The Wiregrass Ranch boy’s basketball team beat the Steinbrenner Warriors 75-59 on Friday night. This was the second meeting of the two teams, the Bulls winning the first meeting 73-66 in December. This win also puts the Bulls on a 3-game winning streak.

The first quarter started off with a number of threes made by the Bull’s junior Lucas Pelt and senior Elijah Howell as well as Steinbrenner’s junior Jalen Miller and senior Angleo Sardegna. As the first quarter went on, the Bulls forced the Warriors to continually take difficult three point shots, playing great perimeter defense.

The Bulls took a commanding 16-8 lead as senior Logan Ghoumari and junior Jacob McCaslin dominated the boards with great offensive awareness, putting back up missed threes and pull-up shots by the Bulls. Ghoumari finished with 9 rebounds while McCasil ended with 6.

Senior Tyreek Green came off the bench as a sixth man and ignited a huge push by the Bulls at the end of the first quarter as he hit two threes and drove down the paint to end the quarter at 24-12. Green also added steals on the defensive side of the court.

“It [my role] affects the team in a positive way, it gets the momentum going and its sets the tone for the rest of the game,” Green explained after the game.

The tone was set for the rest of the game as Green continued to help the Bulls, finishing with 10 points, 2 assists, 2 rebounds and 4 steals. Ghoumari also played a huge part by taking the ball to the rack multiple times, and going right through the Warriors’ defense. The Bulls continued to force Strienbrenner to take three point shots and contested shots at the top of the key. The second quarter ended 41-21 for the Bulls.

Howell came out firing in the third quarter as he hit multiple threes and pull-ups, exemplifying the Bulls’ game-plan to swing the ball around the perimeter, looking for high percentage shots. He finished the game with 10 points. Coming into the game, Howell had 921 points in his high school career, 79 off 1,000 points, but when asked about it, he wasn’t focusing on that mark when taking shots.

“It was just a dub; I’m not really worried about that, it will come with playing more games,” Howell expressed. “I’m keeping an eye on it, but it will come, I don’t have to force it.”

With the score racking up, more playing time was available for the Bulls bench, allowing for Coach Jeremy Calzone to prepare his full team for games to come. Bryce Nicholas, one of those players coming off the bench, put the nail in the coffin as he hit a deep three, banking it off the backboard with seconds to spare, ending the quarter 60-34.

Although the Warriors had more space to play with the Bull’s second unit on the floor, the Bulls managed to force turnovers and turn them into threes, ending the game at 75-59.

Coach Calzone pointed out that the Bulls have a huge week coming up as the Bulls play Wharton, Plant and Sickles, but is happy with the state of the Bull’s roster.

“We are getting guys back healthy; I think it’s the first time we are seeing some health, guys are finally full strength, so its good to see us playing all together,” Calzone explained.

The Bulls will play at Wharton on Tuesday night, January 15th.

Will Elijah Howell record his 1,000 career point in his next game @ Wharton or home vs Plant?

• @ Wharton
• Home vs Plant

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