Hawks get key victory at Wood

January 25, 2011

By Robert Niedzwiecki
The Winchester Star       

WINCHESTER-

The Hawks (12-4, 1-2 Northwestern) hit three 3-pointers in building a 21-9 lead after one quarter and never cooled off. Led by Ryan Dyke (five 3-pointers and a career-high 32 points), Skyline made 12 of 22 3-pointers and 27 of 49 field goals (55 percent) overall.

"It's been a few weeks since we knocked some shots down," said Skyline coach Sonny Dyke, Ryan's father. "The game becomes a lot easier when you're knocking down shots, and we certainly did that tonight.

"The good thing is every one of them was within the framework of what we're trying to do offensively. We were getting some good dribble penetration, some spot-ups. We had some very nice ball movement. We probably played better against the zone as a far as ball movement goes than we've played all year. In man sets, we had some really decent screens away from the ball and executed really well." Dyke noted that the Hawks weren't bad on defense either, and he was proud of how well his team hustled.

James Wood (3-12, 0-4) definitely could not say the same at the game's outset.

The Colonels clearly missed not having point guard Chris Skinner (team-high 17 points) on the floor in the first quarter. Smith did not insert him into the game until 22 seconds had elapsed in the second quarter.

But James Wood didn't offer much resistance as Skyline shot 8 of 12 in the opening eight minutes. During a timeout with 1:40 remaining, Smith loudly repeated the phrase "Wake up!" three times.

The Colonels never really did. With 4:34 left in the second quarter they were down 26-17, but a 13-2 spurt led to a 41-25 Skyline advantage at the half. The Hawks pushed their lead to as much as 26 points in the fourth quarter.

Ryan Dyke said it's easy to play hard when the team is shooting as well as the Hawks did Monday. Joey Neidigh (13 points) and Eli McEathron (nine points) each knocked down three 3-pointers for Skyline.

"We're all unselfish on this team," said Dyke, whose previous high was 29 points. "If we're not open, we'll just give it to someone else, because we have a lot of guys who can make things happen when they're open."

For Skyline, it was certainly a big win, especially after the team lost its first two district games by a combined 45 points.

"Really a lot of contributions from a lot of people," Sonny Dyke said. "Just happy that the kids can come over here and get a district win and get headed in the right direction."

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