By Bruce Sayler, of The Montana Standard - 12/06/2007

Defense has been an emphasis in Butte Daredevils practices this week, coaches said.

So have winning quarters and trusting each other to do his job.

So, the 113-93 victory over the Rio Grande Valley Silverados in the Civic Center on Wednesday night was the pop quiz after the lessons.

Grades were good, too. It was Butte’s third straight win and squared the team’s season record at 5-5.

“We’ve been working on trying to close out quarters in the last 3 1/2 minutes and not just trying to win with one shot,” Pat O’Herron, head coach of the Butte Continental Basketball Association team, said. “I thought we did that well in the third and fourth quarters. We made some free throws, executed on offense and executed on defense.”

Assistant coach John Williams was in agreement. And philosophical accord is being stressed for the style of Daredevils play.

“I thought we helped each other defensively,” Williams said. “We’re starting to buy into helping on the defensive end and that it all begins with defense.”

Quarter points are important in the CBA as seven are awarded for each game — one each for scoring the most points in a quarter, and three for the game win. Butte won 6 1/2 points over Rio Grande Valley, having to settle for a 29-all tie the last period.

The 20-point margin came against a tall, athletic Silverados roster that got a 41-point performance from Mike Dean, second highest individual single game output in the league so far this season.

But the 113 points Butte scored was a season high for the team, countering Dean’s eruption.

“They’re very athletic at every position and Mr. Dean is a tough guard who can shoot it from anywhere on the floor,” O’Herron said. “He can penetrate, shoot from outside and knocks down his free throws. He got 41 tonight and I thought we did a good job contesting him in the first half. In the second half, we fouled him and he went to the line 15 times.”

The 6-foot-3 guard from Middle State tallied 25 points after halftime, including a 13-for-15 effort at the free throw line.

Balance, though, carried a short-handed Butte club. The Daredevils were without guard Sir Valiant Brown and forward Lionel Davis, both serving league-ordered suspensions

See DAREDEVILS, Page B4

emanating from an on-court fight at East Kentucky last week.

Marcus Jefferson led the Butte attack with 26 points. Jibril Hodges was next-high with 17 points, Jason Miller and Martane Freeman tallied 16 each, Benson Callier had 13 and Aaron Cook 12. Miller also collected 13 rebounds and Hodges dealt nine assists. The win came in front of 853 spectators.

Rod Neeley totaled 18 points for Rio Grande Valley, which also got 10 from 6-10 Demorris Smith. Smith and 6-11 Colin Lien each pulled down eight rebounds.The Daredevils led for all but about the first 2 1/2 minutes of the game in keeping Rio Grande Valley winless. A 12-footer by Jefferson at 9:34 of the first quarter put Butte ahead, 5-4. The Silverados never went in front again.

The key Daredevils run was likely just before halftime. They held a 43-36 edge and were in danger of having Rio Grande Valley nab the quarter win.

But Callier hit a 3-pointer, Freeman converted a fast break, then, after a Silverados turnover, tallied off Hodges’ inbound pass under the basket.

The run continued with Hodges feeding a layup to Jefferson. Hodges hit a free throw and the half ended on a 10-point Butte run that made the margin 53-36 at intermission.

The Daredevils rallied similarly the last two quarters to hold Rio Grande Valley without a quarter point.

Eight straight points at the end of the third included four by rookie 7-1 center Blake Sholberg on the way to the 31-28 quarter edge.

A 3-pointer by Freeman with eight seconds to go after a Hodges play kept the Silverados from winning the fourth. Cook had made two free throws and then, after a Rio Grande Valley timeout, Hodges deflected the ball off a Silverados player and out of bounds. The play set up Freeman’s shot.

“I like how we defended,” O’Herron said. “It was the first time in a while we’ve held a team under 100 points. And we were tired with the short bench.

“I liked how we pushed the ball on offense. That got the offense going because we didn’t shoot the ball well from the perimeter tonight.”

The teamwork was most key, Williams said.

“Our philosophy is to help one another on defense, get the stop and not let them run their offense,” he said. “Get them out of their comfort zone.

“This is about having confidence in one another. Our confidence has a lot to do with how we’re playing. We’re just scratching the surface. We have some things to work on, but the players are beginning to believe in each other and have confidence they’ll get the job done.”

The game was also, perhaps, the best combined for Butte’s big men, the 6-10 Miller and Sholberg.

“I thought so, also, that it was a better effort for our big guys,” Williams said. “We’ve been stressing to all of our bigs to play big inside. Make the other team play defense. Another thing that’s helping us there is were starting to run the our offense.”

The teams will be play again Thursday at 6:15 p.m. in the Civic Center. O’Herron said he believed it would be Cook and Davis sitting out the game on suspension turns because of last week’s fight at East Kentucky.

RIO GRANDE VALLEY (0-9)

Trent Eager 2-5 0-0 5, Demorris Smith 5-10 0-1 10, Johnny Tyson 4-11 0-0 8, Mike Dean 11-20 16-18 41, Tim Pledger 2-4 1-1 5, Renaldo Norman 0-0 0-0 0, Rod Neeley 7-14 1-3 18, Colin Lien 1-2 0-0 2, Joseph Works 1-3 2-3 4. Totals 33-69 20-26 93.

BUTTE (5-5)

Marcus Jefferson 11-17 4-4 26, Jason Miller 8-17 0-0 16, Blake Sholberg 2-4 5-6 9, Aaron Cook 4-11 2-2 12, Jibril Hodges 6-16 3-3 17, Tim Taylor 2-3 0-0 4, Martane Freeman 6-13 2-2 16, Benson Callier 5-11 2-5 13. Totals 44-92 18-22 113.

Rio Grande Valley 15 21 28 29 — 93

Butte 24 29 31 29 — 113

Quarter points — Butte 6.5, Rio Grande Valley, 0.5. 3-point goals — RGV 7-18 (Eager 1-3, Dean 3-7, Pledger 0-2, Neeley 3-6), Butte 7-20 (Jefferson 0-1, Cook 2-4, Hodges 2-10, Freeman 2-4, Callier 1-1). Total fouls — RGV 12, Butte 18. Technicals — Lien, Miller, Freeman. Rebounds — RGV 42 (Smith 8, Lien 8), Butte 47 (Miller 13). Blocks — RGV 4 (Smith 3), Butte 4 (Jefferson 2, Freeman 2). Assists — RGV 11 (Four with 2 each), Butte 22 (Hodges 9). Steals — RGV 6 (Smith 2), Butte 14 (Freeman 4). Turnovers — RGV 32 (Neeley 7), Butte 21 (Cook 4). A — 853.