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March 7, 2006Sabres cut through LelandTC Christian dominates boards in D district win
TC Christian's Gannon O'Brien shoots over Leland's Wade Nedow during the Sabres' district victory. Traverse City Christian - hosting its first ever district basketball game - found the home gym to its liking in a convincing 63-41 victory over Leland on Monday. Junior Matt Yeiter certainly was comfortable, knocking down six 3-pointers to advance the Sabres (11-10) in their Class D district. "It was nice to have the home fans behind us," Yeiter said. "Everyone as a team shot well. We like the rims at home." "I think it definitely helped being on our own court," TC Christian coach Jason Meriwether added. "You're used to your own baskets. Our guys played with great energy the whole game." That helped TC Christian dominate the rebounding battle (39-15) and control most of the loose balls. The Sabres even had the majority of the bounces go their way. "They got to every loose ball," said Leland coach Jason Stowe, whose team finished 8-12. "You talk about a team earning their breaks. They were out-hustling us to the ball and outworking us. "They played a great game and they earned every break they got." Despite the big gap in the final margin, TC Christian led 15-13 after one quarter. The Sabres took charge in the second period, outscoring Leland 12-4 to take a 27-17 advantage into the intermission. And most of that was accomplished with center Gannon O'Brien on the bench with two personals. "Gannon missed three games because of an injury this season and we were 3-0 in those games," Meriwether said. "I think that's the greatest thing about these guys. They're a team. "They don't care who the leading scorer is. They don't care who gets the glory in the paper. They just want to win." Leland closed the gap to five points in third quarter. But the Sabres scored the final eight points - capped by a Yeiter triple - to take a 13-point advantage into the final quarter. TC Christian had a 13-0 spurt late in the game with Leland scrambling to force the action to put the contest out of reach. Yeiter led TC Christian with 18 points and 4 assists. Michael Rudolph added 16 points, O'Brien 10 points and 14 rebounds, Matt Beemer 8 points and Eric Pardini 9 rebounds. But it was Yeiter who seemed to continually foil Leland's zone defense. "His shooting definitely carried us," Meriwether said. "He was huge." "They knew what to do against our zone; they got it to (number) 21 in the corner," Stowe said. "Every time the ball took a weird bounce, they got it to him and he made us pay for it every single time. "The biggest problem is when you don't have the lead you have to chase. We all know when you chase, you leave gaps. Teams that have good shooters make you pay for having gaps." Jordan Gibson, who knocked down three 3-pointers of its own, led Leland with 15 points. Marcus Whittaker added 11 points and 8 rebounds and Adam Nedow 3 assists and 3 steals. With the win, TC Christian advances to face Leelanau School Wednesday at 8 p.m., following the Northport-Lake Leelanau St. Mary's game. And TC Christian would love to keep playing home games. "Definitely," Yeiter said. "It's the first time we've ever hosted a district game. We're looking forward to Wednesday's game and hopefully again on Friday."
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