Noboa, Minutemen pull away from Cosmos

Sometimes an older dog can teach an old dog new tricks.
http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20140122/SPORTS02/701229879/0/SEARCH

Published January 22, 2014 in the Rutland Herald Noboa, Minutemen pull away from Cosmos By BOB FREDETTE STAFF WRITER NORTH CLARENDON — Sometimes an older dog can teach an old dog new tricks. Bob “Stretch” Gillam called the offensive sets to start the second half and Mill River broke away for a 60-34 victory over Springfield in a Marble Valley League boys game Tuesday night. Huskie forward Jonathan Noboa had eight of the Minutemen’s 10 points to start the third period and once up 36-21, the 7-4 Minutemen were never threatened by the 3-7 Cosmos. The game was tied four times in the first half, which ended with Mill River in front 26-20. Noboa finished with 17 points and also played a big part in dismantling the Cosmos defense as both their big men, Josh Rivers and Dillan Visscher, played in foul trouble and fouled out. “That’s credit to the old man’s offense,” said Minutemen coach Mark Benatatos, who is looking for an offensive balance in his developing team. “I just said run the offense,” said veteran assistant coach Gillam, who’s made more stops than a mailman. “Everybody was all over the place. We’ve got to calm down and execute.” Noboa, slightly taller and much heavier than his defenders, scored on a couple of lob passes, scored on a nice spin move, and converted his own miss as Mill River opened the second half with an 11-1 run. Then Tanner Stewart knocked down a trey and Mill River was on its way to a rare blowout victory. Mill River also made an adjustment to pressure the wings in its halfcourt defense, making it tougher for the Cosmos to swing the ball and get open looks. Springfield’s Tanner Aberle had 10 of his points at halftime before settling with 16. Mark Goyette had 13 points for Mill River, which won its third straight. Springfield has lost three in a row. “A little more diversity on offense really helped,” said Benetatos. “I think what was in our minds was getting an inside-outside game going and we need that down the stretch here.” A big part of that was guard Omari Brown, who had a handful of nice assists on passes inside. Mill River led 43-30 after three and pulled away with an 11-0 run to start the fourth period, with Noboa getting another quick five points. Lack of scoring continued to bother a Cosmos team that was averaging 40 points coming in while allowing a very respectable 49. “I think the big difference was the big kid (Noboa) got touches where he could be effective,” said Springfield coach Peter Peck. “He’s a big kid and he can score around the hoop and he gave them momentum and we had four or five possessions in a row where we were sloppy and that six-point lead became 12, 13, 14. That’s a challenge for us to come out and play two halves because realistically in the first half we played pretty well. “We moved the ball well and they couldn’t stay in the zone because we were getting good shots but their physical nature and the fact that we got in foul trouble really helped them out. I think they did what they wanted to do offensively and that got us out of what we wanted to do.” The Minutemen will visit Otter Valley on Thursday while Springfield will go to Windsor on Friday.