Sparked by Malone’s play, Bloom-Carroll guts out a win over Granville

On Jan 2, 2023

Bloom-Carroll junior guard Jackson Wyant splits Granville's defense during Saturday's non-conference game at Tom Petty Gymnasium. The Bulldogs improved to 6-1 after their 62-55 victory.

CARROLL – Whether he likes it or not, Bloom-Carroll’s Michael Malone has to play a different role this season for the Bulldogs.

Malone, a senior guard, was a solid contributor on last season’s Mid-State League-Buckeye Division championship team. His role was to defend and basically get the ball to the Bulldogs’ scorers. This year, with basically a whole new lineup, Malone is being asked to score more, something he was a little reluctant to do at the beginning of the season.

He knew he had to step up and be more productive, and basically, just be more aggressive and look for his shot more. After scoring 21 points Friday night in a 66-61 loss at Jonathan Alder, Malone backed it up with another outstanding offensive performance on Saturday afternoon against visiting Granville.

Malone scored 16 of his team-high 18 points in the second half, and he helped spark a 10-2 third-quarter run that enabled the Bulldogs to separate themselves from the Blue Aces at the start of the second half of a one-point halftime lead.

Granville made one final run in the final two minutes by erasing an 11-point deficit and cutting the margin to four points with just over a minute left, but Bloom-Carroll made 5 of 6 free throws down the stretch to hold on for a 62-55 non-conference win at Tom Petty Gymnasium.

“I didn’t really step into the (scoring) role that I needed to, and I had a talk with coach (Davis) and he really helped me to step into that role,” Malone said. “I know need to help my team out any way I can., and as a senior, I knew I needed to step up and score more. I didn’t have to do that last year because we had two 1,000-point scorers, but this year, I am starting to realize I have a different role. I just want to do whatever I have to do to help our team win.”

Granville coach Chris Powell said Malone came up big and was probably the difference in the game, mainly because he hit big shot after big shot when the Bulldogs were separating themselves.

“(Malone) stepped up big for them when they needed it the most,” Powell said. “He made just enough plays to where we couldn’t close that gap in the second half. He is a good player.”

Bloom-Carroll coach Ryan Davis said Malone continues to get better each game and is starting to find his groove and what is expected of him.

“He has done a good job of staying engaged, and his maturity through the beginning of the season to now has been fantastic,” Davis said. “Guys are trying to figure out their roles in certain situations and early in the year, he was struggling with that a little bit. He continues to do a better job of taking over when he needs to.”

Saturday’s game was a physical grind as nothing came easy for either team. The Bulldogs (6-1) took a 14-12 first-quarter lead as Jackson Wyant scored on a break-away layup to beat the buzzer. Bloom-Carroll held a seven-point lead late in the second quarter before the Blue Aces (4-6) finished the half on a 10-4 run to cut the deficit to 30-29 at halftime. Four different players scored during that stretch as Dylan Niedermeyer and Alex Engle sparked it by hitting 3-pointers.

Malone scored seven points to help spark the early third-quarter run to push the Bulldogs’ lead to 40-31, but the Blue Aces kept battling. They trailed 46-38 heading into the fourth quarter.

“We wanted to keep them out of the paint and not allow dribble penetration and they were getting a lot of dribble penetration and they were getting downhill to start the third quarter, and they were able to get by us and get to the basket a bunch of times,” Powell said. “That kind of took the wind out of us a little bit, but they separated themselves by attacking downhill and getting in the paint.”

After building its lead to 52-41 midway through the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs watched as Granville fought back and cut the margin to 57-53 on a Jase Becker 3-pointer with 1:25 remaining. Malone made a pair of free throws to push the lead back six, and after Engle scored for the Blue Aces with 50 seconds left, the Bulldogs made 3 of 4 from the free throw line to close it out.

“We have struggled a little bit of late, and we can make a ton of excuses, but we are still lacking a ton of fundamental things to make everything go,” Davis said. “Our toughness and our sense of urgency need to get better. Today was a good day for us overall. Our engagement and our intensity were a lot better.”

Wyant finished with 13 points, four rebounds and four assists for the Bulldogs, Owen Conrad added nine points and 10 rebounds and Michael Whitcraft chipped in eight points.

Becker led the Blue Aces with 16 points and four assists, Rex Rader finished with 12 points and nine rebounds, Engle chipped in nine points and Niedermeyer added eight points.