Boys Basketball: Seton forces tempo, stops Thornton

The McDipper Tournament uses a 35-second shot clock, but Seton never had to worry about running out of time on any of its possessions.

The No. 4 Sting played its usual up-tempo game against Thornton in the second round of the tournament at Rich South Tuesday and won easily 77-57.

Right from the start, Seton (13-0) controlled the pace of the game and raced out to a 23-7 first-quarter lead. The Sting upped the tempo with ball-pressure defense that created multiple turnovers. The Wildcats (3-7) were forced into 12 first-quarter turnovers.

``No, we weren’t worried about any shot clock violations,’’ Seton coach Brandon Thomas said. ``Sometimes I wish we were a little more patient, but we want the tempo to go up and down and you can usually get a good shot within the first 10 seconds.’’

Seton jumped out to a 10-2 lead in the first two minutes of the game. The Sting’s defensive pressure forced six turnovers. From that, Russell Robinson, Jr had a couple of early layups.

When Seton was forced to go to its half-court offense, it didn’t miss a beat. Kamal Shasi drained a three and a jumper from the right side.

``He gets labeled as just a shooter but Kamal plays real good defense,’’ Thomas said. ``He doesn’t make a lot of mistakes and he’s very quick with his hands.’’

J.R. Tolliver got into the act in the first quarter by scoring five of his 12 points. Russell finished with 10 points and nine rebounds in limited play. The Sting normally substitute five players at a time about midway through the quarter. Damon Goodoe Jr. came off the bench to score 10.

Brian Nicholson led Thornton with 11 points and seven rebounds off the bench.

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