MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Notre Dame coach Jarrod West is known for having his team utilize full-court defensive pressure in an effort to speed up games and create havoc.
On Friday, with the Irish facing Bishop Walsh of Cumberland, Maryland, West was left with little to no choice but to go against the grain and opted not to pressure the length of the court against a Spartans’ team with far more size that plays a national schedule.
While West liked some of what he saw from his outmanned group, it wasn’t enough to hang with Bishop Walsh, which claimed an 83-51 win in the nightcap of the G-Force Lock & Safe Holiday Classic at Morgantown High.
“My wife tells me I’m crazy all the time. When I first started coaching, Huntington had Patrick Patterson before O.J. Mayo came, and they needed a team, and I was like, ‘we’ll play them.’ We’ll play whoever whenever,” West said. “It makes you better and builds character. We have big enough shoulders to come out here and try to compete at the highest level. If we get smacked, we get smacked and we’ll watch film and try to get better.”
The Spartans (5-3) feature a roster consisting of 7-foot William Patterson, as well as six other players standing at least 6-6, though only four of those six were in action Friday.
Still, Bishop Walsh never trailed, building a 20-12 lead through the opening quarter, and though the Irish (2-2) hung tough for stretches of the second quarter, the Spartans ended it on a 7-0 surge to take a 45-23 lead into halftime.
“Sometimes it’s tougher for bigs to guard small guys. Without a shot clock, too, we were running around a lot and got out of position at times,” Spartans’ coach Dan Prete said. “For the most part, they did a good job. We moved the ball well and we’re getting better every night. That’s all we can ask for this early in the year.”
Mike Williams scored eight of his 12 first-half points in the second quarter, while Mikey Allen made three 3-pointers in the frame that left him with 11 points at halftime.
Travis Roberts, a 6-6 Jacksonville State signee, poured in 10 of his game-high 19 points in the first half.
Meanwhile, Bishop Walsh did a good job defensively on Irish standout guard Jaidyn West, who was held to six points and one field goal through the first two quarters.
“Try to deny him and make everything tough,” Prete said of his team’s defense on West. “Luckily, we play against some really good players, so we’re used to playing against that. He’s a good player and the kid shoots the ball really well. We had to really stay on him. Their schemes are pretty good where they do screen for him when he doesn’t have it. He can get his shot off quickly.”
The Spartans took a 61-33 lead into the fourth quarter and settled for the 32-point victory ahead of Saturday’s matchup against Morgantown.
Williams finished with 16 points, TJ Robinson scored 13, while Allen and Maor Nekrashevich finished with 11 apiece in the win.
The Spartans, who have already played four of the top 20 nationally-ranked teams, shot better than 50 percent (34 of 66), held a 37-22 rebounding advantage and committed only 10 turnovers.
Wade Britton led the Irish with 15 points, while West scored 13 and Dominic Zummo had 10.
“We’re not a moral victory-type program,” coach West said. “Our guys competed. If you look at the half court, I bet it was a ten-point game. But when you have turnovers and give up run outs from being weak and not being open, we have to do a better job with that. That was the only thing that was frustrating a little bit.”
Notre Dame is back in action Saturday against Cabell Midland.