Old-timers like to talk about the classic Boston Celtics fast break from half a century ago, with center Bill Russell snaring the rebound, hitting the outlet pass and then guards Bob Cousy, Bill Sharman and John Havlicek catching passes for layups.
Those who remember might have appreciated the rebounding of Martin center Carter Hilton igniting the fast break for guards Cayden Curry, Alex Hardy and Clayton Geerlings. The process came in handy for the Clippers, who had to regain control of their opening hoops contest en route to a 58-45 victory over Bloomingdale.
Martin got off to a fast start, scoring 14 unanswered points and grabbing a 19-6 advantage in the first quarter, but somehow let the Cardinals sneak back into the contest in the second period. Martin’s offense looked like it was operating in slow motion while Bloomingdale’s Pierce Manning tossed in a couple of three-point field goals and teammate Eric Gumpert nailed an ugly bank shot trey.
By the time intermission came around, the Clippers had watched their lead, which sometimes reached 16 points, shrink to just five, 27-22, at the break.
Geerlings scored all of Martin’s first six points and Hilton was dominating the boards during the Martin burst.
Bloomingdale made things even more interesting early in the third quarter, as Bobby Boyer scored underneath the hoop to pull his team to within two, 29-27, with the second half just three minutes old.
That set the table for the ghost of the old Boston Celtics.
Curry and Hardy scored on successive driving layups and then Hilton hooked up with Curry and Hardy to widen the gap to 41-29 at the start of the fourth period.
Geerlings stole an errant Cardinal pass for a breakaway layup and then Hilton and Curry both nailed a three to give the visiting quintet its largest deficit of the evening, 53-33. And it was all over but the shouting.
Curry finished with 17 points to lead second-year coach Brad Moelker’s group. Geerlings chipped in 14, Curry 11 and Hardy nine.
Boyer topped the Cardinals with 14 points, Tyler Starbuck had 10 and Joel Butler eight.
Hardy, Curry and Geerlings were particularly adept and handling Bloomingdale’s trapping and pressing defense, and Hilton added ball-handling to his floor game in bringing the ball to the time line.
COVER PHOTO: Michael Morey drives to the basket against two Cardinal defenders.