WINTHROP — Just because Winthrop makes no secret of its desire to pressure opponents into submission, it doesn’t mean said opponents can simulate the pressure the Ramblers bring on game day in practice.
Mt. Abram found out quickly the speed and ferocity with which Winthrop plays defense and could never recover as the Ramblers sped away for a 75-43 Mountain Valley Conference boys’ basketball victory Friday night.
Ben Allen led a balanced Winthrop (2-2) score sheet with 17 points. Crispin Banda and Taylor Morang added 13 points apiece. But it was Winthrop’s full-court pressure that carried the day, forcing 40 turnovers and holding the Roadrunners to 33 percent shooting from the field.
“We planned to come out really, really aggressive,” said Hunter Kilgore, one of two seniors on the team, along with Banda. “We just try to force as much pressure as we can the whole game, try to cause as many turnovers as we can. We’re a run-and-gun team because we know we’re undersized.”
Ian James had nine points to lead Mt. Abram (0-3) with nine points apiece.
Eleven first-quarter turnovers offset a good shooting start (4-for-6) for the Roadrunners, who trailed 15-8 after one quarter. Early foul trouble for starters Arthur Ryan and James only made matters worse for Mt. Abram.
Allen’s free throw and putback put Winthrop’s advantage into double digits for good early in the second and the Ramblers never looked back, leading by 14 at halftime and 17 after three.
“We were able to fluster them in the open court and cause turnovers and capitalize on them,” Winthrop coach Todd MacArthur said. “(Forty turnovers) is probably our team best. We should be pretty proud of that.”
Quinton Hanna and Ethan Boyd tried to spark the Roadrunners in the third quarter with 3-pointers that helped them pull within a dozen midway through the period. But hoops by Dakota Carter and Anthony Owens pushed the margin back up to 19.
“One of the things about this group is they play hard and they don’t give up, from start to finish,” MacArthur said. “We do a nice job of distributing the scoring and getting everybody involved. I don’t think we rely too much on one guy.”
The Ramblers are already one win away from matching last year’s total, and have rival Monmouth and Telstar on tap to try to do that before the holiday break.
“That’s really been our goal, to gain back the tradition that Winthrop used to have,” Kilgore said.
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