Lakes presses the issue, and Cary-Grove finds answers

Practice is good for only so much.

Simulation can be effective, but sometimes it isn't.

Cary-Grove had trouble preparing for the full-court pressure of Lakes ahead of Friday's opener at the Jacobs Hinkle Holiday Classic.

"They were really flying around," Cary-Grove senior guard Luc Bressett said of Lakes' full-court defense that was the story of the fourth quarter. "It's something you can't really simulate in practice. (Handling a press) has been one of our flaws all year."

And yet, Cary-Grove found a way to overcome all that.

The Trojans turned the ball over against Lakes' press, six times in the fourth quarter alone, but still hit enough key shots and free throws down the stretch to pull out a 55-47 victory.

Cary-Grove coach Adam McCloud called three timeouts in the fourth quarter to break up the frenzy brought on by the Lakes pressure.

"We had some guys who (treated the ball) like a hot potato," McCloud said. "So (the timeouts) were about calming down. It was just calm down and get set up, and we had enough of a lead where I wasn't panicked. But a press can be one of the those things where (a 2-point swing) can turn into 6 and then into 8 pretty quick."

Cary-Grove, which got a team-high 14 points from Bressett on four 3-pointers, turned a 6-point halftime lead (26-20) into 12 points by the end of the third quarter.

But then Lakes (3-5) made some nice runs with its press, cutting its deficit to 6 points with about two minutes to play.

"We kept fighting until the end," Lakes coach Chris Snyder said. "The bounce back was there with the press."

Snyder says that because the press has been so effective in stretches this season, he is intrigued by the idea of using it more regularly.

The Eagles had success double-teaming the ball all over the floor. Lakes outscored Cary-Grove 18-14 in the fourth quarter.

"The press is something we do well. Every time we've done it, we've outscored teams," said Lakes junior guard Brad Cherry, who poured in a game-high 22 points on four 3-pointers. "That really boosts our confidence. We get rolling when we get that going."

But Cary-Grove (5-4) never surrendered its lead by hitting a string of free throws in the final moments. Beau Frericks, Benjamin Ferrell and Addison West all made clutch shots at the stripe.

Frericks and Ferrell each finished with 9 points for Cary-Grove. And Sam Carhart and Frank Jakubicek each had 8 points.

Meanwhile, Michael Behrendt scoerd 8 points for Lakes. He knocked down two 3-pointers.