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NEWTOWN – Tim Filer called it ‘X-ing.’
Nick Christian and his Bensalem teammates might consider ‘nightmare’ a better term for it.
By any name, Council Rock North’s relentless defensive effort was the story of Friday night’s SOL National Conference showdown as the Indians effectively took the Owls’ gifted guard out of the game offensively.Christian scored his first basket with 48 seconds remaining, and by that time, the outcome had long since been decided in Rock North’s 57-45 win.
“We did it a little differently tonight,” Filer said. “Usually when we ‘X,’ we cover fullcourt, and we did that the last game against Bensalem.
“This game we let him get beyond halfcourt and then we X-ed, and it seemed to work. We get up close to him, so he doesn’t get the ball, and that takes away from their offense because he’s what makes their offense work.”
Filer and teammate Andrew Stress were responsible for denying Christian the ball in the halfcourt set, and the Owls’ all-everything guard finished the night with just five points – all in the fourth quarter.
According to coach Derek Wright, it was a team effort defensively.
“A lot of times when we focus on the other team’s best player – you just watch the guy that’s guarding him,” the Indians’ coach said. “What you have to remember is that all five guys have to be focused on players like him, so it sounds cliché, but it’s team defense.
“Andrew and Timmy did a great job on the ball, but guys like Charlie (Anastasi) and John (Raymon) were there in the paint for the drives.”The Owls placed just one player in double figures – center Calvin Brown, who finished with a team-high 10 points.
“They did a great job, they really did,” Bensalem coach John Mullin said. “They shut him (Christian) down, and they executed their game plan, and we weren’t able to do anything.
“We have to learn from this – watch tape and get better.”
The win snapped an eight-game win streak for the Owls and was the 14th win in 15 games for the Indians, who stayed even with Neshaminy at the top of the National Conference standings. The Redskins defeated William Tennent 62-43.“Every big win begats a bigger game,” Wright said. “Because we won tonight, it makes Tuesday night bigger.”
The Indians were led by the 13-point efforts of Anastasi and Stress, who was back in the lineup after a one-game suspension for his part in a senior prank. Point guard Aaron Morgan added 12 points. Anastasi also had six rebounds in yet another quietly effective effort.
“He’s our glue guy,” Wright said. “He’s the guy we know what to expect from on the floor. He keeps guys together and makes sure guys are in the right spots.
“Plus he can play – it’s not just the fact that he’s smart, but he’s got some skill.”
Giving the Indians an immediate boost offensively in Friday’s game was Filer, who had the first three buckets for his team.
“What was really big is that a couple of them were tough shots,” Wright said. “The first shot he made was pretty open and in what we were doing. The other two were contested.
“To get off to a start like that makes everyone a little more relaxed in a big game.”
The Indians led 4-0 after Raymon found Filer for a pretty basket to finish off the fast break. An Alex Agyedu bucket cut that lead in half, but Filer answered with a 10-foot jump shot that put the Indians on top 6-2.
“I think (a fast start) was really important tonight because we come out with a 5:30 start, and the gym is kind of quiet,” Anastasi said. “That got us a lot of energy right off the start, so Tim hitting those big buckets right in the beginning was really big.”
A tough basket after a spin move in the paint by Brown pulled the Owls to within one at the end of the first quarter, 11-10.
Stress turned a steal into a bucket to open the second quarter, but Bensalem’s Lee Richlin buried a baseline trey to knot the score 13-13. A pull-up jumper by Stress was followed by a Dalton Gilgor three-pointer that put the Owls on top 16-15.That lead held up for less than 20 seconds as Anastasi answered with a basket from the top of the circle.
After a Filer steal, Raymon buried a baseline three that put the Indians on top 20-16. A tough basket by Anastasi under his defender was followed by a Bensalem miss, and after Anastasi sank one-of-two from the foul line, the Indians led 23-16 heading into halftime.
The Owls’ six-point second quarter was a direct reflection on their inability to get the ball to Christian in a position where he could do some damage, which forced them to settle for tough shots from long range.
“Once the ball got past halfcourt, Andrew and Tim did a great job of denying him the ball and tried to wear him down throughout the game,” Anastasi said. “We really focused on helping if any of them got beat.”
The Owls rallied to knot the score 24-24 after an Ivan Flores trey midway through the third quarter. Raymon answered with a bucket for the Indians, but Brown sank a pair from the foul line to knot things up 26-26.A Stress trey put the Indians back on top, and after Ty Bostain buried a pair of foul shots, the Indians led 31-26. They took a 35-30 lead into the final quarter and upped that lead to seven after Anastasi buried both ends of a one-and-one.
Rock North took its first double-digit lead (45-35) after Stress connected on a pair of foul shots, and the Indians never looked back on their way to their 16th win in 20 games.
“It’s great to think that going back in the season we were 2-3 at one point, and all of us were questioning what was going on,” Anastasi said. “After winning these two games- to know that everything is in our hands is really comforting.”
While the Owls fell to 7-5 in league play, the Indians improved to 9-3 and have a date with Abington on Tuesday night.
“The games are all big right now,” Anastasi said. “We could have said the same thing about Neshaminy being a huge win. Each win right now is a big win.”
Not to be overlooked was the significance of playing the game as scheduled while most of their SOL counterparts had their games postponed until Monday night.
“Our AD was big-time,” Wright said of athletic director Dan Griesbaum. “This is partly his win tonight.
“It was a little bit of a challenge because (the early start) was a change in our routine, and there probably would have been a bigger crowd here tonight, but it’s big because going into the last week you don’t want to have to make up games.”
COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 57, BENSALEM 45
Bensalem (45) – Liam Kirgan 1 3-4 6; Ivan Flores 2 2-2 7; Nick Christian 1 3-4 5; Alex Agyedu 2 2-2 6; Calvin Brown 2 6-6 10; Chris McMullin 1 1-2 3; Lee Richlin 1 1-2 4; Dalton Gilgor 1 1-2 4. TOTALS 11 19-24 45.
Council Rock North (57) – Aaron Morgan 1 9-16 12; John Raymon 3 0-0 7; Arron Goodman 0 2-4 2; Charlie Anastasi 3 7-10 13; Tim Filer 4 0-0 8; Andrew Stress 4 4-4 13; Ty Bostain 0 2-2 2; Matt McCloskey 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 15 24- 36 57.
Bensalem 10 6 14 15-45
Council Rock North 11 12 12 22-57
3-point goals: Bensalem – Kirgan, Flores, Richlin, Gilgor. CR North – Raymon, Stress, Morgan.
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