Issack was everywhere Cony High School didn’t want him to be in Tuesday’s Class A boys’ basketball game. He scored a game-high 28 points and tossed in two of his four 3-pointers for good measure in the fourth quarter in the Blue Devils’ 64-38 win.
Both teams maintained a frenetic pace, and it was Issack who led a handful of Lewiston’s hair-raising scoring spurts. The Blue Devils (1-3) shoveled the ball all around the court at breakneck speed and kept the Rams (2-2) off balance, both offensively and defensively.
Issack just hung loose and played like he had no care in the world as his points piled up. But the Lewiston senior tried to offer a sound explanation for his wild scoring exploits in Lewiston’s first victory of the season.
“I don’t know what happened today. Just getting out there and moving around, just finding free space and just moving the ball made me hit it,” Issack said. “We really needed this win, and I just wanted to work harder and play harder for this team. We just needed it. It was our home game and I just wanted it to be really nice.”
“He’s a little guy, but he is a quick as a cat,” Lewiston coach Tim Farrar said. “That kind of game favors him because he can just attack, and that’s his strength.”
The Blue Devils led all four quarters and eventually built a 31-16 lead. The Rams, whose full-court press was impressive before Lewiston found away around it, stayed within five points of the Devils in the first quarter.
But in the second quarter, the Devils took control the rest of the way and owned the second half, building a healthy 48-28 victory after three quarters.
“We have had some (scoring spurts) in games and we just haven’t been able to get stops,” Farrar said. “We’ve had the spurts, but we haven’t had the stops. And tonight, we got some stops. Guys were moving the ball and that’s a frenetic pace, chaotic. Both teams like to do that. Sometimes we were able to beat them doing that. Sometimes, Cony was ready.
“When we’ve played them, it’s not walk-it-up, grandma basketball. It’s go at it. That’s what makes it fun. We were able to move it and mix up our defenses. Our kids finally got a win, which helps against a good team.”
Senior Salat Hassan also helped out from the perimeter, making good on three, 3-pointers and scoring 11 points in the game.
The Rams were tough in the first half, using a full-court press and zone effectively. T.J. Cusick scored a team-high eight points for Cony.
“But it doesn’t matter if you don’t finish on the other end,” Cony coach T.J. Maines said. “They finished well tonight and shot the heck out of the basket tonight. We did not.
“I thought they were really well prepared. Tim does a great job coaching. They just outplayed us from beginning to end. Hats off to them.”
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