12:00 AM, Dec. 17, 2011
Paul Delos Santos
| HURRICANE - Richfield knew what Hurricane's gameplan was. Coach Rand Janes admitted as much.
The Tigers' strategy is simple: pound the rock inside to one of their big men to free up the perimeter. Boston Gubler scored 15, while his post partner Colton Marshall chipped in with 15 of his own as the Tigers blitzed through nonregion foe Richfield 59-41 on Friday.
"Most teams don't have two guys who can guard both of us," Gubler said. "We take all the advantages we can."
Added Janes: "They have excellent post players. Unfortunately, they outworked us down there. It's tough when a team has one good player, let alone two."
Marshall and Gubler combined to shoot 12-of-20 from the field, accounting for more than one-third of the Tigers' attempts (59).
Hurricane (4-2) attempted nine 3-pointers, converting four.
The lack of attempts from beyond the arc continued a pattern for the Tigers. Throughout the season 3-point attempts haven't been plentiful as the Tigers have shot just 62 attempts through six games.
"We make a conscious effort to go inside-out with these kids," Hurricane coach Brian Vaifanua said. "We're looking for shots where the kid isn't guarded. ... We haven't done a lot of (3-point shooting) because we've had so much success inside, but I know those kids are ready to shoot when given the opportunity."
Surprisingly, the Tigers were out-rebounded by the Wildcats 24-20. Hurricane entered the game beating opponents on the boards by a dramatic margin (38-21).
The important number, though, was on the offensive glass. The Tigers grabbed nine - including four by Gubler.
"I will live (with the rebounding deficit) on this night," Vaifanua said. "That was surprising to me. We got the win and that's what we're happy with."
The Tigers jumped out early, taking a 22-7 lead after the first quarter capped off by a Weston Yardley 3 as the buzzer sounded.
Gubler was the main force in the opening 16 minutes. He scored 10 of his points in the first half as the Tigers built a double-digit lead they never relinquished.
"We know one of us will get into the groove," Gubler said. "The team will feed off whoever is hot that night."
Tyler Anderson led Richfield with 14 points.
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