By Nolan Epstein
Spokane, MO – There hasn’t been much to rave about over the first five games of Ash Grove’s season, but everything finally came together in near-perfect harmony on Friday night as the Pirates (2-4) sailed to an impressive win over the home standing Spokane Owls (2-4).
Head coach Josh Reece’s club maintained the lead wire-to-wire in the much-needed 68-46 triumph while nine different Ash Grove players contributed with at least two points.
“We haven’t been making shots all year, so finally we were playing team basketball,” said Reece after the win. “We shot the ball well tonight and that definitely played to our success.”
None of those players, however, marked their stamp on the game more prominently than junior guard Matt Keller, who drained seven 3-pointers in a standout 23-point performance.
“He’s a really dynamic scorer, especially from the 3-point line,” Reece said of Keller. “He’s not big enough to do much else, but he can sure shoot it. I was proud of him tonight, he played really well.”
Despite his rather small stature, Keller came up with big shots from long range again and again – utilizing his most distinct strength against a Spokane team that had no answer for him.
“As a 5-foot-6 tiny player, that’s all I’ve learned to do growing up,” Keller stated. “Threes are what I do. [My team] got me open and I got good looks.”
Keller helped his Pirates build an eventual 20-point lead in the early moments of the fourth quarter, but a quick 9-0 run by the Owls cut Ash Grove’s advantage to 50-39 and forced Reece to use a timeout to keep his team composed.
Ash Grove responded in a big way – rolling off seven straight points of its own to promptly kill Spokane’s late momentum and not put the outcome of the contest in doubt.
“That’s winning basketball,” added Reece. “I told the kids in that timeout that they had to weather the storm, and they went out there and got two quality buckets and two good stops in a row. That’s what we needed to win the game.”
In the loss, Spokane received notable performances from senior Clayton Moore and sophomore Isaiah Bean. Moore paced the Owls with 17 points while Bean followed closely behind with 16 points on the night.
“I thought both of those guys stepped up on the offensive side,” Spokane head coach Kyle Johnson said. “I wish, collectively as a group, we could step up that way defensively sometimes and get some more stops when we need them, but that’s something we’re going to have to just work on and get better at.”
Ash Grove entertains Mount Vernon in its home opener on Tuesday. Spokane travels to Morrisville to take on Marion C. Early next Friday.
Box Score
Ash Grove – 19 15 14 20 – 68
Spokane – 10 8 10 18 – 46
Ash Grove – Matt Keller 23, Braden Trammell 13, Tate Moreland 11, Turner Davis 10, Garrett Simmerman 3, Spencer Eagleburger 2, Max Cashio 2, Chase White 2, Noah Branham 2
Spokane – Clayton Moore 17, Isaiah Bean 16, Jack Rigdon 6, Chase Horton 3, Chandler Brown 3, Trenton Stone 1
