By DOUG DONNELLY

OTTAWA LAKE – Before Friday’s game, Shea Ruddy was inducted into the Whiteford Athletic Hall of Fame. At halftime, he was crowned Mr. Whiteford.

On the court, Ruddy scored 9 points and grabbed four steals in the first quarter and finished as the Bobcats leading scorer in a 70-47 Tri-County Conference win.

“There was a lot going on tonight,” Ruddy said after the game.

That was an understatement. In a game in which the referees called 43 personal fouls and two technical fouls and the teams combined to shoot 55 free throws, the Bobcats were able to stay the course and pull out the win.

Ruddy was a major reason why, scoring a season-high 15 points.

“We knew we had to come out strong,” he said. “The last time we played them we came out slow and they were able to hang with us. We also pressed a lot at the start and got some turnovers. That was big.”

The Bobcats led 5-0 on a bucket by Hunter DeBarr and a three-point play by Ruddy, then went up 9-3 on Ruddy’s second steal and layup with 4:12 left in the first quarter.

The Bobcats led as much as 23-5 in the first quarter before the Bulldogs hit a couple of baskets to make it 25-9 at the end of the first quarter. The lead swelled to 33-11 on a Kolby Masserant put-back with 3:25 left before halftime.

Whiteford’s defensive pressure often kept the Bulldogs from getting into their offense. More than half of Summerfield’s 22 total turnovers came in the first half.

“We knew we wanted to come out with a lot of pressure,” Whiteford coach Nick Abalos said. “The game was called tight. We have to adjust to that a little bit, but the guys who did come in were able to keep the pressure up and play well.”

Summerfield coach Phil Schiffler said the Bobcat zone press got to the Summerfield ballhandlers.

“We knew what they were going to do, we just kept turning the ball over,” Schiffler said. “We turned the ball over and didn’t make our free throws. That’s a recipe for disaster.”

Summerfield made a charge in the second half. Teddy Gault hit back-to-back 3-pointers to open the third quarter then the lead was down to 40-29 on a triple by Tyler Dafoe. A jumper by Tyrus LaRocca pulled the Bulldogs to within at eight at 46-38 with :38 seconds left in the third quarter.

After that, Schiffler explained, the Bulldogs “ran out of gas.”

Whiteford proceeded to outscore the Bulldogs 22-8 in the fourth quarter to wrap up the victory.

Eleven Bobcats scored, including Kolby Masserant, who finished with 11 and Noah Stevens, who had a big game with 8 points, 5 rebounds and three assists. Evan Parker finished with 13 points.

Summerfield got 20 points from Dafoe and 9 from Branden Myshock. Gault finished with 8 points.

Summerfield dropped to 8-10.

“Teams know us and they pressure us,” Schiffler said. “I would do the same thing if I was coaching against us. We have to better and handle it better.”

The Bobcats improved to 13-6. Abalos was happy to get the season sweep of Summerfield.

“I thought the whole team played hard,” he said. “We rotated a lot of guys in and they did a nice job, even the sophomores from the JV team. It was a team win.”

SUMMERFIELD 9 11 19 8 – 47

WHITEFORD 25 14 9 22 – 70

Summerfield: LaRocca 2 0-0 4, Gault 2(2) 2-4 8, Kalb 1 1-6 3, St. John 1 0-0 2, Dafoe 6(2) 6-8 20, Myshock 3 3-5 9, Stambaugh 0 1-6 1. Totals 15(4) 13-29 47.

Whiteford: L. Joerin 1 2-2 4, S. Ruddy 7 1-2 15, R. Ruddy 1 0-0 2, Parker 5 3-8 13, DeBarr 2 3-6 7, Rasor 1 1-2 3, R. Joerin 0 1-2 1, Masserant 5 1-3 11, Stevens 4 0-0 8, Waterford 2 0-0 4, Henry 1 0-1 2. Totals 29 12-26 70.

“The first part of the game was pretty smooth,” Ruddy said. “That

“There were some nerves,” Ruddy said. “You try not to but you have to keep playing. We just stuck to what we knew.

Abalos

“I thought the whole team played hard,” he said. “It was a team win.”

“We knew we wanted to come out with a lot of pressure,” Abalos said. “The game was called tight. We have to adjust to that a little bit, but the guys who did come in were able to keep the pressure up and play well.”