Memorial shakes off Boonville late, 64-54

BOONVILLE – Memorial junior Dylan Penn summed up his team’s defense in one word: chaos. Pretty fitting considering the damage it did to Boonville’s offense.

The Tigers certainly lived up to it on the defensive end Friday night, forcing 25 turnovers in a 64-54 victory over Boonville.

With the offense struggling out of the gate, Memorial leaned on its defense to pick up a win in its season opener. The Tigers swiped 16 steals – Penn had six – and forced several more deflections to make the Pioneers play from behind in the second half.

“Everybody that played did some good things,” said Memorial coach Rick Wilgus. “I told our kids at half that they played hard. Defense generates offense. I thought that we played really well and hard in the first half. We didn’t get easy baskets, but that will come.

“I thought that we got better tonight.”

Offensively, Memorial settled into a rhythm beginning in the second quarter. The Tigers shot 53 percent from the floor, including 63 percent over the final three quarters.

Penn led the way with 26 points on 10-for-13 shooting, getting to the rim for several layups. Sam DeVault added 10 points and seven rebounds.

“I was just looking to attack and create,” said Penn. “If the defense sagged off, then I was going to go hard to the hole.”

Boonville grabbed control to begin the game, as the Pioneers led 15-14 after one quarter. Memorial’s defense kicked it into high gear in the second, forcing 11 turnovers.

“We were just looking to create chaos and speed them up as much as possible, so that we could get the ball back on offense,” said Penn.

Penn gave Memorial the lead at 22-20 on a three, while the Tigers shook free late with an 8-0 run to hold a 32-24 advantage at halftime. Logan Douglas made it a 14-0 run with three quick baskets to begin the third.

The Pioneers remained within striking distance thanks to a trio of three-pointers, but Penn made a step-back trey of his own at the buzzer to put Memorial up 51-35.

“(Penn) was moving well without the ball and taking what the defense was giving him,” said Wilgus. “That was a big-time play at the end of the third quarter.”

Boonville certainly made Memorial earn it in the fourth. The Pioneers took advantage of turnovers and hot shooting to trim the deficit to 53-48 on a trey from Glen Rouch with five minutes left.

DeVault answered with his own three-ball and another bucket, while Penn converted a layup to put Memorial up 60-50 with under three minutes to go.

Boonville (1-2) didn’t get within eight the rest of the way. Rouch led the Pioneers with 21 points and seven rebounds, while Ross Kirkland had 13 points.

Douglas had eight points, Drew Hart netted six, and Michael Lindauer totaled four points, six rebounds and four assists for the Tigers (1-0).

“We played hard from the opening tip to the final buzzer,” said Penn. “We didn’t execute 100 percent like we wanted to, but playing hard got us the win.”