PITSBURG – The Preble Shawnee Arrows took advantage of a smothering full-court press to easily defeat the home-standing Franklin Monroe Jets 61-17 in Tuesday night’s WOAC action to keep its record unblemished.
“We don’t care who scores as long as we score,” said Preble Shawnee coach, Jake Turner. “Our mindset has been that. We’re doing a great job in transition and the half-court.”
“Give a lot of credit to Shawnee,” said Franklin Monroe coach, Troy Myers. “They blitzed us, they’re very talented across the board, they’re athletic, they got size, they will make a deep tournament run and good for them.”
Preble Shawnee bolted out to a 14-3 lead after one-quarter of play with Brody Morton knocking down a trey and a 2-point basket to lead the Arrows with five points, Knox Mills and Isaac Blankenship each a 3-pointer and a quiet 3-points from Mason Shrout to round out Shawnee scoring.
“We have a lot of guys back with experience,” Coach Turner noted. “We have some other guys, a freshman (Knox Mills) who’s figuring it out. He’s playing well, doing a lot of great things, he got to start tonight, he did a lot of good things tonight, he’s handling the ball, he’s guarding, he’s making plays, and he’s only going to get better. All our guys are continuing to get better every day. It’s one day at a time, we’re doing that and we’re doing well.”
The Arrows pushed its lead to 29-5 at the 3:14 mark in period No. 2 and took a 31-7 lead to the break with M. Shrout leading Shawnee with nine second-quarter points.
“What makes Shawnee so dynamic is across the board they are so powerful,” Myers stated. “Early on we were trying to take 24 (M. Shrout) out of the game. He’s an All-Ohio player, very good and he’s a very good playmaker so we were trying to take him out of the game. We knew this could happen but the other guys beat us and they beat us early. Now you’re playing from behind and we did not respond in the way that we had hoped to respond.”
Franklin Monroe continued struggling to get the ball up-court and quickly fell behind 42-11 with M. Shrout getting a steal and driving the length of the court to give Shawnee a commanding 42-11 lead with 4:09 on the third quarter clock.
“We go as our defense goes,” Turner noted. “We drive off of that – that is our number one goal. We want to get in you, we want to press you, we want you to take bad shots, we want to turn you over. We did a great job of that tonight. When we play with energy and effort we play good defensively”
“We push these guys hard in practice, not just walk through, go through the motions in practice,” added Coach Turner. “That is why we’re getting in better shape. We’re still not in the shape we need to be but we’re getting closer each and every day.”
A Jets technical foul at 1:50 in the third had Franklin Monroe looking at a 50-11 deficit before Preble Shawnee closed out the quarter with a 57-11 lead, a running clock, and the entire starting five on the bench for the remainder of the night. M. Shrout paced the Arrows with 16 third-quarter points.
Franklin Monroe took the final quarter by a 7-4 count giving Preble Shawnee a 44-point win.
“Did they beat us today or did they defeat us,” Coach Myers said. “Are we down and out or can we pick up the pieces tomorrow? It’s grueling, it’s tough but that’s what makes you a better team. We deserve this tonight. Until we figure out how to conquer pressure it’s going to keep happening. Last year we could never figure that out and I am confident this team will.”
Preble Shawnee’s stingy defense held the Jets well below its 46.2 season average while keeping its leading scorer, EB Fall scoreless on the night.
“That was on the scouting report,” Coach Turner said of EB Fall. “We wanted to make it tough on him all night. When he plays well they play well and we did a great job on him – different guys too. Brody got in a little foul trouble, we went Isaac, we went Mason, the guys rotated, they did a good job on him, they made it tough on him all night – he’s a good player.”
Mason Shrout, a 6’5” Purdue Fort Wayne signee, four-year Arrows starter, 2022-2023 First Team All-DIII Ohio selection, and District 15 Player of the Year led Preble Shawnee and all scorers with a game-high 28 points.
“Those guys play the right way,” Myers said of Shawnee following the game. “I know those guys work a lot. It’s not easy to get beat, ever, but when you have kids you know are sacrificing a lot to be good – that’s a good example.”
BOXSCORE:
GREENVILLE 33, INDIAN LAKE 33
PREBLE SHAWNEE – M. Shrout 28, I. Blankenship 11, B. Morton 7, K. Mills 5, C. Shrout 4, B. Robinette 3, L. Hawley 3 – TOTALS 18 10-13 5 61
FRANKLIN MONROE – E. Brenner 7, Wilson 6, Denlinger 4 – TOTALS 5 4-7 1 17
3-POINTERS
Preble Shawnee 5 (I. Blankenship 2, K. Mills 1, B. Morton 1, M. Shrout 1)
Franklin Monroe 1 (E. Brenner)
SCORE by QUARTERS
14-17-26-04 61 Preble Shawnee
03-04-04-06 17 Franklin Monroe
