O’Neil’s double-double lifts Hesperia boys to hardcourt victory over Walkerville

 

That team showed flashes of what they can do on Tuesday when they downed Walkerville 52-39 in a game that featured plenty of defense.


An impressive defensive performance for the Panthers was a welcomed sight for Warsaw, but not one he and his players were shocked to see.

“(Our defense) was everything. We recognize that we’re not going to beat anyone with our offense, so we’ve been working hard on defense,” Warsaw said. “We talked about it before the game and tonight we came out and got after people.”

Through the first quarter, Hesperia struggled to find consistency. Missed opportunities on good looks compounded with turnovers to keep the Panthers a step behind Walkerville. The Wildcats rode a shaky offensive output to a 10-9 lead through the first eight minutes of play.

Turnovers became the name of the game for Walkerville as they struggled to hold possession. Hesperia senior Nicholas Guarnieri was active all night, jumping in front of errant passes from the Wildcats.

“We’ve got to take care of the ball. We had probably 35 turnovers and that’s frustrating,” Walkerville head coach Lee Oomen said. “(Hesperia) put a lot of pressure on us and we weren’t ready for it.”

The defensive pressure set the tone for Hesperia to get the offense involved as well. The Panthers started heating up in the second quarter as they fed 6-foot-6 junior Ethan O’Neil the ball inside. The result was a 23-14 lead heading into the half.

O’Neil was heavily involved again in the second half. Eight points over the game’s final two quarters propelled him to 15 total – the most by any Panther on the night. Add on 14 rebounds and O’Neil dominated the paint for the majority of the night.

A strong performance to lead his team is exactly what Warsaw and assistant coach Samuel Rose were hoping to see from their big man. O’Neil has the size to be special, but in years past his toughness – or lack thereof – has held him back.

“Coach Rose has been toughening our team up,” Warsaw said. “Ethan was really good and I loved the energy level he brought. He had a tremendous block above the rim and we talked to him all summer long about being aggressive. He’s going to make mistakes and that’s ok but we just want him to go all out.”

Walkerville tried to mount a comeback in the second half, led by senior guard Collin Chase (18 points). Unfortunately, the turnovers didn’t stop for the Wildcats, stalling out any chance they had to turn the game in their favor.

“Collin’s our backbone here to be honest. He’s a leader, but he got a second foul on a silly call in the first quarter and that hurt us,” Oomen said. “Without him, we struggled.”

It’s early with just one game in the rearview for both Walkerville and Hesperia but both see plenty of things to improve on. One thing that Warsaw and the Panthers are looking forward to is the return of two playmakers in junior Ian Fox and senior Bryce Billings – both of whom did not play in the season opener.

Fox will return mid-December when Hesperia takes on North Muskegon. Billings, however, could be back as soon as this week, pending clearance from a broken collarbone he suffered during football season.

For now, Hesperia is happy sitting at 1-0 on the year. The Panthers will look to better that mark on Friday when they head to Scottville for a conference matchup with Mason County Central.

Walkerville (0-1) will turn their attention to a much more heated contest as they prepare to host West Michigan D League rival Pentwater on Friday.