Cavaliers outlast Indians

COLDWATER - "It's just a matter of which big players will make big plays in these big games."

Those were the words of Coldwater coach Mike Bruns in the days leading up to the Cavaliers' Midwest Athletic Conference showdown with Fort Recovery at the Palace.

His players were listening.

In a game filled with big plays by both teams, the top play belonged to Coldwater's Jack Hemmelgarn, whose corner three-pointer with under a minute left broke a 76-all tie and sent the Cavaliers to an 85-80 victory and into sole possession of first place in the MAC.

"There was a no-quit attitude out there - that was the key," Bruns said. "The phrase I said (in the preview interview), I emphasized that in the huddle. It's their game now. I can't control it. They've got to control it. Big players make big plays in big games. I reminded them of that and those guys stepped up."

Aaron Harlamert made his share of big plays, too. He scored 17 of his 19 points in the second half to lead a quintet of Cavs in double figures. Harlamert's three-pointer and a bucket by Andy Brunet gave Coldwater its largest lead, 65-56, less than one minute into the fourth quarter.

Fort Recovery (9-2, 3-1 MAC), led by Caleb Martin's 11 fourth-quarter points, fought its way back to even the score at 76-each with 1:10 remaining on Darien Sheffer's layup.

But Hemmelgarn found himself open in the corner and drained it. The Indians missed the front end of a 1-and-1 on the next sequence and then the Cavs finished off the game by going 6-for-6 at the charity stripe in the final 40 seconds.

Hemmelgarn's shot came just two weeks after he hit the game-winner against New Bremen.

"He's not afraid to fail. He's not afraid to take a risk," Bruns said. "I like the way he played the game tonight. Teams feed off the energy of a point guard. The point guard has to be a leader out there, just like the quarterback in football. He showed that leadership tonight."

Chase Bruns had the hot hand in the first quarter for the Indians, who shot 8-of-13 from the field during that stretch. Bruns was 4-of-4 with a trifecta of treys and 11 points in the quarter, and Fort Recovery gained a 22-14 lead at one point. However, Neal Muhlenkamp scored five points and Hemmelgarn added a three as the Cavs trimmed the deficit to 25-22 entering the second.

Brunet's three-point play tied the game at 25-all in the opening minute of the second. The Indians responded with a 9-2 run, capped by Bruns' fourth triple of the half - this one from 25-feet deep - which made the score 34-27 with 4:15 to play. Again, though, Coldwater finished off the quarter strong, going on an 8-2 spurt to cut the score to 40-38 at half.

There were three lead changes and two ties in the infant stages of the third quarter. Coldwater, paced by Harlamert's eight third-quarter points, seized momentum with a 10-2 run to take a 60-52 advantage. Bruns hit three number five to make the score 60-55 heading into the homestretch.

At the end of the day, though, Coldwater simply had more shots left in the chamber than Fort Recovery did in a game that wasn't expected to be a high-scoring affair.

"You can't give up 85 points and expect to win a game," said Fort Recovery coach Chris Guggenbiller, whose team hadn't allowed more than 69 points in a game this season. "Coldwater shot the ball extremely well. We shot the ball extremely well, too. We wanted to force them to be shooters and not allow them to get to the rim, and they were able to knock down shots for all four quarters. Hats off to them."

A combined five players scored eight or more points in a quarter. Five players from each team reached double figures.

Brunet and Dylan Thobe had 16 apiece, Muhlenkamp scored 15 and Hemmelgarn 13.

Bruns led the Indians with 19, Martin added 16, Brandon Schoen 13, Micaiah Cox 11 (and 12 rebounds) and Matt Bihn 10. The Indians also finished with 11 three-pointers on 27 attempts and their bench scored 31 points.

A week after edging Versailles 54-51 in overtime, Fort Recovery was handed its first league loss. Versailles and Fort Recovery are one game behind in the standings. The Tigers come to Coldwater next Friday. Before then, the Cavs (8-4, 4-0 MAC) travel to Van Wert tonight and face Marion Local in a makeup game on Tuesday.

With many big games left on the slate, Guggenbiller believes the title in anyone's ballgame.

"We're going to go back to work. Our goals remain the same," he said. "We still want to go after that league championship. There's a lot of good teams in the MAC that can knock anybody off on any given night. We need to continue to bring our A-Game and keep pursuing our next game."

The Indians next game is at Greenville on Tuesday and then they host Minster Friday.