Corning defense grounds Eagles

While the hometown Cardinals trailed early, down 6-3 early in the first quarter, Corning High's tight man-to-man defense blanketed visiting West Valley the rest of the way Friday, and the outcome was never really in question in a 50-37 win at Corning High.

"We just try to keep people out of the lane and we matched up pretty good" said Corning coach Bill Mache.

The Eagles were able to get very little penetration, instead having to rely on mid-range shots or bombs from behind the arc, and the Cardinals' strong presence on the glass severely limited many second-chance scoring opportunities.

"I thought we did a good job boarding," Mache said of his teams' 31 rebounds, "but we still need to take care of the ball. We had too many unforced turnovers. Corning turned the ball over 21 times.

The early deficit was quickly erased when two Ryan Holland free throws evened the score at 6-6, before sophomore Chayce Maday and Ezekiel Rodriguez canned three-pointers on successive possessions to complete an 8-0 run.

Corning added the period's final four points on a Nick Hoag deuce and another pair by Holland from the stripe to make it 16-8 after one.

Corning made the most of frequent trips to the line, converting on 14-of-21 for 66 percent on the night.

The Cardinals extended their lead in the second quarter, as Maday finished off a fast break with the help of a Holland assist, and Cody Long sank a jumper in the paint to make it 20-8.

West Valley came back with a bucket by Danny Vietti and a three-ball from Josh Vert, but Holland found the bottom of the net from long range to send Corning into halftime with a 23-13 lead.

The 10-point advantage grew to 17 in the third quarter, as Justin Pye and sophomore Michael Shoemaker both rolled three the hard way with three-point plays, and the defense stuffed West Valley to just seven points.

Corning continued showing patience on offense in the fourth quarter, despite the Eagles kicking off the frame with a pair of treys by James Koerperich, and the Cardinals hit six freebies after being sent into the bonus for the final 4:29.

Shoemaker scored another double-double with his 11 points and 13 rebounds, which were highs for the Cardinals in both categories. Holland tacked on 10 points, Rodriguez added eight and Maday, seven.

Holland also picked up six rebounds and a pair of steals.

"Our timing offensively is still not where it needs to be," said Mache, "but we're going to get there."

Koerperich and Vietti each netted eight points for West Valley.

Corning (20-2, 4-1 Northern Athletic League) moved into a first-place tie in the NAL with Central Valley, the Cardinals' Tuesday opponent. Corning travels to Anderson Friday.

CONTACT Craig Purcell at 824-1036 or cpurcell@tcnpress.com.