MRH Scores 100 in Rout, Set to Meet Powerful Chaminade

Thanks to Mother Nature and her recent snowy ways, the Maplewood Richmond Heights boys’ basketball team was forced into a 10-day break in between games.

Instead of showing a little rust, the Blue Devils executed their game play to near perfection en route to a 100-29 rout against Valley Park during their South Central A.A. Conference clash Friday night.

After a rugged early schedule, MRH finally reached the .500 mark with an 8-8 record to go along with an unblemished 4-0 mark in conference play.

One way MRH head coach Corey Frazier kept his players focused during the break was through digital technology.

“Even though we were off a few days because of the snow, thank God for text messaging,” Frazier said. “Because I sent out text messages to keep their edge. I sent them a workout to do at home and anything I could think of to keep them active. They did it and responded well. I was proud of them for coming out with a lot of intensity.”

What exactly did Frazier send in those messages?

“He was texting us to do 100 jumping jacks, sit-ups, pushups and dips,” junior point guard Jake Hensel said, “And then he texted us to shoot the ball in the air with both hands. I did my workouts. I can’t speak for anyone else, but I know I did mine.”

It certainly seemed to work once the Blue Devils hit the hardwood for their first action since beating rival Brentwood last Tuesday.

Valley Park had its brief shining moment when Majuan Bales drilled a 3-pointer for a quick early lead. Unfortunately for the Hawks, it was all downhill from the point forward.

Sparked by its pressure defense, MRH wreaked havoc on Valley Park with its relentless full-court onslaught that led to numerous layups throughout the contest.

“Everything we do is based off our defense,” Hensel said. “Coach isn’t worried as much about offense because he preaches to us all the time that defense comes first and offense follows.”

Aaron Spudich got MRH’s scoring started with an early basket in the post followed by a baseline jumper from Tony King and the rout was in full motion.

Hensel got into the mix with consecutive steals followed by uncontested layups for a 13-3 advantage, forcing the Hawks to use their first timeout.

“Jake is active and a good off-the-ball defender. Eric Liksa is the same way,” Frazier said. “They cause a lot of problems away from the basketball. Usually, if you leave anything hanging in the air, they’re taught to go to the basketball.”

Spudich canned a 3-pointer after the timeout while King and Liksa each had steals leading to buckets.

MRH capped its 26-0 run when King stole the ball, passed it ahead to Liksa, who then dished it off to Hensel for the transition layup and a 23-point cushion.

Valley Park closed the opening quarter on a 7-3 spurt, but the Blue Devils were well on their way to another conference win after forcing 12 turnovers and racing out to a 32-11 advantage.

MRH’s defense forced 11 more turnovers in the second quarter as King and Liksa each lit up the scoreboard by scoring nine and 11 points, respectively, during that span. Liksa’s first trifecta made it 47-16 while King punctuated a dominant first half with a trey that made it 67-23 at halftime.

The Blue Devils ended up forcing 37 turnovers while committing just 11.

“We’re a defensive-first program,” Frazier said. “That’s what we pride ourselves on doing well. We did a good job defensively, without fouling too much, by moving our feet and getting in the pass lanes and talking to each other.”

The Blue Devils reached the century mark by outscoring the Hawks, 33-6, in the second half as Anthony Lee tallied all 11 of his points after halftime. Aaron Collins scored eight of his 10 points in the fourth quarter, when there was a running clock because of the 30-plus point advantage. Collins also grabbed a game-high nine rebounds.

MRH torched the nets by shooting 64 percent from the floor (45-for-71) while Valley Park nearly had as many turnovers as field goal attempts, making just 9-of-38 shots.

King led all scorers with 21 points, Spudich added 20 and Liksa pumped in 18 as six Blue Devils reached double figures. Hensel was part of that group with 10 points.

“Scoring 100 is not that important to us as winning the basketball game,” Frazier said. “But we play 12 guys, and they played their butts off tonight. We’re never out to embarrass anyone. Plus, I’ve been on the other end before, so I know how it feels.

“We’re turning the corner. I don’t think we’ve turned it yet, but we’re getting better–that’s for sure.”

However, the Blue Devils step out of their conference to play yet another top-tier squad when they travel to play nationally-ranked and undefeated Chaminade (20-0) at 6:30 p.m. Saturday.

“We expected to come out and play well even with the long break,” Hensel said. “We have a hard game against Chaminade. They are the toughest team in the state. I think they are ranked 14th or 19th in the country. But we’re going to go out there and throw our best punches at them and see what they got.”

According to MaxPreps.com, Chaminade is ranked eighth in the nation.

“It shouldn’t faze us because we’ve played big teams all year,” Frazier added. “We should be ready. We’re going to throw something at them and see what happens. It’s like going to the gambling boat. We’re going to try our luck.”

BOX SCORE

VALLEY PARK (29) – Bales 2 3-5 8, Herbst 1 4-6 6, Williams 0 0-0 0, Pernell 1 0-0 2, Martin 5 3-3 13. Totals 9 10-14 29.

MRH (100) – Hensel 5 0-1 10, Hagens 1 1-2 3, King 9 2-2 21, Spudich 9 1-3 20, Debose 0 0-0 0, Frazier 0 1-2 1, Liksa 8 0-0 18, Williams 2 0-0 4, Lee 5 1-1 11, Collins 5 0-0 10, Taylor 1 0-0 2. Totals 45 6-11 100.

VLP    11        12        4          2 – 29

MRH   32        35        21        12 – 100

3-Pointers – Valley Park 1 (Bales), MRH 4 (Liksa 2, King, Spudich). Rebounds – Valley Park 20 (Martin 6), MRH 33 (Collins 9). Turnovers – Valley Park 37, MRH 11. Fouls – Valley Park 10, MRH 17. Fouled Out – None. Records – Valley Park is 2-14 and 0-6 in the South Central A.A. Conference, MRH is 8-8 and 4-0.