Bristol grinds out win over Garfield
Tribune Chronicle / Brian Yauger Bristol’s Mike Wiebe, left, drives past Jared Simon, center, and Anthony Demma, right, in Bristol’s 66-60 victory over Garfield on Tuesday.
Tribune Chronicle / Brian Yauger Damion Durst of Bristol drives down the court before going for a layup in the fourth quarter of Tuesday’s game.
Tribune Chronicle / Brian Yauger Bristol’s Mike Wiebe, left, drives past Jared Simon, center, and Anthony Demma, right, in Bristol’s 66-60 victory over Garfield on Tuesday.
Tribune Chronicle / Brian Yauger Damion Durst of Bristol drives down the court before going for a layup in the fourth quarter of Tuesday’s game.
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BRISTOLVILLE -- Bristol added another big win to its resume, defeating Garfield, 66-60, Tuesday night in what Panthers coach Craig Giesy described as a "grind it out" game.
"Tonight was a grind it out type of game," Giesy said. "Close the whole time, just trying to find a way to make plays. One of those nights where it's kind of ugly both ways. Over a 22-game season you're definitely going to have them.
"Down the stretch, obviously we have to play better. We were making bad decisions down the stretch. Overall, I'm happy. We're approaching the end of the year, we're trying to grind it out, trying to get healthy and this is a step in the right direction heading into tournament time."
Bristol came out slow in the first quarter, but it pulled within three to end the quarter. The Panthers then went on a tear, outscoring the G-Men, 22-15, in the second quarter to take the lead at halftime. Giesy's message to his team was simple: Communication.
"We had a couple guys not doing their jobs early and when you have two or three kids not doing your job that's the result you're going to get," Giesy said. "I thought when we settled down in the second and third, guys knew their roles and played their roles very well. I thought things got better."
Matt Stephens led the Panthers, scoring 20 points, 17 of those in the first half. Stephens was one of four from Bristol who scored in double figures. Mike Wiebe and Matt Church both scored 14 points and Gage Elza scored 10.
"Matt Stephens played a great game," Giesy said. "He played great Friday night, played another great game tonight. He's really coming into his own at the end of the year."
Leading Garfield were Trystan Gedeon and Jared Simon who scored 18 points. Austin Peterson added 10 points. The G-Men scored 19 points in the first quarter, but couldn't keep up the scoring, scoring 15 in the second, 14 in the third and 12 in the fourth.
"Bristol is obviously a quality team, they're state-ranked for a reason," Garfield coach Andrew Olesky said. "They've just got shooters all over the place, they're so fundamentally sound, they play so well together. Obviously they pose a challenge for any team that they play.
"I thought our guys came today and battled. I thought we handled the pressure well in the first half. I thought we had some good looks offensively, but I think we surrendered too many second-chance points throughout the duration of the game and enough turnovers and it finally caught up to us."
The G-Men (7-14) close their season on the road against Portage Trail Conference foe Mogadore. Up next for Bristol is a showdown against Western Reserve Academy. In the tournament, the second-seeded Panthers will face the winner of JFK and Maplewood.
"The kids are ready to go," Giesy said. "We're going to give them a day or so off to try and regroup and get ready for this push."