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SOLON, Ohio– Tony DeCesare and the Solon Comets may not be used to having a bit of an inexperienced group, but he still finds ways to get the job done.
Friday night–against a stingy Brunswick team–DeCesare got his team back on track, defeating the Blue Devils 68-55, inching their way closer to a .500 record.
“We don’t have bad losses and we didn’t have any big wins,” DeCesare said about his team’s brutal strength of schedule heading into Friday night’s game. “Tonight was that first big one where I think our guys see their potential.
“Deep down these kids got to see success and tonight was that moment for these guys,” he continued. “If we can keep it going, I like our chances.”
One big reason for the success of the Comet offense was the way senior point guard and leader Rayquan Thompson was able to carry the load throughout the night. He finished the game with 26 points and even did a good job of getting a couple of role players involved late in the second half.
With Thompson taking so much pressure off the defense, he was able to get players like Cam Brown and Jordon Dotson heavily involved as those two players finished with 15 and 11 points during the win.
“I think Cam Brown had his best game of the season tonight,” Thompson said. “It makes it way easier on me and I kind of love that,” he explained with a big smile on his face.
Blue Devil senior point guard Maxx Dickinson started the game off with a sense of urgency. He had 11 of the team’s 18 points in the first quarter, including hitting three-straight 3-pointers that uplifted a quarter-ending 11-5 run.
Maxx Dickinson has been on fire for @BHSGoBigBlue early on, he had 11 first quarter points, including knocking down three 3-pointers. @SportsKee1 pic.twitter.com/CMl4pLVpIF
— Michael Trivisonno (@MichaelTriv_) January 14, 2023
The Comets committed a slew of unforced turnovers throughout the first half, something head coach Tony DeCesare said was the team’s Achilles’ heal throughout the first half.
“We talked about it at halftime…A young team has to understand that every possession against a good team matters and we did a better job of that in the second half and I thought our guys did a really good job in the second half of staying composed….I like the potential of this group, we have to keep putting together good weeks.”
To start the second half, the Blue Devils were able to use a series of stops and a couple of 3-pointers to start a scoring run. In fact, the first three minutes of the third quarter were started with an 11-2 run, with Tommy Morgan connecting on an and-one layup to give them their first lead of the second half.
Tommy Morgan puts the Blue Devils ahead as they’re off to a fast start to the second half.
They lead 44-42, 5:24 left in the 3rd Q. @SportsKee1 pic.twitter.com/EfDAzplhcw— Michael Trivisonno (@MichaelTriv_) January 14, 2023
However, the final five minutes of the third quarter were dominated by the Comets’ ability to force the Blue Devils to test their outside shot where they had minimal success as they scored just four more points to head into the final quarter facing a three-point deficit.
“Coach told us to keep playing aggressively,” Thompson said about the halftime message from coach DeCesare. “I try to make these guys better (around me).”
The Comets had four players score eight or more points during the win. As for the Blue Devils, freshman guard Trey Drexler did his best to give his team a shot late in the game. He ended the night with a team-high 21 points, including knocking down five 3-pointers.
The difference for DeCesare’s team down the stretch; was the ability not to let them get second and third chance opportunities.
“Once we were able to get the lead to 8-10 points where we can kind of spread it out and make them chase us, I thought that was big,” DeCesare explained. “The difference was in the fourth quarter, we were able to get some stops and limit them to one shot, which was something we haven’t had much success on.”
Only four players scored for the Blue Devils during the loss. Drexler led the way with 21 points, Tommy Morgan had 14 and Maxx Dickinson had 13.
