Tipp guard David Alvarez scores during Tuesday’s 50-40 Red Devil win over Vandalia Butler. (Press Pros Feature photos by Lee Woolery)
Tippecanoe’s inspired defensive effort led by Bryton Otto overcame a lackluster shooting night to oust Butler 50-40 an a battle of unbeaten MVL foes. Tipp held Butler’s star forward, Julius Rusk…scoreless!
Vandalia, OH – “That was our gameplan coming in,” Tipp Head Coach Brock Moon said. “Make sure we stop him.”
The “him” is Butler’s 6’4” ultra-muscular forward Julius Rusk, but the game plan worked. Rusk, the Miami Valley League’s second-leading scorer, scored zero points. In the absence of his usual 14 points per game, Tipp’s tough defense carried the day in a 50-40 rock-fight win.
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The Red Devils improved to 6-0, and earned the early inside track to the league title with plenty of ball still to play.
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Moon tasked Bryton Otto, a 6’7” center, with guarding Rusk in the low post. Rusk is a tank. Taking a charge from him could land you in the hospital. But what Otto sacrifices in bulkiness, he makes up for in length. His long arms swallowed up 12 rebounds, blocked a pair of shots, and stole two passes.
“His length has helped us a lot this year,” Moon said. “”He neutralized Rusk a lot tonight. Just with how strong and big Rusk is, the length kinda bothered him inside sometimes, and he just wasn’t able to create as much space as he normally does.”
Otto said the preparation was as valuable as his measurables.
“It’s my first time playing against someone who’s that strong and that fast at the same time.” Otto said. “We planned for him all day yesterday. We knew he loved to roll to his shoulder. We knew he loves to spin. So it was really just staying back and waiting for him to spin, and spin right into me so he had to shoot over me.”
Tipp’s CJ Bailey beats the press with Butler guard Toby Moore in hot pursuit.
Tipp’s defensive commitment to take the ball out of Rusk’s hands via double teams brought up questions about what the rest of Butler’s offense could generate. The Aviators didn’t have many good answers. Layups and mid-rangers clanked out all night. Many contested, others really not.
The Aviators (8-1) don’t rely on the 3-point shot as a core tenet of their offense, but even for them, hitting none until the final horn is an extreme outlier. In a battle of two undefeateds, they just picked a bad night to have a bad night.
“When you don’t make free throws and miss 10 or 12 layups, it’s hard to beat a good team,” Butler coach Andy Holderman said. “We were in position … it’s just down to execution and who makes plays.”
Butler made just 9/14 free throws, in contrast to Tipp’s 16/20.
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Junior guard Toby Moore came off Butler’s bench and led all scorers with 13 points on primarily fast break points and mid-range jumpers. But that lone bright spot couldn’t overcome the field goal percentage surrounding him. Charlie Neely scored 10 points in addition to a fantastic defensive effort.
The Red Devils didn’t overwork the scoreboard operator either.
Tippecanoe point guard Hudson Ganger charges to the rim during Tuesday’s MVL win over Butler.
They normally shoot the rock well, but the shrunken rims denied that strategy as a sustainable offensive game plan. Instead, Tipp depended on free throws, offensive rebounds, dribble drives, and more free throws to get to the half-century mark, which was more than enough.
Sharpshooter CJ Bailey, the league’s leading scorer at 20 ppg, dropped 11 on just two field goals. Senior guard Troy Fletcher guarded him nearly all 32 minutes, and except for a few well-executed pick and rolls with Otto, didn’t give Bailey much space to make things happen.
Hudson Ganger led Tipp with 12 points, including a 3-pointer in the final three minutes that pushed the lead to nine points, a death sentence for Butler’s misfiring offense. Colin Turner scored 10 despite missing time for an injury, and Otto scored nine, a point shy of a double-double.
Notably, the Red Devils got no points from the bench.
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“We held them to 50, that’s 20 under their average,” Holderman said. “So on that side of things, I was pleased with that. They do a good job executing their plays, and we only gave them a couple freebies.”
After half a quarter of play, you would’ve been stunned to hear Butler would only finish with 40 points. Tipp broke the ice with a backdoor cut basket, but then the Aviators went on an 8-0 run, the largest of the game for either team.
The Aviator guards took the ball away in bunches. That bleed slowed throughout the game, although it never really stopped, but early on it looked like enough to do Tipp in.
Tipp fought back to a 10-9 deficit by the end of the first quarter.
For the eight minutes that made up the mythical second quarter, the ball actually went in the hoop. Butler turned turnovers into points led by the speedy Moore, and Tipp made a living off free throws. Tipp battled to a 24-22 lead after a half that included six lead changes.
Another 8-0 scoring run in the second half would’ve won the game for either team. But that never came, so Tipp did it the hard way: brick by brick. A Bailey free throw here, a #21 offensive rebound there. Someone had an and 1.
Slowly, by the early second quarter the lead was five , then seven, then Ganger’s bomb pushed it to nine, and there would be no return from that. Maybe on a different night. Tipp contained Butler to 4 points in the early minutes of the fourth quarter, and finished the job.
Tipp center Bryton Otto scores over Butler forward Julius Rusk. (Press Pros Feature Photos by Lee Woolery)
The way forward for both teams isn’t rocket science. On defense, change very little. The Aviators excelled in forcing turnovers, even though they cashed them in inconsistently. Tipp forced Butler away from option A, and that ability alone goes a long way.
Offensively the game plans were largely fine. It won’t take a system overhaul to find better results. Bailey will find his groove again from deep for Tipp, and Otto will be even more effective on the offensive glass against less imposing forces in the paint.
“When’s the last time here a game wasn’t ugly.”
For Butler, it’s as simple as could be. Make the open shots. And they will.
Butler plays an improved West Carrollton team on Friday that features Joseph Ingram, yet another 6’7” monster for Rusk to take on.
“Here we are going back against a 6’7” kid Friday night,” Holderman said. “So are we gonna sit here and pout, or are we gonna go work our tails off and get ourselves better?”
Tipp will spend the weekend challenging Greenville and Columbus DeSales.
“I don’t think we’ve played a pretty game here in years,” Moon said. “So it was ugly, it was a physical game, but I’m just happy to walk out of here with a win. So we’re just gonna move on.”
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