Pilgrims dominant in win over Knox

PLYMOUTH — Plymouth’s Pilgrims came out with something to prove in Friday night’s first-round game of the First Source Bank Holiday Classic and the message was sent with a 64-29 win over Knox.
Plymouth led from beginning to end with an impressive display of defense holding the Redskins to just two points in the game’s second quarter and just 25 in the second half.
“I’m very pleased with our effort,” said Plymouth head coach Greg Miller. “I think we are continuing to get better. The guys are playing well. We keep telling them, ‘Lose yourself in the team, and your whole experience changes.’ I think that you started to see that tonight.”
The Pilgrims jumped to a quick early lead but watched the Redskins chip away for the last three minutes of the first quarter to cut it to six at the quarter break. After that, the Pilgrims hit their stride, building on the last two outings against Riley and NorthWood that showed promise but ended in losses.
“Part of it is that guys aren’t thinking as much now because they’ve been doing stuff for longer,” said Miller. “The first couple of games in, we had only been doing things for 20 days. Thinking slows the feet. Guys aren’t thinking as much, so their feet aren’t slow. We aren’t playing reactive; we are playing proactive on both sides of the ball.”
“I’m happy with where we are at and I’m excited with where we are going.”
Plymouth spread the wealth for the night with four players in double figures (Dan Nguyen, Kadyn Ellery, Preston Wolfe, and Trent Van Duyne). Ellery had six rebounds and five assists, showing off his passing skills around the basket.
“One thing we talk about is let the ball find the shooter,” said Miller. “Let the ball be the most athletic thing on the floor. There was a spurt in the second quarter where I didn’t love what we were doing, but out of the time out, we got really tough to guard again.”
Knox did a better job of handling the ball cutting their average of 20 turnovers down to 15, but each one seemed to turn into Plymouth points falling behind by 22 at the halftime break.
Dirk Huff led the Redskins with nine points, Kohl Jordan had seven. Bryson Venice had four rebounds and six points for Knox.
Plymouth evens their record at 4-4 and will take on New Prairie (2-5) in the championship game Saturday night at 6 p.m. as MAX 98.3’s game of the week boys/girls doubleheader.
Knox is now 0-6 and will have Lewis Cass (1-7) in the consolation round Saturday afternoon at 1:45 p.m.
•PLYMOUTH 64, KNOX 29
at Plymouth
Plymouth 16 34 55 64
Knox 10 12 18 29
Plymouth (64) — Preston Wolfe 5 0-0 12, Milliser 2 0-0 4, Delp 0 0-0 0, Nguyen 4 0-0 10, Ramirez 1 0-0 3, Kadyn Ellery 5 0-0 10, Bagley 1 0-0 2, Van Duyne 4 4-4 14, Feldman 2 0-0 4, Kylen Ellery 1 1-2 3, Parker Wolfe 0 1-2 1. Totals 25 6-9 64.
Knox (29) — Fletcher 0 0-0 0, Huff 2 4-4 9, Jordan 3 0-0 7, Venice 2 0-0 6, Weber 1 0-2 2, Janson 1 1-1 3, Johnson 1 0-0 2. Totals 10 5-7 29.
3 Pt. FG — Plymouth 7 (Preston Wolfe, Nguyen, VanDuyne 2), Knox 4 (Venice 2).
Rebounds — Plymouth 17 (Kadyn Ellery 6), Knox 17 (Venice 4).
Assists — Plymouth 12 (Kadyn Ellery 6), Knox 4 (Jordan, Huff 2).
Steals — Plymouth 14 (VanDuyne, Parker Wolfe 3).
Turnovers — Plymouth 4, Knox 15.