Link: http://www.mtstandard.com/articles/2007/11/19/sports_semipro/hjjciiibjijgia.txt

BUTTE, MONTANA (November 18, 2007) This pro basketball’s a numbers racket. Legal, but a racket.

Some of the numbers from Saturday’s 101-94 Butte Daredevils loss to the Minot Skyrockets did not sit too well with Butte head coach Pat O’Herron. Of course, the final score was one of them.

And the 10-on-7 second-half advantage Minot had in players in the Continental Basketball Association game compounded the problem.

“Playing seven in the second half, that’s tough,” O’Herron said, referring to the loss of shooter Jibril Hodges who sprained an ankle in the third quarter after scoring 20 first-half points when the Daredevils built a 49-39 lead.

The team was already without post player Blake Shoberg, out of town for a family funeral. And it had not yet executed a roster move to replace Jamaal Williams, signed away by an Argentine club just days before Friday’s start to the CBA season.

“I’m working on getting some help,” O’Herron said, “but I’m not in a real rush, right now.”

The coach/general manager wants to fill Williams’ spot with the best available candidate, resisting the temptation for a quick-fix substitute.

“I’m happy with the way the guys kept hustling, short-handed,” O’Herron said and then brought up some other not-so-appealing numbers.

“They went to the free throw line 50 times,” he pointed out. “Unbelievable. That’s not getting any calls — from a coach’s perspective. Free throws were 50 to 26.”

Fouls were called against the Daredevils 30 times as compared with 19 charged Minot. But both teams had trouble converting the opportunities the fouls brought. The Skyrockets made 30 of their 50 free throws and the Daredevils went 15-for-26 at the line.

Minot’s 60-41 domination in rebounds was also directly related to the foul count, O’Herron said.

“Calls on our big men, again,” O’Herron said. “Lionel Davis fouls out (sits with six) and (Jason) Miller is in foul trouble. So we had to go so small, we gave up some things.”

Hodges finished with 22 points playng 28 of the 48 minutes, onjly eight minutes after halftime. But it was a balanced Butte attack. Tim Taylor and Marcus Jefferson scored 18 points apieace, Benson Callier had 11 and Davis 10.

The loss made for a split of the two games played this weekend in Butte. The Daredevils topped Minot 99-97 in Friday’s opener, also played in the Butte Civic Center. The Saturday attendance was 776 persons after a draw of 1,258 for opening night. Arena manager Bill Melvin cited the Saturday Cat-Griz football game in Bozeman, and state high school football championship games played nearby in Dillon and Sheridan as reasons for the much lower turnout for the basketball game. Hunting season remains in session, too.

CBA veteran Ronnie Fields led the Skyrockets with 20 points, Kevin Rice scored 19, Darius Mattear 15 and Sidney Holmes 12.

Minot used a run near the end of the first quarter to hold a 24-20 edge at the break. A string of 10 unanswered points brought the team from a 17-14 deficit to a 24-17 advantage. Derek Wabbington canned the last four points in the run, though it was short jumper by Mattear that put the team ahead, 18-17.

Hodges nailed his first of three 3-point baskets to cut the Minot margin to 24-20 after the first 12 minutes.

The Daredevils took a run in the second quarter and seemed well in control. The Skyrockets had built a 30-24 command, the last bucket on a Rice dunk. Hodges then made a free throw off a Minot defensive 3-second technical foul call with 8:27 to go in the half. The Daredevils then scored the next 11 points, Hodges draining a trey, and rookie Tim Taylor scoring six to highlight the surge. Two of Taylor’s buckets were fast-break plays, one on a stolen tip off a jump ball and the other coming when Davis stole the ball and fired a pass downcourt.

Butte got the lead to 12 points, 49-37, on a short drive by Taylor with 1:04 left in the half. Courtney Bohannon got a layup for Minot for the last points of the half.

The Skyrockets shot past the Daredevils midway through the third quarter. An 8-0 run was highlighted by four points each form Sidney Holmes and Fields. Minot caught up and the teams traded leads, knotted each other up and battled to the quarter buzzer when a 3-pointer by Butte’s SirValient Brown gave the home team a 75-72 edge.

But the Skyrockets scored the first nine points of the fourth quarter and held the lead for good. The Daredevils fought to within three points twice, 94-91 on a 3-point play by Jefferson and 96-93 on a basket by Callier. But they got no closer.

Butte is now off until Nov. 21-22 games against the Pittsburgh Xplosion in Pittsburgh. The Daredevils will then return home to play the defending CBA champion Yakama Sun Kings Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 24 and 25.