Second-half dominance defensively carries Saukees to tourney-opening victory

PITTSFIELD, Ill. — Junior guard Hayden Gratton and his Pittsfield basketball teammates want to instill fear in their opponents with their defense.

“We want them to be really scared,” Gratton said. “Get them going fast and turn the ball over.”

The Saukees did exactly that on Monday. Pittsfield’s full-court, high-pressure defense forced 15 Western turnovers and held the Wildcats to 13 points in the second half as the Saukees opened the Saukee Turkey Tourney with a 49-36 win at Voshall Gym.

“We had some foul trouble in the first half that took us out of some of our rotations, and in the second half, we were able to keep that core group together, keep legs fresh and keep the pressure on them,” Saukees coach Brad Tomhave said. “We got them going fast, got them to turn it over. I’m very pleased with our defensive effort tonight.”

Tomhave said the Saukees’ ability to cause so much defensive havoc stems from the cohesiveness and instinctiveness with which his team plays on that end of the floor.

“Their effort and recognition of proper positioning and angles they take,” Tomhave said. “It’s easy to have one or two guys playing defense, but when all five are playing together, it’s pretty tough.”

Western coach Reece Dunker saw the effect the Saukees’ pressure had on his team in the manner in which the Wildcats ran — or could not run — their offense.

“It took us out of the game,” Dunker said. “We want to run our offense from two feet on the 3-point line, and they were pushing us back to half-court. It really took us out of it, but you live and you learn.”

The Saukees trailed 23-22 at halftime but suffocated the Wildcats to the tune of six points and seven turnovers in the third quarter. Western went the first four minutes of that stanza without scoring a point.

“It makes it a lot easier on offense if you force turnovers on defense,” Saukees junior guard Taylor Graham said.

That became evident in the third quarter when, after Pittsfield forced three straight turnovers, Graham got two offensive rebounds on the same possession and eventually drained a 3-pointer from the right wing that gave the Saukees a 29-23 lead and forced a Western timeout with 5:04 left.

“I got the offensive rebound, thought I was open and thought it would be a good shot for momentum,” Graham said.

Two minutes earlier, Graham rebounded a Gratton missed 3-pointer from the left corner and found Gratton cutting backdoor for a layup that put the Saukees in front 24-23 for good.

“He didn’t even have the best offensive night that he’s going to have,” Tomhave said of Graham, who had nine points, six of which came from the free-throw line. “He’s very headsy. He got several offensive rebounds, kept the play alive, made that extra pass. He’s just got that knack of having a good feel for the basketball game, and we need him to.”

The Saukees made seven of their eight free throws in the fourth quarter, including 5 of 6 in the closing 36 seconds that helped put the game out of reach.

In rather fitting fashion, the Saukees forced turnovers on the Wildcats’ final two possessions.

“That effort shouldn’t stop until the final buzzer goes,” Tomhave said. “You’ve got to be locked in. You play until you hear the whistle, you play until you hear that final buzzer. The game’s not over until it’s showing zeros.”

Neither team will get a break from the physicality, as both squads will take on Camp Point Central in the remainder of pool play. Western (0-1) will play the Panthers at 6 p.m. Tuesday.

“We’re not deep as is, so I’m worried that you may see me suit up at some point tomorrow if we get in foul trouble,” Dunker said.

Pittsfield (1-0) will go toe to toe with Central at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday. Tomhave would much prefer there not be a ton of fouls in that game.

“I want to get to turkey dinner on Thursday,” Tomhave said.