Dec 29, 2016 4 min read

The conversations Canon-McMillan boys basketball coach Rick Bell had with other members of his coaching staff and his players was quite simple.

Bell didn’t want his team, which he defined as a smaller group with its tallest player, 6-5 6-5 senior guard RJ Bell, who primarily sets up his offensive game on the perimeter, being something they aren’t.

After eight three-point field goals in the first half gave C-M an expansive lead heading into halftime, Rick Bell could see that message being received as the Big Macs defeated host Trinity 68-45 in the championship game of the Hillers’ holiday tournament Thursday night. The Big Macs relied on the three-point shot early and continued to control the game from long range.

“In high school sports, people say they don’t have this or don’t have that,” Rick Bell said. “We’re not going to worry about what we are not. We decide to take what we have and play to our strengths.”

That strength is finding where the three-point line is and never losing sight of it the entire night.

“They did exactly what we thought they were going to do,” said Trinity head coach Tim Tessmer. “We prepared for it but our guys failed to execute the plan.”

Building the lead for Canon-McMillan (7-2) in the first half was junior guard Kenyon Lewis, whose nine early points accompanied an R.J. Bell three-pointer with 35 seconds left in the second quarter to give the Big Macs a 35-19 advantage heading into halftime.

“I’m really proud of our effort,” Rick Bell said about C-M’s performances following a tough come-from-behind loss suffered to section opponent Mt. Lebanon two weeks ago. “I thought I knew how our team would respond because we are experienced and older group. We want to get better every day. I think we played better tonight than we did last night.”

RJ Bell kept Trinity (4-4) at a distance with a game-high 26 points, including another three-pointer to put C-M ahead, 44-25, with 5:46 remaining in the third quarter.

According to Rick Bell, it was a game subsequent to a heart-to-heart that the father and son needed to have.

“The biggest thing with RJ is that he has been defined as a shooter ever since he was a young kid,” the elder Bell said. “One of the things I’ve tried to get him to understand is even though you might sometimes shoot it well, it doesn’t mean you played well. I also told him sometimes when you shoot it poorly, it doesn’t mean you played poorly. When you take good to great shots you make a lot more than you miss. Tonight, his shot selection was a lot better.”

Scoring alongside Bell in double-digits for the Big Macs was Lewis with 11 points.

The lone Hiller to reach double figures was junior guard Joey Koroly, who had 10 points. Trinity’s Jeff Ecker had nine points and five rebounds off the bench.

“We are definitely trying to challenge ourselves in our non-section schedule,” Tessmer said. “When you win you are sometimes able to gloss over some of the mistakes. When you lose, they shine pretty brightly.”

Chartiers-Houston 77, Brownsville 76:

After taking a commanding 13-point lead into halftime, Chartiers-Houston played a much closer game than the first 16 minutes would have suggested.

As Brownsville forward Shandon Marshall connected on a baseline three-point shot to give Brownsville a 60-59 lead with 6:07 left, C-H’s game plan of making sure A.J. Myers had the basketball in his hands didn’t change.

Myers’ 12-point fourth quarter allowed the Bucs to hold on as they defeated Brownsville 77-76 in the consolation game of the tournament.

Myers and teammate Cam Hanley combined for 57 of C-H’s (6-3) points with 35 and 22, respectively. Myers also collected a team-high eight rebounds.

The offensive effort from Brownsville (5-3) ran through the duo of James Holcomb and Shandon Marshall. Holcomb finished with 25 points and Marshall had 23 points and seven rebounds.