Carl Albert boys overwhelm Piedmont

By Jacob Sturm

Midwest City Beacon

 

The lead quickly exceeded double digits and never got closer when Carl Albert’s boys basketball team faced Piedmont on Friday evening.

 

In the 58-33 victory, the result never seemed to be in flux. That was due to a mix of size, good ball movement and experienced playmakers.

 

Carl Albert coach Jay Price said the team didn’t give away any easy looks and identified the defensive work as a catalyst for what was working.

 

“I thought defensively we were really tough,” Price said. “We knew that they had some guys who could really shoot it. They run some really good stuff offensively and our goal was to try and disrupt their offense a little bit. I think we did a pretty good job at that, especially in the first half.”

 

The opening quarter of action alone showed that defensive intensity.

 

Piedmont (12-6 overall) scored once in the frame and couldn’t slow down the Titans offense to the tune of 18 first quarter points. To make matters worse, the Wildcats still lost the second quarter points battle and had yet to reach double digits heading into halftime.

 

Carl Albert senior guard Jordan England said pressuring the guards factored into the early lead.

 

“Our focus in the beginning of this game was to apply the pressure on them, make their guards uncomfortable on the ball and really disrupt their offense,” England said. “They’re good in a half court set without any pressure, but we wanted to amp that up on them and that’s how we got out to our lead.”

 

The pressure didn’t ease up out of halftime, and the Titans (14-3) maintained the large lead. A solid rebounding effort and efficient use of possessions complimented the stellar defense

 

That and a solid performance from England, made for a comfortable result.

 

“Jordan England is our man,” Price said. “He’s our leader. He’s the guy we look to (when we need) to get things calmed down and execute things. He can go score a lot of times when he wants to. He’s very unselfish so he doesn’t do that a lot, but he’s talented enough to do that. He’s our leader and it showed tonight.”