Titans use third-quarter blitz to bury Golden Eagles, gain momentum for matchup with Bullets

HAMILTON, Ill. — The West Hancock boys basketball team’s second-half plan was quite simple — put Mercer County away.

The Titans went on a 9-2 run in the first three minutes of the second half and outscored the Golden Eagles 26-11 in the third quarter to run away with a 69-31 victory Wednesday night at Red Rogers Gymnasium.

“We know we’re obviously favored in these games and supposed to win them, but we just take pride in stepping on people’s throats and not letting them hang around,” Titans senior forward Nolan Gooding said.

The Titans did not want to give the Golden Eagles a glimmer of hope as they trailed 30-16 halftime.

“At halftime, we were like, ‘Let’s finish this. Let’s jump on them from the get-go, not give them energy,’” said West Hancock coach Jeff Dahl, whose team is among the others receiving votes in the Associated Press Class 2A state poll. “In a game like that, if they make a few shots, all of a sudden they feel good. Our goal is to not let them make anything consistently, make it hard on them.”

The Titans stayed “hungry and humble” — Dahl’s go-to rallying cry — and locked in.

“They stayed focused on what our jobs were,” Dahl said. “When you get in a game like this, you can sort of do things wrong and it doesn’t hurt you, but we kept doing things right and humbly doing our job the best we can.”

West Hancock junior forward Cooper Knowles sensed Dahl expected more than what the Titans put forth in the first half.

“We were up 14 at half, but I think Coach wanted us to be up by more because we weren’t playing that well,” said Knowles, who finished with 10 points and four blocks. “We were taking too many fast shots. We came out of halftime aggressive and the run went on from there.”

An offensive adjustment spurred West Hancock’s third quarter flurry. The Titans made four of their first five 3-pointers, including four in a row, in the first 5:10 of the first quarter to take a 16-5 lead. They made just two of their next 10 3-pointers to close the half 6 for 15.

In the second half, the Titans’ approach changed to attacking the gaps inside the Golden Eagles’ zone.

“They had a lot of people high, so it made the middle soft, and we just kept cutting,” Gooding said. “Knowles and I worked the bottom, and it just worked. It flowed, we got in a groove and we just ran with it.”

Knowles scored the first points of the third quarter on a post-up just seven seconds in, but after that, Gooding asserted himself. He took advantage of the Golden Eagles’ attention on the 6-foot-9 Knowles to score 10 of his game-high 19 points in the third quarter. The first four of Gooding’s five made field goals in the quarter were layups, and the fifth was a jumper from just off the left block.

“Their zone moves in a way to where Nolan or Cooper was always open,” Dahl said. “It ended up being Nolan a lot because they were more worried about Cooper. Nolan did a really good job of attacking those gaps and making good plays with it.”

Dahl said Gooding has another gear that makes him tough to contend with.

“When he turns that switch on, he’s really fast,” Dahl said. “He’s athletic, and it’s hard to handle because they’re worried about everybody else, then when he starts really playing, that’s our fifth guy who can really do some damage.”

Gooding’s 19 points were two shy of his season-high of 21 against Macomb on Dec. 28 in the Macomb-Western Holiday Tournament semifinals.

“I wish I could turn that switch on every game,” Dahl said. “When he runs faster, he helps us because he can stretch everybody out, then there are more gaps in places.”

Titans senior point guard Gavin Grothaus had 13 points and went 3 for 4 from 3-point range in his third game back from an ankle injury.

“That’s an improvement,” Grothaus said of his shooting performance. “I haven’t been shooting well this year, but I’ve been putting in some work to try to change that.”

The Titans (14-3) now turn their attention to a road date with Williamsville, the No. 2 team in Class 2A, on Friday.

“I’m looking forward to the challenge of playing them,” Dahl said. “They’re really good. It should be a good game.”

This will be the Titans’ second game against a top two team in Class 2A in the last three weeks. The Titans lost 70-57 to then-No. 1 Peoria Manual 70-57 in the Great Western Shootout on Dec. 21.

“(Williamsville isn’t) as athletic as (Peoria Manual), but they’re more precise,” Dahl said. “They’re sound, and we can’t make mistakes. When we make mistakes, they’ll capitalize. They guard really well. They’re in your way. They’re not overly athletic, but they’re just in good spots, so we have to move them to get to our stuff.”