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Basketball: Shawnee just too quick for Admirals

December 19, 2006|MARTY WARREN

Danville's inexperience showed against lightning-quick Louisville Shawnee on Monday night as the host Admirals couldn't overcome 31 turnovers in a 48-31 loss to the Golden Eagles.

Despite the turnovers, the Admirals (0-3) stayed in contention until Shawnee went on a 10-0 scoring run in the final five minutes.

"I hope that is the quickest team that we will face all year," Danville coach Craig Pippen said. "They are very athletic. We did some nice things against them. We forced 17 turnovers and disrupted their shots. When we play with intensity and give the maximum amount of effort we can, you can see we are doing a lot of things better, like stepping into the passing lanes or giving good backside help. We just couldn't capitalize on our opportunities when we had shots on the offensive end."

Danville took just 35 shots for the game and connected on 40 percent of them. Josh Milburn scored all six of the Admirals' points during the first period and Shawnee led 13-6 when the period came to a close.

"I've been extremely pleased with the way Josh has played," Pippen said. "He wants to get better. He is a warrior and plays hard every day."

Shawnee (3-6) grabbed a 21-10 advantage with 4:38 to play in the half and forced Pippen to call his third timeout of the half. Following the timeout, the Ads went on a 7-0 scoring run of their own. Jamal Grey scored three points while Milburn and Jamie Grey added a bucket each to trim the lead to 21-17. After a 3-point play from Zach Bradley, who led the Golden Eagles with 13 points, Jamel Grey scored from the baseline to cut the lead to 24-19 at the half.

Danville managed just six points and turned the ball over nine times during the third quarter, but was withing striking distance at 34-25 when the period ended.

"We had good looks at the basket when we got the ball into front court," the Danville coach said. " Our problem right now is our inexperience at the guard position. We have only one person with five minutes experience a game from last years team. They are going to improve and gain experience as the year goes on. We will take our lumps along the way, but I really believe we can be a good team before the district tournament begins."

Missed free throws kept game close

Danville got a free throw from Matthew DelCotto and basket by Jamal Grey following a steal to cut the lead to 38-28, but failed to score again until Jonathan Milburn's 3-pointer - the Ads' only basket from beyond the arc - as time expired.

Meanwhile, Shawnee went on a 10-0 scoring run of their own but missed seven straight free throws down the stretch to allow the game to remain close.

"Despite the loss, I was proud of the way the kids played tonight," Pippen said. "If we can continue to play that hard against a team like that, I would like to think we can be pretty successful. They gave about as much effort as I could ask from them. I told them as long as they gave 100 percent, everything else will fall into place. I truly believe that. We just want to get better as we go along. The effort is there and they are a great group to coach."

Shawnee canned 22 of 56 shots from the field, but hit only two of 14 tries from both the free throw line and 3-point range. The Golden Eagles won the rebounding battle 32-30. Jamie Grey led the Admirals with six rebounds.

SHAWNEE (3-6) - Zach Bradley 13, Charles Pearson 11, Ralph Wright 8, Jamal Bacon 7, Danny Mason 5, Deshawn Grinter 2, Corey Jackson 2.

DANVILLE (0-3) - Josh Milburn 8, Jamie Grey 8, Jamel Grey 7, Jonathan Milburn 5, Kruz Warner 2, Matthew DelCotto 1.

Shawnee13243448Danville6192531

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