Nolan Catholic wins thriller vs visiting Midland Christian
Fort Worth - It took all 32 minutes to determine a winner Friday on senior night for Nolan Catholic (30-5, 4-1) as the Vikings beat the Midland Christian Mustangs (23-8, 4-1) 53-52. Junior forward Kevin Glasso hit his eighth point of the night with time winding down to finish their fourth-quarter comeback being down 41-33.
After the Vikings win, both teams were tied for the District 1-6A TAPPS lead.
Nolan Catholic’s Head Coach Dwight Coleman
Coleman comments on the game-winner coming out of a time-out.
“We wanted to have two options. We wanted the ball to go inside to Kevin and the other option was to get the ball to Jayden. Kevin did a great job and won the game for us.”
Coleman talks about the back and forth of the game and what he told his team.
“We lost to [Midland Christian] by two points at their place and it was the same type of game. We knew that they had shooters and like to score from the perimeter, so I reminded the players that this game was going to come down to who made the last run and fortunately it was us.”
Lastly, Coleman sums up Jayden Williams performance in three words.
“He is the most overlooked kid in the state of Texas. All he knows is, heart over height.”
Future East Texas Baptist University point guard, Jayden Williams shines
Jayden Williams came through right when his team needed him to, in the second half. Williams peppered in shots from the perimeter, behind the arc and scored off runners. Williams showed his speed in the open court and his scoring ability by draining all 16 of his points in the second half. It’s easy to say that he was the best player on the court, at least in the second half, and he displayed why he is a college player who is heading East Texas Baptist next year.
Joseph Venzant is an unselfish player who plays within the offense
From the standpoint of an evaluation, 6-foot-4 Joseph Venzant was hard to read as he played inside and helped work the ball around within the motion offense. The precision in which the Mustangs ran their offense allowed for open looks on the perimeter for their shooters. Venzant had touches and fought for his points, but the sophomore wing never once showed an ounce of dissatisfaction. He played his role by defending, rebounding and altering shots. Offensively, Venzant played hard and scored in the paint using his trim frame and reach. At the end of the third, Venzant banked in a three for one of his few shots outside the paint. There is more to be seen from Venzant, as he led the Mustangs in scoring with 16.
Other key scorers...
Nolan Catholic’s senior guard Austin Poling led all scorers with 18 points. Poling scored from behind the three-point line and scored around the basket. Poling did a good job all game making the right play and hitting big shots.
Midland Christian’s shooting guards gave the Mustangs the lead by shooting the three. Junior Mitch McCann and senior Porter Gotovac scored all their points from behind the arc and combined for nine out of the team’s 11 three-pointers. McCann drilled five three-pointers for 15 points and Gotovac hit four of his own for 12 points.