Amare Hereford continues to put charge into Beloit Memorial basketball

BELOIT – Part of Amare Hereford’s magic on a basketball court lies in his ability to quietly dominate a game for Beloit Memorial.

Take Friday night’s encounter with Southern Lakes Conference foe Lake Geneva Badger, for example.

The visitors had already played the Purple Knights at home so they did not need an extensive scouting report. They had seen the smooth left-handed sophomore guard torch them for 19 second-half points and 28 overall in a 67-62 Beloit victory.

Badger (8-15, 3-10) came out Friday determined not to see a repeat. They overloaded on defense trying to stop him. And it didn’t matter. Hereford scored 29 this time in a 74-51 rout at Barkin Arena.

“Amare is really efficient,” Beloit head coach Todd Marks said. “That’s because of his basketball IQ. He has a great feel for the game. He knows angles. He knows how to pick his spots and obviously he has all the skill. His shooting percentage indicates it, from two, from three, from the line. Everything is quality. He’s going to make the right play. He’s very unselfish.

“He lets the game come to him and he makes it look easy.”

Early on Friday, with Hereford drawing a lot of attention, the Knights got their points elsewhere. They jumped out to a 13-2 lead and Hereford had only one basket on a fastbreak. Senior guard Diego Perez did much of the damage, on his way to 22 points.

“I know by now teams know who I am,” Hereford said. “If they cheat to my side I tell my guys if you’re open shoot the ball. If we hit shots they’ll have to adjust and that will open space for me. (Saturday) we opened up the entire floor.”

They did that with an effective transition game, forcing turnovers or snatching rebounds. Jyrell Cousins, at 6-foot-5, was a force in the paint and outstanding in triggering fastbreaks with lightning quick outlet passes. He also scored 10 points.

“Jyrell has been an anchor for us all year,” Marks said. “He has to be. He’s our size. He starts our break. He’s good at the outlet pass and he’s really had a phenomenal year.”

“We know no team can stay with us in transition,” Hereford said. “When Jyrell grabs a rebound one of us is going to cheat and take off and get that outlet pass.”

The key is the passing.

“I thought the guys did a great job sharing the ball early,” Marks said. “They got it in some good spots. Everyone was touching it and because of that we got some high percentage shots and knocked them down or got it around the rim and finished.”

The Knights led 34-22 at halftime and threatened to blow the game open in the second half by quickly expanding the lead to 20. Badger cut it to 13 (54-41), but Hereford started an 11-2 run with a traditional three-point play and the Knights were off to the races.

“Amare seems to do it in bursts,” Marks said. “He’s always in a good position and he only misses a handful of shots.”

One of those good positions was for a lob pass from Brock Hodges that he turned into a dunk that pushed the lead to 69-45.

“Coach’s message after the game was that even though we’re up we always have to execute and play the right way,” Hereford said. “Badger is a physical team and we had to go out and battle. I think our defense had that ‘dawg’ mentality. We have come a long way. We had doubters and haters to start the season and I’m so proud of this team, particularly the seniors. They bring so much energy. We’re really going to miss them.”

Of course they’re still some games to play. The Knights improved to 18-4 with Saturday’s 95-76 road win over West Allis Hale. Cousins went off for 36 points in that one while Hereford had 32. The amazing thing is that Beloit only had one 3-pointer, by Hereford, who scored 22 in the second half.

The Knights have two more SLC road games on the schedule before the postseason. The Knights received a No. 5 seed and will host No. 12 Mukwonago for their Division 1 regional opener at the Barkin Arena at 7 p.m. March 1.

“It’s been awhile,” Hereford said. “We’d love to get the crowd here jumping in the playoffs.”

• NOTES: The Knights, tied for third in the SLC with Westosha Central at 9-3, finish up this week with two SLC games. They play at Westosha Central on Monday and play at Union Grove on Wednesday.

• BOXSCORES:

Friday

BELOIT MEMORIAL 74, BADGER 51

Badger;22;29;--;51

B. Memorial;34;40;--;74

BADGER (fg ft-fta pts) – Welch 5 1-4 11, Walser 3 5-6 11, Walton 2 0-0 4, Bishop 1 1-3 3, Braden 2 0-0 4, Odgers 4 2-3 10, Nielsen 1 2-3 4, Nurnberg 2 0-0 4. Totals: 20 13-17 51.

BELOIT MEMORIAL (fg ft-fta pts) – Hereford 12 3-3 29, Ford 2 0-0 4, Perez 9 3-6 22, Cousins 4 2-2 10, Hobson-Thomas 2 2-2 6, Denu 1 0-0 3. Totals: 29 10-13 74.

3-pt. goals: Badg 0, BM 4 (Hereford 3, Perez). Fouled out: none. Total fouls: Badg 16, BM 19.

Saturday

BELOIT MEMORIAL 95, WA Hale 76

B. Memorial;32;63;--;95

West Allis Hale;40;36;--;76

BELOIT MEMORIAL (fg ft-fta pts) – Hereford 15 1-2 32, Ford 1 1-1 3, Perez 4 1-3 9, Cousins 13 10-14 36, Hobson-Thomas 3 1-2 7, Hodges 4 0-0 8. Totals: 40 14-22 .

WA Hale (fg ft-fta pts) – Lee 3 0-0 7, Scherer 11 7-9 34, Jackson 3 0-0 8, Humphrey 3 0-0 8, Ustruck 2 2-2 8, Taylor 1 4-4 6, Coleman 2 1-2 5. Totals: 25 14-17 76.

3-pt. goals: BM 1 (Hereford), WA Hale 12 (Scherer 5, Jackson 2, Humphrey 2, Ustruck 2, Lee). Fouled out: none. Total fouls: BM 18, WAH 16.