Brasher 14, Hensley 12, Steinbach 8, Lewis 6, Royalty 5, Elliott 5

New Washington (4-0) — Minton 19, Freels 13, Jones 13, Hobbs 8, Bowman 6, Radford 4, Wiggam 2, Bower 0, Krohn 0, Ramer 0

Three point field goals — Crothersville 1 (Royalty); New Washington 3 (Bowman 2, Freels)

Rebounds — Crothersville 32 (Steinbach 9); New Washington 35 (Minton 12)

Turnovers — Crothersville 18, New Washington 19