Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports  

SOLON – This isn’t exactly the way Jared Galpin pictured one of his basketball teams playing.

A long-time proponent of man-to-man defense Galpin has implemented plenty of zone defense to start the season.

The second-year Solon head coach usually prefers a shorter rotation but has used double-digit players in every game.

The pace can get frantic, the offense can be frazzled at times and the substitutions seem to never stop.

Somehow it fits these Spartans.

“With all the guys that we have it’s hard to settle in on a certain group of guys because at certain moments everyone shines,” Galpin said. “As long as can sustain playing this style we have to play fast, we have to play full-court and we have to ratchet up pressure and we’ll use all our bodies.”

Solon used its slightly unorthodox but equally affective style to steadily wear down Regina in a 63-41 win over the Regals in a non-conference contest in Thursday evening in Solon.

Ten of the 12 Spartans that played on Thursday scored, nine had a rebound and all of them had an impact as Solon snapped a two-game losing streak and improved to 3-4 on the season.

“We are pretty deep, we can sub guys in and out and we are all able to run up and down and put pressure on teams,” Timmons said. “That’s the way that we want to play and we trust everyone on our roster.”

The 6-foot-3 Timmons had a team-high 12 points and was one of three Solon players with six rebounds.

He was also a pest at the top of the Solon zone that caused problems for Regina most of the night.

Solon used its pressure defense to force Regina (2-4) into 23 turnovers, turning many of those directly in transition scoring opportunities while winning for the third consecutive time in the series between the two rivals.

“We went a little three-quarter court trap in the first half and we just switched it to full-out man in the second half which caused some problems for them,” Galpin said. “We got some turnovers and sped them up which led to some baskets for us.”

Solon led just 20-18 at the half but its depth and constant defense pressure began to become evident after halftime.

The Spartans forced 11 turnovers in the third quarter while turning a two-point lead into a 44-33 advantage.

“We knew we had to pick it up and that we weren’t playing as good as we could,” Timmons said. “We had to pick up the pressure and it worked out and we were able to turn them over quite a bit.”

Timmons started the second half with a 3-pointer to spark a quick 8-0 Solon run to open the half.

He had a basket in the paint that was part of a 13-6 run to close the quarter.

“We came out with a lot more energy and a lot more ball pressure,” Timmons said. “We were getting up on them and forcing them into some mistakes.”

Solon put the game away with a 17-3 run to open the fourth quarter in which five different players scored.

Jake Quillin and Kinnick Pusteoska each had seven points, while Oaken Foster, Sean Stahle and Jake Benzing all had six.

“Really what it comes down to is any one of these guys can play well any game,” Galpin said. “They are all unselfish, they all cheer on their teammates regardless of if they are making the play or someone else is making the play. It’s 100 percent team effort in practice and in games.”

Cameron Lehman had 13 points, Carter Leick had 10 points and Grant Rustan had eight for Regina.

Solon                                     8  12  24  19   –  63

Regina                                    9   9   15   8    –  41

Solon (63) – Jake Quillin 2-5 2-2 7, Brady Mullen 2-5 1-2 5, Carson Miller 1-2 0-0 2, Jacob Timmons 5-8 0-0 12, Logan Sieverding 0-2 0-0 0, Kinnick Pusteoska 3-5 1-2 7, Jake Benzing 2-4 0-0 6, Oaken Foster 2-5 0-0 6, Sean Stahle 2-5 1-2 6, Grant Gerdin 1-1 0-0 2, Gehrig Turner 3-4 2-4 10, Cayden Knipper 0-1 0-0 0, Totals 23-47 7-12 63.

Regina (41) – Carson Jensen 0-1 0-0 0, Eddie Petersen 0-1 0-0 0, Michael Martin 1-7 0-0 3, Jack Tierney 1-3 0-0 2, Coltrae Kerschen 2-7 0-0 5, Carter Leick 4-6 2-2 10, Cameron Lehman 5-9 0-0 13, Grant Rustan 3-3 2-3 8, Totals 41.

3-point field goals – SOL 10-22 (Quillin 1-4, Mullen 0-2, Timmons 2-3, Pusteoska 0-1, Benzing 2-4, Foster 2-2, Stahle 1-3, Turner 2-3), ICR 5-19 (Jensen 0-1, Petersen 0-1, Martin 1-5, Tierney 0-1, Kerschen 1-5, Lehman 3-6). Rebounds – SOL 27 (Millen, Timmons, Pusteoska 6), ICR 22 (Jensen 6). Turnovers – SOL 19, ICR 23. Total fouls – SOL 12, ICR 8. Fouled out – None. Technical fouls – None.

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