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Warren rolls over Alexander, 96-22

Photo by Jay W. Bennett Alexander’s Jeremiah Clark, who had a team-high seven points, falls to the floor after getting fouled by Warren’s Trent Taylor. The Warriors rolled to a 96-22 victory Tuesday night.

VINCENT — Joel Chevalier’s breakaway slam not quite midway through the third quarter following a steal was one of many highlights for host Warren here Tuesday night as the Division II No. 10 Warriors blitzed Alexander, 96-22.

Head coach Blane Maddox’s Warriors, who improved to 7-1 with a game Friday at Cambridge, shot 78.8% (26 of 33) in the first half.In the opening stanza, Warren hit 14 of 20 from the floor, 5 of 7 from deep and held a 33-5 lead. Trent Taylor’s skip pass to Trent Dowler, both of whom had 10 points, resulted in a buzzer-beating 3.

“You know, it was one of those nights where all the shots went in,” admitted coach Maddox, who said of the Warriors’ No. 10 ranking “we’ll see about that. “We’ll take pride in that, but you know it’s early and we got a big, big schedule ahead of us.”

Chevalier’s board and kickout to Brayden Sallee, who finished with 15 points, put Warren ahead for good just 40 ticks in after the trifecta. Kurt Taylor, who had 14 points, a game-high six assists and three steals while also joining Dennis Pettey with six boards, followed with a steal and a short bank shot. Josh Welch, who blocked two shots, then assisted on a Jake Baumgard lay-in.

Landon Hornsby finally got the Spartans (3-5) on the board with a deuce at the 5:39 mark, but the only other bucket for the visitors came with 2:57 to go via a Jeremiah Clark triple.

Following a putback by Kurt Taylor, Alexander called timeout down 9-2. Things didn’t get any better the rest of the way. Chevalier, who had a game-high 17 points, hit a pair of trifectas a minute apart and Sallee had a bucket in between.

Kurt Taylor’s hoop made it 19-2 prior to Clark’s 3. Warren finished the canton on a 14-0 spurt. During that span, Welch took a charge on Preston Truax while Taylor, Sallee and Caleb Davis also converted field goals. With 24 seconds left, Trent Taylor made a 3 and then Dowler followed with his make at the horn.

“We shot it well,” added Maddox, whose squad finished 40 of 58 (69%) and played without starting senior point guard Seth Dennis as well as reserve senior guard Gavin Ott. “It was really nice to get everybody in. They work hard so we like to see them get to play.

“Coach (Jeff) Skinner is without his best player (Kyler D’Augustino), one of the best players in the Southeast District and they are young. He’s their main guard and their main scorer and he’s a really good player. Hopefully, we shoot that way down the road.”

The Spartans, who shot 19.6% (9 of 46) from the field and trailed 60-10 at intermission, missed their first 10 shots of the second quarter. Warren made its first 10 shots and finished the stanza 12 of 13, which included making two 3s.

An 18-0 run to open the second was ignited by a Trent Taylor lay-in and capped by a Welch deuce for a 51-5 bulge with 3:31 left in the half. Clark, who had a team-high seven points, finally broke Alexander’s drought at the 3:18 mark. A late 3 by Hornsby via a Jagger Cain assist had it at 57-10, but Trent Taylor was able to launch a shot about three steps inside halfcourt, which went through the cylinder as the horn went off.

Brennan Perdue, who joined Baumgard with eight counters, hit a late 3 in the third and a foul shot by Davis made it 82-17 entering the final period.

“They are big and they got some nice guards,” coach Maddox said of Cambridge. “They’ve been up and down a little bit, but they are very capable. We got a lot of road challenges coming up.”

Cameron Houpt finished with six points, four rebounds and a trio of blocks for the Spartans, who play host Friday to Athens.

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com

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