By JON REITER
SELLERSBURG — The Borden boys’ basketball squad forced host Rock Creek Christian Academy into 26 turnovers in cruising to its second win of the season, a 61-37 victory over the host Lions on Saturday night.
Rock Creek (0-1) played the Braves close for a quarter and a half, and were within two points following a steal and lay-up by guard Ben Todd that made the score 19-17 with 3:20 left in the first half.
Following Todd’s score though, the Braves (2-0) erupted for a 10-0 run over the next two minutes and carried a 32-19 lead into the half.
Junior guard Chris Beam served notice, once again, that his outside shooting might make the Braves into a top team one season removed from their Class A semistate final berth.
Beam paced Borden with 27 points and connected on 6-of-10 three-point attempts. Michael Chester added 14 points, and forward Chance Clark chipped in with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
“We have six guys who are capable of giving us 20 points per night,” Borden coach Doc Nash said. “Chris (Beam) is going to be one of the best players in our conference this year. Last year, he had Alex Ooley to sort of take the pressure off him a little bit, but he’s going to have a big target on his back this season.”
As the game was tight early, Borden matched Rock Creek virtually turnover for turnover, but as the Braves began controlling the ball better, they pulled away from the Lions.
Nash said his squad is learning to play without a true point guard. For much of the game, 6-foot-3 senior Lee Kirchgessner served as the Braves’ primary ballhandler.
“We have two or three combo guards and are still trying to figure out who our one ballhandler is going to be,” Nash said. “We’ve got the players to play fast, we just have to do that better.”
Senior guard Kendrick Dale led Rock Creek with 10 points despite only connecting on 4-of-13 shots from the field. Dontale Mayes, the Lions’ 6-5 junior center, added eight points and six rebounds but was plagued by foul trouble throughout the game.
Three Rock Creek starters picked up their fourth foul during the third quarter, but none fouled out. The Lions also turned the ball over 26 times in the loss.
“We threw the ball all over the gym,” said Lions coach Chris Brown. “We looked like a young team and that was to be expected. We were plagued by mistakes — we have nowhere to go but up.”
The Braves built upon their 13-point halftime cushion by opening the second half with a 12-2 run that essentially put the game away. During the run, Clark scored six points and Chester added back-to-back buckets.
Nash said he was more pleased by his squad’s effort Saturday than in their opening-game win, which came on the road Tuesday night at Pekin Eastern.
“I was happy with how hard they played tonight,” Nash said. “I didn’t think we communicated all that well Tuesday night on the court, and we did a better job of that tonight.”
Borden hosts Lanesville Friday night. Rock Creek travels to Crothersville on Saturday.
BORDEN 11 21 19 10—61
ROCK CREEK 7 12 7 11—37
Rock Creek (0-1) - Dale 10, Mayes 8, Garner 6, Todd 5, R. Hawn 2, Ashby 2, Major 0, E. Hawn 0, Austin 4, McGregory 0, Bennett 0.
Borden (2-0) - Beam 27, Chester 14, Clark 12, Wagoner 4, Potts 2, Adams 1, Kirchgessner 1, B. Beam 0, Martin 0, Rich 0.
Turnovers: Borden 14, Rock Creek 26.
Rebounds: Borden 34 (Clark 10), Rock Creek 23 (Mayes 6).
Three-point goals: Borden 6 (Beam 6); Rock Creek 0.
JUNIOR VARSITY
Rock Creek 36 (11-3-13-9): Garner 18, Kruer 6, McGregory 5, Neptune 4, Ashby 3; Borden 31 (12-3-7-9): B. Beam 14, Rich 6, Little 4, Wilson 3, Scott 2, D. Martin 2.
