Danville's Christian Gateskill-Fuqua fights for a loose ball with DeSales' Nathan Roush during the first half Thursday. Gateskill-Fuqua scored six points and had four rebounds with two steals in the win. (Tim Webb) |
FRANKFORT — Danville is trying to single-handedly run the Louisville schools out of the All “A” Classic.
Having dispatched DeSales in their first-round game Thursday, the Admirals will return to the Frankfort Convention Center tonight to face Collegiate, the other Louisville team in the small-school tournament.
And coach Andrew Zaheri said the plan is to see how well their opponents can withstand a fast pace.
“If we still have legs tomorrow, hopefully we can make it an up-and-down game and see if they can run with us,” Zaheri said after Danville’s win Thursday.
That could be a big “if.” The Admirals didn’t leave the court until about 11:30 p.m. Thursday, giving them just 22 hours to recover before tonight’s 9:30 p.m. tipoff.
Collegiate (14-5) needed overtime to defeat Bishop Brossart 57-52. That was more of a structured game, however, and this one will be far more frenetic if Danville (8-10) has its way, although the Admirals know that won’t be easy.
“Collegiate’s a good team. They run their system very well. They’re not very athletic, but they do what they do well,” Danville guard Tryston Ford said.
Collegiate won 10 of its first 12 games this season, including an 80-49 victory Dec. 9 over Burgin, which Danville defeated 75-49 last week in its All “A” regional.
The Titans made headlines last season by upsetting St. Xavier in the first round of the 25th District Tournament, but six seniors graduated from that squad.
Their leading scorer Thursday was junior guard Andrew Steggeman, who had 18 points and seven assists. Steggeman averages about 18 points per game, and 6-foot-4 center David Keyer, another junior, averages about 13 points and 10 rebounds.
“They’re a team kind of like us: They’re not real flashy, but what they do a good job of is sticking to their strengths, and they try to avoid their weaknesses,” Zaheri said. “It’s going to be another one of those games where it’s going to be 32 minutes.”
At stake is a berth in Saturday’s semifinals against the winner of the Covington Holy Cross-Owen County game. Danville reached the semifinals last year.
Having dispatched DeSales in their first-round game Thursday, the Admirals will return to the Frankfort Convention Center tonight to face Collegiate, the other Louisville team in the small-school tournament.
And coach Andrew Zaheri said the plan is to see how well their opponents can withstand a fast pace.
“If we still have legs tomorrow, hopefully we can make it an up-and-down game and see if they can run with us,” Zaheri said after Danville’s win Thursday.
That could be a big “if.” The Admirals didn’t leave the court until about 11:30 p.m. Thursday, giving them just 22 hours to recover before tonight’s 9:30 p.m. tipoff.
Collegiate (14-5) needed overtime to defeat Bishop Brossart 57-52. That was more of a structured game, however, and this one will be far more frenetic if Danville (8-10) has its way, although the Admirals know that won’t be easy.
“Collegiate’s a good team. They run their system very well. They’re not very athletic, but they do what they do well,” Danville guard Tryston Ford said.
Collegiate won 10 of its first 12 games this season, including an 80-49 victory Dec. 9 over Burgin, which Danville defeated 75-49 last week in its All “A” regional.
The Titans made headlines last season by upsetting St. Xavier in the first round of the 25th District Tournament, but six seniors graduated from that squad.
Their leading scorer Thursday was junior guard Andrew Steggeman, who had 18 points and seven assists. Steggeman averages about 18 points per game, and 6-foot-4 center David Keyer, another junior, averages about 13 points and 10 rebounds.
“They’re a team kind of like us: They’re not real flashy, but what they do a good job of is sticking to their strengths, and they try to avoid their weaknesses,” Zaheri said. “It’s going to be another one of those games where it’s going to be 32 minutes.”
At stake is a berth in Saturday’s semifinals against the winner of the Covington Holy Cross-Owen County game. Danville reached the semifinals last year.
