(New Buffalo, MI) - The New Buffalo High School boys’ basketball team received its first major taste of victory by winning a tournament a week after entering the new year.

 

The Bison won the Bangor Holiday Invitational on Saturday, January 6th by defeating Gobles in the finals 26 to 23.

 

Head Coach Nate Tripp said it was a low-scoring game by design after choosing to slow it down on both sides of the court to counter the size and speed advantage of Gobles, who have two 6’5” players and one nearly as tall.

 

“They are so long and athletic. They’re a really good team,” he said.

 

Gobles scored the first seven points of the game, which forced the undersized Bison to not panic while sticking to their game plan of working the ball, no matter how long it took until finding an open shooter.

 

“We intentionally slowed the ball way down,” Tripp said.

 

By spreading out the offense, defenders from Gobles were forced to move further away from the rim to guard opposing players.  Eventually, open shots were created down low for players like sophomore center Lucas Forker, who led the Bison with 11 points.

 

The Bison (4-6) also played a half-court defense style to keep Gobles from scoring on too many fast breaks.

 

A similar style of play was also used to open the tournament on January 4th with a 46 to 33 victory over Bangor. Forker also led the team in scoring with 18 points.  Senior Andres Becerra and sophomore Sam Tripp contributed 10 points apiece.

 

Tripp said slowing down the ball was a drastic move for his players used to a faster pace on both sides of the court since the beginning of last season. He said his players will continue to play at a slower pace not just to neutralize more talented teams but to cut down on the high number of costly turnovers and other mistakes they were making previously.

 

Tripp said his still young and inexperienced team, which won just two games last season, is much improved, but not enough to succeed with an up-tempo style of play.

 

“Everything is happening quicker than they can react to.  We’ll run when the opportunities present themselves. On defense, no more pressing and trapping.  That’s just not who our team is yet,” he said.

 

Tripp said winning the tournament seemed to be a real morale booster for his players, who want to win and work very hard to do so. The players ran out to the half-court line to accept their championship trophies.

 

“It feels great. They got to celebrate. They got to taste what victory is,” he said.