De Soto sweeps Wellsville

? A player’s ability on the court usually is what leads his team to victory. But De Soto’s Danny Brown might have had his biggest impact on his team from the bench where he was forced to spend most of the fourth quarter of De Soto’s 53-42 boys basketball victory over Wellsville on Monday night.

De Soto was in control for most of the game, but Wellsville rallied to close within six points in the first minute of the fourth quarter. Brown, who scored 17 points entering the fourth quarter, was called for traveling and then given a technical foul for arguing with the referee.

De Soto coach Jason Generally said any of his players who receive a technical foul have to sit the rest of the game, but also said that Brown’s presence still was felt from the bench.

“To Danny’s credit, when he sat down, he did nothing but help the team out and coach,” Generally said. “He helped us win that game.”

Brown said he regretted the technical foul, but would at least try to make it a positive situation for the team.

“They needed their encouragement, and I wasn’t going to go to the bench and sulk myself because I made a mistake,” Brown said.

Brown’s encouragement helped the Wildcats persevere in a physical, defensive battle, thanks in part to free throws late in the fourth quarter, something that plagued them in their loss to Baldwin on Friday. De Soto scored 11 of its last 13 points on free throws to ward off a sustained Wellsville rally.

Generally said a change in his team’s attitude was responsible for his team’s success on free-throw shooting.

“It seemed to me that the kids were making free throws because they were having fun, it wasn’t a life or death situation.” Generally said. “They were having fun playing basketball on a Monday night.”

The game seemed to be headed for a blowout when De Soto surged ahead to a 20-6 advantage early. The Wildcats’ combination of a full-court press and half-court trap lured the Eagles into several turnovers.

For Wellsville, the defeat was a matter of coming up short on several rallies because of mistakes, turnovers and poor shots.

“It was a pretty a pretty poor game to watch,” Wellsville coach Dirk Over said. “There were way too many fouls, way too many travels, turnovers. It was a pretty ugly game.”

De Soto boys 53, Wellsville 42

Wellsville 6 10 10 16 — 42

De Soto 12 11 13 17 — 53

Wellsville — Dan Erlacher 10, Ryan Schendel 9, Scott Samsel 8, Austin Bloss 7, Travis Messer 4, Ryan Whalen 2, Kyle Rush 2.

De Soto — Danny Brown 17, Hunter Noe 13, Brett Maasen 9, Taylor Burnett 7, Colby Childers 6, Brady Seaman 1.

De Soto girls 58, Wellsville 27

De Soto’s girls dominated Wellsville from the beginning, opening with a 22-5 first-quarter advantage. Amy Petty’s 23 points fueled De Soto’s offense that rarely was contested through out the game.

De Soto coach Dwight Spencer joked that it was an off night for Petty, but quickly recanted and pointed out that she has averaged more than 17 points a game this season.

“She’s an outstanding player,” Spencer said. “She has games where she absolutely takes over, and this is one of those nights.”

De Soto girls 58, Wellsville 27

Wellsville 5 6 6 10 — 27

De Soto 22 12 9 15 — 58

Wellsville — Erica Patton 11, Lacey Roecker 6, Kimberly Hughes 4, Jami Samsel 4, Rachael Whalen 1.

De Soto — Amy Petty 23, Jackie Goleman 7, Becca Davis 6, Kayla Bader 4, Carrie Buser 4, Clarissa Kopp 4, Lauren Hampton 4, Kira Gonzales 4, Jessica Blankenship 2.