TURNER — It might still be early in the basketball season for must-wins, but considering its record and current seeding, the Leavitt boys’ basketball team knew Friday’s game was significant.
“We took it like a playoff game,” senior guard Isaiah Calder said. “We have a tendency to play to whatever the competition is. I think when we just play our game and work the ball around and move it, that’s the kind of team we can be.”
The Hornets produced a solid effort and broke open the lead in the second quarter. A strong defense effort stymied Mt. View in an important 61-42 victory.
“That was a huge win for us,” said Leavitt coach Mike Hathaway, whose team now has five wins and is ranked ninth in Western B. “Both teams needed that one with where we are. We were both at 4-6. We’re both on the bottom of the tournament bubbles. That’s one we told them that we’ve got to have. It was like a playoff game.”
Calder led the Hornets (5-6) with 26 points while Eli Calder had nine and Korey Caito chipped in eight. Mt. View (4-7), ranked 11th in Eastern B, got 15 from Nathan Wren and 10 from Tyler Ripley.
“We knew Wren was a good player and we had to key on him,” Isaiah Calder said. “We started out with a box-and-one with me on him. He gets a lot of rebounds. He’s a big kid. Gabe (Seeley) got in foul trouble, but we did a good job executing and boxing him out because he was the only one that really hurt us.”
Leavitt used an opportunistic offense to build the lead. The Hornets first hit from the outside. Then Leavitt managed to find holes in the middle that led to some drives to the basket.
“We knew they were going to play a lot of zone and then they had to go to man-to-man because we were shooting the ball well from the outside,” Isaiah Calder said. “We just tried to take it easy, possession by possession and chip away, taking whatever they gave us.”
After a 12-12 first quarter, the Hornets scored six straight to start the second quarter. Nate Goulette hit a 3, then Eli Calder followed with a jumper. Isaiah Calder scored on a fast break for a 19-12 lead.
The Mustangs tried to answer with a 3 by Joey Danna and baskets by Wren, getting Mt. View within three or four. Then a 3 from Isaiah Calder bumped the lead back to seven. After a jumper by Wren, Calder hit another 3 and Anthony Degone hit a jumper to make it 30-20. The Mustangs got two free throws from Colby Furrow and a late basket by Ripley to trim the lead to 30-24 at the half.
“They went to their 2-3 zone, which has been pretty effective for them,” Hathaway said. “We knew we’d have to knock some down from the outside to draw them out. We did that in that second quarter.”
Leavitt opened the third hitting four of its first five shots while the Mustangs shot 2-for-8 to start and 4-for-14 for the quarter. Mt. View was as close as 34-29 after a Wren basket off an inbounds pass. Caito scored on a drive. Isaiah Calder followed with a three-point play off a fast break and then another hoop on transition. D’Andre James sank a free throw in that 8-0 run that opened a 42-29 lead.
“The second half they had to go man,” Hathaway said. “We took the matchups that we had. So the guys did a good job attacking the rim when they went man.”
Leading 46-34 after three, the Hornets maintained the advantage in the final quarter. Mt. View shot 2-for-19 in the fourth. Leavitt got baskets by Seeley, James, Goulette and Isaiah Calder to pad the lead. Caito and Eli Calder added free throws down the stretch.
“We just try to hustle around the floor and contest every shot,” Hathaway said. “We played our zone pretty well. We mixed our defenses a little bit. We knew Wren was a tough player, and we had to focus on him. I thought we just did a good job getting in front of their shooters and shutting down their penetration and closing down the passing lanes.”
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