CR North received contributions from many players in its big win over Truman in an SOL Featured Game on Tuesday night. To view photos of the game, please visit the Photo Gallery at the following link: http://photos.suburbanonesports.com/g/2011-12nmc
NEWTOWN - If a game's key defensive stop can occur before a single point has been scored, Arron Goodman accomplished that feat in Tuesday's Suburban One National Conference matchup.
Goodman, Council Rock North's 6-4 senior forward, swatted away the first attempt from a Harry S. Truman shooter. It set the tone for the evening for the entire Indian squad -- and especially for Goodman -- as the hosts rolled to a 74-54 victory in their first game of the new calendar year.
Goodman's first quarter was a special one. He registered two blocks, a pair of steals, five rebounds and nine points. He also helped keep Truman off the scoreboard for the first two minutes of the game, recording the block on the Tigers' first possession and drawing a charging foul on their second. He scored seven of the Indians' first nine points as North exploded to a 21-7 lead after one quarter.
"This was a league game, so you always want to set the tone early and execute," Goodman said. "If I get going early in the game, it helps my confidence, and that definitely helps me be more aggressive in my game."
The size and skill of Goodman and junior Kyle McCloskey were too much for a depleted Truman squad that began the game without starters Merdic Green, Robert Becton and Dan Harris. Goodman led all scorers with 25 points and added 11 boards, seven blocks and three steals.
"Goodman is special," said Truman coach Alan Munford. "He had a good defensive game, came up with some wonderful blocks in the first quarter to set the tone defensively. He did a good job."
McCloskey had 22 points -- including 10 in the first quarter -- seven rebounds, two blocks and two steals.
"Kyle can dominate whenever he wants," Goodman said. "He's a heck of a player."
Taking full advantage of the size advantage and the Tigers' inexperienced lineup, North led by as much as 22 late in the second quarter and closed the half with a 12-4 run. Sophomore Rip Engel scored five of his 13 points in the second stanza as the Indians opened up a 38-18 lead by the intermission.
Goodman added 12 more points in the third quarter -- including an impressive reverse layup while driving the baseline -- as the Indians extended their lead to more than 30 points. Goodman hit one from the foul line with 1:55 left in the quarter to complete a three-point play and give North a 58-26 lead. The foul shot capped the stellar night for Goodman, who rested for the final 10 minutes of the game.
The Indians emptied their bench the rest of the way, giving their starters a respite while allowing the bench players 
to get some playing time. Senior guard Owen Rice scored six points in the final quarter, his second basket coming off a slick feed from sophomore Chris Rowland. Senior Jason Cavell added a point on 1-of-2 from the foul line late in the game.
"I love it when we have a big lead and the young guys get to come in," Goodman said. "We really enjoy watching them from the bench and letting them show what they can do."
The Tigers also showed a little of what they can do in the second half. Despite the poor start, Truman never stopped pressuring and never let the North players relax with the ball. Trailing by 32 points midway through the final frame, the Tigers furiously pressed, forcing turnovers and grabbing rebounds while chipping away at the deficit, which they trimmed to 20 by game's end. Green netted nine of his team-high 18 points in the fourth quarter.
"We were missing three of our starters," Munford said. "In the first half, Merdic didn’t play; he's dealing with some things. Dan Harris is dealing with a death in the family. Mike Mintah tried to hold down the fort by himself, but it was just too much for him to handle. We were playing new guys, guys who aren't used to playing in that role. Our chemistry was horrible the first half, and it was very difficult to get back. I put Merdic and Robert in in the third quarter, but at that point it was just too late. It hurt us that we had to play the first half with two starters and basically our bench, guys who are not used to being in that situation.
"Not to make excuses, because North kicked our butts, they did a good job, but I think we could have done a better job in terms of taking care of the ball early. If we had taken care of the ball early, we'd be better off."
The Tigers committed five unforced turnovers and allowed the Indians to nab a handful of steals in that fateful first quarter.
Lamont Waters -- who returned from illness three games ago -- finished with eight points on the night. Kenny Osborne had 7. And while the Tigers drop to 3-6 overall, 0-3 in the National Conference, Munford is convinced that once Truman has all its pieces in place, the Tigers will be a force in the league and the district.
"Out of the 13 years I've coached basketball, this team is special," Munford said. "The one thing I see in them that I didn’t always see in some of the other teams -- when they're down, they keep playing. They keep fighting. They continue to play hard and fight. I think they played hard and they gave me all they had.
"We haven't yet played a game with all our pieces. Once we are at full strength and we can put all the pieces of the puzzle together, I'm not worried because I think we can be just as good as any other team in the SOL. It's just a matter of getting to that point. We all want to be in the playoffs. And we think we can get there, but we've got to be 100 percent. We can't go into games like we did today."
The Indians improve to 5-3 overall, 2-1 in the National Conference with the decisive win to kick off the new year as well as a three-game league home stand that could go a long way toward starting to thin out what is currently a crowded pack in the league standings.
"We looked at 2011 as our preseason," Goodman said. "2012 is the new season, and we wanted to start the new season 1-0. This three-game home stand is going to be big. We have three big league games and it can really set the tone in the league."
Harry S. Truman 7 11 14 22 - 58
Council Rock North 21 17 22 14 - 74
Harry S. Truman: Merdic Green 6 4-7 18; Lamont Waters 2 3-4 8; Kenny Osborne 3 1-4 7; Mike Mintah 2 0-0 4; Daiquan Ashley 2 0-0 4; Robert Becton 2 0-0 4; Brandon Amparo 1 1-1 3; James Weaver 1 0-0 2; Sharif Clinton 1 0-0 2; Abdul O 1 0-0 2; Larry Winton 0 0-0 0; Pat Stone 0 0-0 0; Tyrice Harris 0 0-0 0; Tyrone Roberts 0 0-0 0; Antwain Ashley 0 0-0 0. Totals: 21 9-16 54.
Council Rock North: Arron Goodman 10 5-8 25; Kyle McCloskey 8 6-6 22; Rip Engel 4 2-6 13; Owen Rice 3 0-0 6; Aaron Morgan 2 0-0 5; Alex Corry 0 2-2 2; Jason Cavell 0 1-2 1; Ross Wilson 0 0-2 0; Matt McCloskey 0 0-0 0; Josh McWilliams 0 0-0 0; Chris Rowland 0 0-0 0; Ryan Baker 0 0-0 0. Totals: 27 16-26 74.
Three-pointers
Truman: Waters, Green 2.
Council Rock North: Engel 3; Morgan.
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