OLYMPIA FIELDS | Once the Bloom Township boys basketball team gets rolling, there isn't much to stop them.
The Blazing Trojans jumped all over Rich Central early on their way to a 68-41 victory in Southland Athletic Conference play. John Griffin scored 14 points and brought down five rebounds, while teammate Lejavius Johnson scored 14 and had three steals for Bloom Township in the win. Johnson had three 3-pointers on the night and a couple of big threes early helped Bloom to get out to an early lead.
"That's how we want to play the rest of the season," Johnson said of the team's fast start. "That's what the coach has been focusing on a lot in practice. There was a lot of intensity in our locker room so we just took it out on the floor."
Bloom Township senior Donald Moore scored 12 points and had three assists and three rebounds. Nyhree Mitchell had nine points for the Blazing Trojans while pulling down three rebounds. Bloom (17-3, 3-1) led 25-8 after one quarter, and the Olympians were never able to climb back into the game.
"We got off to a good start," Bloom Township coach Jasper Williams said. "And we shot the ball very well. We push the ball up the floor and we end up shooting layups. As long as we do that, we're going to be a tough team to beat."
The Bloom defense was relentless all evening, holding Rich Central to single digits in the first and final quarters. The Olympians were only able to attempt three free throws all game and seven 3-pointers from the Blazing Trojans was too much for their SAC foe on this night.
"We wanted to come out and play a good game," Griffin said. "It's a conference game and we wanted to do good and get a win. We've been practicing hard a lot and it showed in the game."
Please Wait…