Bluejays struggle through Tabor Classic
BY RYAN RICHTER
Sports writer
There wasn't much that was classic for the Bluejays at this past weekend's Tabor Classic held Jan. 4 and 5 in Hillsboro.
In Saturday night's finale against the big, bruising Langston Lions, Tabor again was faced with a lid hovering over its baskets.
The Lions' puzzling zone defense was just one of the things that threw the Bluejays for a loop as Langston dropped Tabor to 5-9 on the season with an ugly 66-55 win.
The basket was perhaps the biggest nemesis for Tabor, but more so on Saturday with Langston holding the Bluejays to a paltry 28.3 percent from the field.
"It's just playing the game in general," said a frustrated Bluejay coach Don Brubacher of his team's rough outing against the Lions. "We continue to struggle against anything that is a bit different than anything we've seen this year or in the last few weeks.
"When they (Langston) went zone defense, they played it different than anyone we've played against for quite a while, different than we've played against all year."
With the guards' overplay and positioning the five-man at the top of the free throw line, Langston forced the Bluejays to spend a great deal of the game scratching their heads on how to dissect it.
"We never did get it right," Brubacher said. "Ever."
Figuring out a way to get the ball in the hoop was a chore right off the bat for Tabor.
Langston bolted to a quick 6-0 lead before Jimmy Janzen finally scored Tabor's first basket nearly 4:00 in.
Getting outmuscled by the bigger, more physical Lions, the Bluejays were hit hard in rebounding with Langston pulling down 44 to Tabor's 33. The Lions used their size to their advantage, outscoring the Bluejays 20-6 in the paint.
Texas Wesleyan
Tough shooting became the story for the Bluejays Friday night in a 57-48 loss to the Texas Wesleyan Rams.
Tabor's three-point shooting improved Saturday night as it was an ice-cold 5-for-28 Friday.
The Rams outrebounded the Bluejays decisively, 47-26, limiting them to seven offensive boards. Ratzlaff hauled in a team-high six rebounds.
And 22 of the Rams' 47 came from the duo of Todd Chappell and Andre LaTouche who each had 11.
Ratzlaff scored a game-high 12 points with a pair of threes and Randall added 10.
Nortey scored nine points to go along with five rebounds.
Langston 66, Tabor 55
Langston — 28 38 66
Tabor — 22 33 55
Langston — Leroy Bledsoe 16, Vicks 17, Nigel Thomas 6, Roy Henderson 12, Jones 15, Totals 23-50 2-10 18-27 66.
Tabor — S. Brubacher 9, Grant Brubacher 4, Janzen 13, Ratzlaff 10, Randall 8, Nortey 11, Totals 15-53 9-23 16-28 55.
