By Tom Nader

Publisher and Editor

The Mathews boys basketball team had two defensive strategies to hinder Windham on Friday night: Speed them up and slow them down.

The Bombers’ Dejuan Ramsey uses his body to shield the Mustangs’ Anthony Marinovich from the ball.
Paisley Nader/Portage Sports

Unfortunately for the Bombers, the contrasting styles were both equally effective.

The Mustangs used an energetic 2-2-1 full-court press to accelerate Windham into a series of turnovers before they could ever even consider a halfcourt offense.

The times Windham did effectively beat the press, the Mustangs settled into an extended 2-3 zone that the Bombers’ sluggish offense could not creatively solve.

The disruption resulted in a dominating 63-29 victory for Mathews in a Northeastern Athletic Conference matchup at Marty Hill Court on a night when the Bombers celebrated the 50th anniversary of the program’s 1975-76 state semifinalist team.

In total, the Bombers (1-10, 1-8 NAC) had as many points as they did turnovers.

“Mathews played its style of basketball tonight. They are known for their high intensity, pressure full-court or three-quarter court pressure,” Windham head coach Cody Apthorpe said. “It sped us up and it exposed our ball-handling and decision making.

“Then our zone offense got caught being stagnant, which throughout the season has proven to lead us to take shots that are not high percentage or we turn the ball over because the possession extends long enough until we make a mental mistake.”

Windham’s Keegan Kiser puts up a jumpshot over a pair of leaping Mathews defenders.
Paisley Nader/Portage Sports

After the first quarter, it appeared that the Bombers may have weathered the initial storm, considering that they shot just 2-of-9 and had eight turnovers in the opening stanza, but trailed only 14-8.

However, Mathews (4-5, 3-4 NAC) remained persistent and only proved its defensive tactics from the first 8 minutes were a trend that would carry throughout the game.

By halftime, the Mustangs had grown their lead to 29-16, then a commanding 8-2 run to start the second half sparked a second half that they outscored the Bombers 34-13.

Four different Mathews players reached double-digits led by Caden Brubaker’s 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting. He was followed by Anthony Marinkovich’s 13 points, while Jake Petak and Caden Runner scored 11 each. Marinkovich also added five rebounds and five assists.

Overall, the Mustangs were efficient offensively and finished 26-of-54 (48 percent) from the field, including 7-of-18 from 3-point range.

Petak and Runner hit three 3s each, with all three of Petak’s coming in a 22-point fourth quarter.

Windham struggled to find a rhythm offensively and shot only 11-of-40 (28 percent) and missed all 15 of its 3-point attempts.

Senior forward Matt Kolaczek, who battled foul trouble throughout the game, finished with a double-double to lead the Bombers. He had 12 points and 12 rebounds.

Matt Kolaczek drives the baseline during the first half of Friday’s game versus Mathews.
Paisley Nader/Portage Sports

“We had issues in a few areas tonight, but I think our zone offense could have done a better job of flipping the floor, better at reversing the ball to get the defense to shift laterally more, and I think we need to be better at cutting with urgency,” Apthorpe said.