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Prairie Ridge topples Bartlett

With Bartlett leading Prairie Ridge 19-12 late in the first half, Wolves coach Corky Card called timeout and got in his players’ faces just a bit.

Prairie Ridge responded with a 7-0 run to end the half. The Wolves carried that momentum into the second half, turning the tie game into a 60-39 win in the consolation round of the Hinkle Holiday Classic at Jacobs Friday afternoon.

“They did exactly what they should do,” said Bartlett coach Jim Wolfsmith of the Wolves. “They came out, they ran their zone, they got us taking dumb shots and making dumb turnovers, out of our game. Then they went down and they scored the basketball.”

The first half was as even as could be, with the teams tied 8-8 after one quarter and 19-19 at the break. Michael Bradshaw’s 3-pointer at the first-half buzzer capped the Wolves’ 7-0 run and forced the halftime tie.

The second half was all Prairie Ridge. The Wolves (7-5) outscored Bartlett 15-6 in the third quarter and 26-14 in the fourth.

“That’s probably the best basketball we’ve played,” said Card. “I wish I could say that after that timeout we played much better, but they played at a good pace on offense and defense after that timeout.”

Ryan DiCanio lead Bartlett (7-6) with 11 points. Robbie Jimenez and Kevin Wantroba added 9 and 8, respectively.

“We’re trying to teach a young team how to play the game the right way, and I think they felt they thought they had it learned,” Wolfsmith said. “Other teams have scouted us and gotten better at defending us. One of the reasons we like this tournament is we see a lot of different styles. We don’t see a lot of zone (defense) in our conference, but we saw it with these guys.”

Bradshaw led all scorers with 18 points, while Steven Ticknor added 14 for Prairie Ridge.

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