Firebirds blow by MHS with fast start

Photos: Lakota West vs. Middletown

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David A. Moodie, contributing photographer/Lakota West holds on to first place in the Greater Miami Conference after the Firebirds beat the visiting Middletown Middies 64-53 on Tuesday, Feb. 2.

Lakota West, which led by as many as  21 points, stops Middies’ late rally.

By Skip Weaver, Staff Writer Updated 6:57 AM Wednesday, February 3, 2010

WEST CHESTER TWP. — It proved to be too little, too late for Middletown on Tuesday night, Feb. 2.

A late defensive surge helped the Middies boys basketball team cut Lakota West’s double-digit lead to single digits, but the host Firebirds did enough in the final minutes to hold on for a 64-53 Greater Miami Conference win.

“We didn’t play good tonight,” Middletown coach Bob Ronai said as his team dropped to 10-5 overall and 7-3 in the GMC. That leaves the Middies two games behind Princeton and the Firebirds in the race for the league championship.

“We knew Lakota West was a good, solid group of veteran players,” Ronai said. “They had everybody back from last year. We just came out flat. It was very disheartening.”

West (10-4, 9-1 GMC) flexed its own defensive muscle in the first quarter, which helped it build what proved to be an insurmountable lead.

The Firebirds rolled to an 8-0 lead behind a pair of 3-pointers, one from Obi Nwankwo and the other by Justin Williams, and a short jumper by Jordan Hicks.

Jeremiah Burg put the Middies on the board with 4:56 left in the opening frame with one of his team-high three 3-pointers, but Middletown was scoreless after that until Kirby Wright scored with two seconds left in the quarter.

At the end of one, led 21-5.

“We gave a tremendous effort in the first half,” said West senior Nwankwo, who finished the game with 14 points. “That gave us a lot of confidence”

First-year coach Sean Van Winkle agreed.

“We knew Kirby (Wright) was a good interior defender,” Van Winkle said of the Middies’ 6-foot-8 junior center. “We wanted to go inside, but we feel we are a good outside shooting team, too. We were looking at different options and that tells you that we are getting better at reading the defense.”

Lakota West was 22-of-42 from the field, or 52.4 percent. That included a 13-of-21 performance (61.9 percent) in the first half.

But even with a 21-point lead, you can never get comfortable against the Middies defense.

West had a 41-20 lead midway through the third quarter and watched it dissolve to six (52-46) with 5:06 left in the game.

Middletown forced multiple turnovers down the stretch, but missed a pair of easy layups that could have got them within two.

“We got it down to six and had two steals, but blew the layups,” Ronai said. “We’ve got to score in those situations.”

Phillip Cook led the Firebirds with a game-high 16 points. Hicks was an assist away from a triple double. He had 15 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists.

Geovonie McKnight led the Middies with 11 points.

Both teams return to action Friday, with the Middies at Hamilton and the Firebirds hosting Oak Hills.

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