Dock Mennonite has it all working in win over Phil-Mont Christian
SPRINGFIELD >> Miz Nyagwegwe was slashing to the hoop, Jackson Scialanca and Caleb Pfleiger were hitting threes, and Darius Ellis was rebounding, scoring and controlling things underneath.
Dock’s offense had everything going before its defense ever surrendered a field goal.
“Unbelievable. We just kept flying around,” Nyagwegwe said of his team’s Bicentennial Athletic League game with Phil-Mont Wednesday night. “Everyone was juiced up for the game so it felt good to come out like that. We played hard on defense and that’s what started it.”
Dock jumped out to a 13-0 lead and was ahead 21-1 by the end of the first quarter.
“We wanted to come down here and assert ourselves on the defensive end. We wanted to pressure them, get scores off our defense, and that start fired our offense up,” Pioneers coach Mike Fergus said. “That got us feeling good, sharing the ball. That was about as good a quarter as we played all year.”
Dock rolled to a 75-43 victory at the Falcon Dome, pulling away to its seventh straight win.
“We’re feeling really good,” said Nyagwegwe, whose tenacious defense was an obstacle Phil-Mont could not overcome.
Dock (7-1) had five players score in double figures, including Nyagwegwe, who led the way with 21 points.
Said the senior: “The last time we played here, we got beat in the district playoffs — not too many good memories here. We wanted to walk away with a win, especially since it might be our last time playing here for the seniors.”
The Pioneers created far different memories on this night. Scialanca hit four threes and had 16 points, Pfleiger hit a pair of threes and had 12, Ellis had 10, and Nolan Bolton — the man of many trades — added 11.
“Nolan does everything for us,” Fergus said. “He’s tied for our leading rebounder, he’s our leading assist guy, and I always put him on the team’s best player.”
Dock’s defense — playing full-court man from the jump — had Phil-Mont completely stymied.
Bolton found Nyagwegwe cutting to the hoop for the first points of the night, Nyagwegwe scored again moments later and then came up with a steal, dishing it out to Bolton for a three, pushing the early Dock lead to 7-0.
Another steal and score by Nyagwegwe followed by a three by Pfleiger made it 13-0 Pioneers.
Phil-Mont got on the board when Jaylen Henderson hit one of two free throws just inside of three minutes, but Dock responded with back-to-back threes by Bolton and Pleiger and a score off a rebound by Ellis, making it 21-1 at the end of the first quarter.
The Falcons hit their first field goal when Daniel Olinger connected from three-point range, making it 21-4 in the opening moments of the second quarter.
Dock dominance continued after that. Bolton capped off a fast break, Nyagwegwe’s quick hands and feet on the defensive end led to more points, and Scialanca hit his second three of the first half — Dock had five in the opening two quarters — to help provide a 36-7 cushion at the break.
Lyle Tipton played a nice second half for the Falcons, leading the way with 16 points.
Fast breaks continued into the third quarter for Dock and a steal and dunk by Nyagwegwe capped things off.
“I was looking for one,” he said with a smile. “That was the perfect opportunity. I got it on my good side and just went up.”
