Bridgeport forces 23 turnovers in rout of East Fairmont

“I thought we were able to put pressure on the ball,” Bridgeport coach Dave Marshall said. “I thought — and I hate to sound this way after a nice win — but I thought defensively our off-the-ball help wasn’t what we were hoping for.

“I think our ball pressure gave them problems, but at the same time, I thought we fouled a little bit too much, so we have plenty of work to do. But yes, I think that helped us get that lead.”

Bridgeport had four players score in double figures, starting with Landon Sanders, who had a team-high 21 points with seven rebounds. Phoenix Sickles and Anderson McDougal each scored 14 points and Carter Zuliani added 13 points.

Already leading 7-6, Bridgeport went on an 18-3 run the rest of the first quarter, a stretch in which the Bees’ only points were three free throws from River McClain.

Amidst that run, not only did Sickles and Sanders hit 3-pointers, but four separate players scored, as the Indians took a 25-7 lead on a put back from Zuliani.

“We talked about it all year, I don’t know that we’ve been the physically stronger team in any game that we’ve played,” East Fairmont coach Carter DeVault said. “We’re young, we have a lot of youth, so physicality has been a big issue all year.

“I thought all season our kids have fought and they’ve given a good effort. And I thought they did tonight, but Bridgeport is the strongest team we’ve seen, and I thought that showed in that stretch. Their physicality on defense, on the glass, they’re a very strong group, and it showed in that stretch. They really started punishing us physically.”

East Fairmont’s first field goal since the five-minute mark of the first quarter came when McClain hit a layup with 6:13 remaining.

East Fairmont’s second basket of the second quarter came soon after, as Austin Taylor hit a 3-pointer from the right wing, cutting the Bees’ deficit to 31-14.

Bridgeport didn’t press, but in its man-to-man defense, the Indians forced 17 turnovers in the first half alone and converted off of many of them in transition.

And in transition, the Indians scored multiple ways, such as Sanders’ 3-pointer from the right corner (38-16 Bridgeport) and McDougal’s steal near half court that resulted in a transition layup (40-16 Bridgeport).

Bridgeport closed the second quarter on an 8-3 run, as Sickles scored four points during that run.

With Zuliani in foul trouble and on the bench, the Bees were able to attack the post, collect more rebounds and get more opportunities in a low-scoring third quarter.

That included Taylor’s 3-pointer from the left wing and Logan Beckman’s 3-pointer from the right wing, the latter of which cut the Bees’ deficit to 55-27.

But at the start of the fourth quarter, not only Zuliani, but Sickles, a 6-foot-5 forward, were back in the game and in the post in the early parts of the quarter.

Zuliani scored five points in the early part of the final quarter and Sanders hit multiple 3-pointers — from the top of the key and from the left corner.

“He’s really coming along,” Marshall said of Sanders. “Since we came back off of that last big snow storm, his scoring is coming along. I think he needed to rest those legs because him and Phoenix and Anderson, all three of them, they not only had to play mega minutes in games before the football guys got back, but they also had to really carry us in practice, and that’s not easy to do day in and day out. In a weird kind of way, he may be one that benefitted from that snow.”

Thursday’s contest also was a chance for reserves to have some playing time, and Bridgeport’s Aryon Dodd, who had already hit one 3-pointer earlier in the day, supplemented his night with two more 3-pointers in the final minute of the fourth quarter, the last of which gave the Indians a 79-32 lead.

East Fairmont was led by McClain, who scored 12 points, while Beckman and Taylor each added six points.