Fallston boys basketball needed one of these.
It wasn’t perfect but a 79-43 drubbing over North East on its home floor can do wonders for the confidence of a group coming off a 45-point loss to River Hill the night before. In less than two weeks, the Cougars have twice experienced both ends of a lopsided contest and played one down to the wire.
“It feels really good to get this one,” said senior Max Rueckert, who paced the Cougars (2-3) with 20 points powered by four 3-pointers. “We don’t have the best record so far but I think we have the potential to be one of the better teams in the county, if not the best team in the county. We can get there.”
Tuesday night’s win came without much standing in their way.
Fallston’s ability to separate on the scoreboard was shouldered by an ability to create transition offense via its 1-3-1 zone trap press, funneling North East ball handlers toward the sideline to force bad passes and generate fast break chances. On the other side, the Cougars largely sifted through North East’s 1-2-2 press.
They kept it simple: 79 points on layups, 3-pointers and five free throws. They built a 20-point lead by halftime.
Sophomore Oliver Schaumburg contributed 15 points with a pair of 3-pointers. Fellow sophomore Oliver Rueckert threatened a double-double with 10 points (all in the first half) and a team-best eight rebounds. Senior Brody Fitzkee totaled eight points with two triples.
In all, Fallston’s runaway win saw 11 players finish in the scoring column –– the kind of game that can offer an early-season confidence boost. Particularly when, as coach Brian Hulka said, they’ve struggled to shoot the ball up to this point — Monday night’s slaughter not excluded. North East was on the wrong end of Fallston’s highest clip.
Hulka noted before the season tipped off that based on the opening weeks of their schedule (Aberdeen, Bel Air, Perryville, River Hill and North East), “we’ll find out right away what we’re made of.”
Five games in for a team that returned eight players from last year’s regional finalist squad, what does Hulka think they’re made of?
He took a moment to contemplate that question. His arms folded, eyes wandered, as if to avoid letting recency bias disrupt his answer.
“I think we have a nice blend of inside-outside,” Hulka opined. “We have a nice blend of low post and perimeter guards. But we’re still turning the ball over too much. We need to clean that up. … We’re still in the process of putting it all together. But I think we have the talent to be a very capable team when we do put it all together.”
Much of this team’s success relies on Max Rueckert. Hulka termed him the “heart and soul” of the group. Rueckert is their top defender, a leader in the huddle and in the locker room. The Cougars rally around him as the energizer bunny of the group, which is most evident when the quiet of a scarcely filled gym watching a blowout is drowned out by Rueckert’s voice.
“He’s a basketball savant,” Hulka said. “He’s kinda my coach on the floor.”
With the understanding of that praise and Rueckert’s position within the team, what does he think about what his team is made of in Fallston’s first month?
“[We’ve learned] don’t get too full of ourselves,” Rueckert said. “We get a big win like we did against Bel Air, [71-44], then next game we lose. If you think you’re the stuff too quick, you’ll do bad the next game. You gotta always play to your potential as best you can.”
Fallston isn’t getting ahead of itself after Tuesday’s win by mercy rule that forced a running clock in the fourth quarter. But in the quest to lead the Susquehanna Division, the Cougars won’t diminish any win, taking with them the good and the bad.
Hulka said, “Everything looks better when the shots go in.”
