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Poland picks up win over LaBrae

Staff photo / Brian Yauger Poland’s Jack Fulton makes a move to try and get around Caleb Simmons of LaBrae in the Bulldogs’ 58-35 win on Saturday at LaBrae.

LEAVITTSBURG — An extra month on the court made a difference for Poland as the Bulldogs walked out of the LaBrae gymnasium with a 58-35 victory over the Vikings, who were playing their second game.

Despite the win, Bulldogs coach Ken Grisdale knows the team he has is capable of more. Avoiding sloppiness will be a key down the stretch.

“I’m extremely pleased that we get out of here with the win,” Grisdale said. “This is a very tough place to come and play. They’re a very good, very well-coached team, a very physical team. We had an advantage coming in playing six games and they’ve only had the chance to play one, but I’m very pleased.

“I just want us to clean things up. I think there’s a lot of points we’re leaving out there, a lot of possessions we’re wasting. We need to do a much better job with that, but to come here and get a win, I’m very happy.”

The Vikings held it close, trailing by two after the first quarter, but Poland’s offense exploded in the second period, outscoring LaBrae 19-5 to go into the break with a 32-16 lead. The difference in scoring came from offensive pace and trouble finishing.

Staff photo / Brian Yauger Brody Todd of Poland drives to the basket as LaBrae’s Aidan Stephens runs in to defend.

“The first quarter was pretty even, and then in the second quarter it was 19-5 they got us,” Vikings coach Chad Kiser said. “A lot of that was us not getting into a rhythm on offense. They sped us up. We did a good job not turning it over in the full court, but we didn’t finish on the offensive end.”

Leading for the Bulldogs was Christian Colosimo who scored 17 points. Ross Dedo had 13 for Poland.

Connor Meyer led LaBrae with 15 points.

Poland (6-1) had the benefit of an extra month of full-speed action that LaBrae didn’t get. While the Bulldogs have their lineup figured out for the most part, LaBrae is still setting things in stone two games in.

“They’re just figuring things out,” Grisdale said. “They had a good month in, and then they get shut down for three or four weeks. We had to deal with it early on because we were shut down with COVID and we had our football and soccer teams go further in the playoffs, so it’s a huge advantage.”

With the roster the Vikings have — returning their entire starting five from last season’s district championship team — Kiser said the performance still should have been much better.

“We’re only two games in, but our starting five are all returning letterwinners that played all last year all the time,” Kiser said. “We’re not running anything we don’t already know, so we could only use that excuse maybe for some conditioning-wise or rhythm. We still did too many things poorly for as many veteran guys as we have.”

The Vikings (1-1) open league play with a road trip to Champion on Tuesday. Poland hosts another team in a similar boat to LaBrae, as they entertain Hubbard in the Eagles’ season-opener.

“I think we’ll be a real good basketball team when it’s all said and done, but it’s just a matter of can we just get something comfortable flowing,” Grisdale said.

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