Chris Myers was not happy with the way his Cavaliers were playing through the first three minutes of action against Sheldon on Friday.
Thomas Jefferson jumped out to an early 8-3 lead thanks to back-to-back 3-pointers from Dhruv Gheewala in transition before Gheelwala earned a steal for a fast-break layup. Sheldon answered back with a 3-pointer from Isaac Hall and an inside score from William Chapman to tie the game at 8-8 near the five-minute mark, prompting Myers to call a timeout.
“I didn’t like our defensive intensity right there,” Myers said. “We were kind of being way too passive on defense. We preach all the time that our best offense is our defense.”
Thomas Jefferson (10-1) responded in a big way by closing out the first quarter on a 10-point run before blowing the game open in the second period on the way to a 68-25 win over the Panthers.
“It was a short and sweet speech after the game,” Myers said. “We talked about a game plan going in, with certain things we had to do. As a coach, I was just very pleased with the way they executed what we had talked about. … It’s a district opponent, it has some seeding implications and you-can’t-take-anybody-for-granted type of stuff. I really thought our boys came out and did what they had to do.”
Following Coach Myers’ timeout, Thomas Jefferson outscored Sheldon 12-2 to close the opening quarter with a 22-10 lead. Drew Goodhope and Noah Hamlett added 3-pointers, while Gheewala contributed six more points to finish with 14 in the period.
“I thought we came out and upped that defensive intensity,” Myers said when asked how he felt his team responded from the early timeout.
The Cavaliers didn’t let up in the second quarter, particularly on the defensive end. Thomas Jefferson held Sheldon off the scoreboard for the first seven and half minutes of game action.
“When our defense is good, we are pretty good,” Myers said. “When we get a little lazy on defense, we struggle a little bit. I was happy with that part of it for sure.”
During that time, the Cavaliers scored 14 unanswered points to balloon the lead to 36-10. Elias Rincker scored the first two baskets of the quarter, and Goodhope added a 3-pointer to fuel the run.
“We have kids that can score,” Myers said of his offensive production. “We are very blessed with that. Typically, scoring is not one of our issues. It’s a matter of whether we are getting stops on (the defensive end) to lead to the scoring. We know if we play good defense, we’ve got the kids who have the confidence on (the offensive end).”
Hall knocked down a 3-pointer from the corner with 30 seconds left to get the Panthers on the scoreboard in the second.
Thomas Jefferson continued to dominate in the second half, scoring the final 14 points of the third quarter to push the lead to 36 points to start a running clock to open the fourth quarter. Caden Myers led the third-quarter surge with seven points, including a 3-pointer.
“Honestly, we haven’t been playing very well in the third quarter,” Coach Myers said. “We’ve had some pretty good leads at halftime early in the year and have struggled in the third. That’s something we’ve been preaching. I was very pleased to see them come out and respond to things we’ve been talking about. It makes me hope they are listening and starting to apply it to the court.”
SCORING LEADERS
Gheewala scored a game-high 20 points to lead Thomas Jefferson. Caden Myers put up 17 points, while Goodhope added 11. Hamlett and Rincker each finished with six.
Hall led Sheldon with 14 points.
UP NEXT
Thomas Jefferson takes part in the Tony Dubray Classic with a matchup against Northeast Vernon County at 5:15 p.m. on Tuesday as the No. 1 seed.
