The Corry Beavers kicked the season off with a win over the Cochranton Cardinals on Friday Night. Strong play from Rylan Smith and Markus Lambert  allowed the Beavers to stretch the lead to 15 points in the third quarter, but the Cardinals were not willing fold. Cochranton kept fighting back and got to within 7 points in the 4th quarter behind strong play by Chase Miller and Landon Homa. Chase Miller was a 1st team all-region selection last year for the Cardinals, and Homa averaged 13 points a game a year ago. Last night Miller poured in 21 points, and Homa was right behind him with 20. The Beavers had a hard time staying with Miller on his dribble drive, and Homa made some really tough shots. 

We have a lot to work to do, but I was happy to see us come out with a lot of energy and the ability to put the ball in the basket. I was unhappy with our play during our first couple scrimmages, and wasn't sure what I was going to see tonight having a week less of practice than in seasons past. We are looking for consistent play from Rylan, Chance, and Markus this year, and tonight was good start. 

In the middle of the first quarter we settled down after some first game jitters, and we committed to pressure. I did not see as many mistakes nor communication issues as we did during our scrimmages and that is promising. We really made them work all the way down the court offensively. 

We took care of the ball well in the first half, but had a little more turnover issues in the second half. If we can get consistent in that area I think we can do good things this year. 

Rylan led all scorers with 25 points, including 7 three point field goals. He also grabbed 6 rebounds, had 6 assists, and 3 steals. 

Markus only played three quarters tonight and had 19 points and 5 rebounds. He did a great job of getting to the paint off the dribble and using his body. He is a mismatch for about anyone that guards him. 

Chance started off the night scoring the first bucket, and ended the night with 6. He really played a good all around game and played hard on both sides of the floor. 

Brian Cressley was really aggressive defensively and led the team with 4 steals. He needs to continue to get better and he knows his job is to shut down there best ball handler. Brian also had 5 assists. 

Cole came off the bench tonight and saw action way before we anticipated him to being able to play. He is our big physical guy and he will continue to get more comfortable. He just hasn't had much floor time and live game action. 

Karson Chamberlin came in often off the bench and I am looking for him to be are primary ball handler when he is on the court. He came in and was very aggressive and looked pretty good in his first varsity action. 

Stephen Brady started for us tonight. He took a year off last year, and I believe we are going to see some good things from him this year. He is getting pretty good at rebounding and using his height. In middle school he was ball handler for the team because he was much smaller then. With his ability to versitile the sky is the limit for him. 

Mineo & Kornikoski also came in off the bench and got some minutes. They made some nice hustle plays and made the other team turn the ball over a couple times. They took advantage of their minutes and I am happy with their play. 

                          1           2           3         4       Total

Corry                 12         20         18       12       62

Cochranton        8           16        13        16       53