Deer Creek boys fall to Midwest City's Aggressive Defense

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  • Derrick Baker shoots a free throw
    Derrick Baker shoots a free throw
  • Hudson Linsenmeyer prepares to defend
    Hudson Linsenmeyer prepares to defend
  • Luke Trigler waits for play to resume
    Luke Trigler waits for play to resume
  • Max Hamra (2) defends Israel Hart (5)
    Max Hamra (2) defends Israel Hart (5)
Body

The pass was knocked away at the top of the arc, and the defender collected it as he sprinted down the court and laid it in.

Scoring from turnovers was a common theme for Midwest City as the Deer Creek boys’ basketball team fell to the Bombers 56-41 Thursday afternoon.

Deer Creek (1-7) dropped the first game of its annual Bruce Gray Invitational as turnovers piled up.

No. 11 Midwest City (7-4) knew its game plan and executed it well.

Deer Creek coach Mike Donnelly said the Antlers expected the Bombers’ aggressive defense but simply could not beat it.

“They’re deep, they can run a lot of guys at you,” Donnelly said. “They anticipate really well, and we just didn’t find our groove trying to get guys to make the proper read. We gotta be able to play at that speed a little bit better.”

No player from either team scored 10 points or more. Midwest City senior Ethan Ganaway led all scorers with 9 points. Freshman Hudson Linsenmeyer led the Antlers with 8.

Midwest City opened the game with an 11-0 run before the Antlers finally scored. Deer Creek responded with an 18-10 run, shrinking the deficit to 21-18.

Linsenmeyer said the rough start came from a lack of energy.

“They had way higher intensity than us,” Linsenmeyer said. “When the bench came in, they had more energy than our starters, so they just started playing better.”

The Antlers trailed 29-21 at halftime and were keeping themselves in the game early in the third quarter before the Bomber defense went on a stealing spree. They finished the third and started the fourth on a 17-1 run, mostly fueled by takeaways that led to easy points. This put the game well out of reach with Deer Creek trailing 51-29.

Deer Creek does not have long to think about this loss. The Bruce Gray Invitational continues Friday and Saturday, and the Antlers will face Bartlesville and Heritage Hall before the weekend is finished.

Donnelly said the Antlers need to quickly hit the reset button.

“It’s all about the windshield, not the rear-view mirror,” Donnelly said. “We preach that. We got great guys. They’re hyped, they’re good kids. Took this one on the chin, but I believe we’ll come back tomorrow and have a good walkthrough and we’ll throw our best effort at them.”

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