St. Henry wins 3rd straight Classic title

COLDWATER - St. Henry head coach Eric Rosenbeck hears a lot of comments about his team's 3-point shooting.

But he prefers to talk about defense.

"The best way for us to run out, for us to score points and shoot 3s that everybody likes to talk about is by getting stops," Rosenbeck said.

The Redskins shot 3s and played D against Coldwater in Saturday's Asset Allocation Associates Holiday Classic Finals, which resulted in a 67-43 victory at the Palace.

St. Henry converted 50% of its field-goal attempts (25-of-50) and 44% from long range (12-of-27). Coldwater was limited to 34% shooting (15-of-44). The Redskins won their third straight AAA title and fifth all-time in the tournament's eight-year history.

"What feels the best about winning the Asset Allocation in 2019 is that we can see and feel that we're getting better," Rosenbeck said. "I said (Friday after a win over Celina), it started in the morning shoot-around. We came with the right mindset. We did it again this morning, so that's four good basketball events in a row. If you go to five, then all of a sudden you turn yourself into a good team. I'm really, really proud of their effort tonight.

"The entire team really bought into what we're trying to do on defense," he added. "It was led by Carter Ontrop - I thought he just played an unbelievable game."

St. Henry improved to 2-0 this season against Coldwater. St. Henry won the Dec. 13 meeting at the Palace 60-49. The Cavs were in that contest until late in the fourth. They fell out of contention by halftime Saturday, however.

"They shot really well, but I don't think we came out with a lot of energy on the defensive end," Coldwater coach Nick Fisher said. "Not only did they shoot well, I thought they ran hard and they pushed the ball well. We weren't hitting shots, and they were getting second and third looks."

St. Henry made four 3-pointers in the game's first 3 1/2 minutes on its way to a 17-12 lead after one. But Rosenbeck wasn't happy with senior guards Ben Evers and Riley Link after a mess up at the end of the first quarter led to a Myles Blasingame layup.

"Apparently, I need to get on my senior guards a little more because I unloaded on Mr. Link and Mr. Evers at the end of the first quarter pretty good, and did they ever respond," Rosenbeck said.

The coach lit a fire, then his team caught fire.

The Redskins hit the Cavs with a 15-0 run to start the second quarter.

Link scored 10 points during the stretch, adding his second and third treys of the contest. St. Henry's lead reached 20 as it held Coldwater scoreless for more than 4 minutes in the second quarter.

The Redskins made 7-of-16 from deep and 14-of-28 shots total in the first half, heading to the locker room with a 40-21 advantage. The Cavs were 2-of-8 from 3 and 8-of-24 overall.

By the end of three quarters, Link had four 3s while Carter Ontrop, Evers and Matt Bertke all had two. Seth Heitkamp had another for total of 11, and a 54-30 lead.

"I would call that first half a debacle for us," Fisher said. "I told the guys at halftime we need to get tougher in practice and for it to carry over into a game. We know what we're capable of if we play to our potential."

Link took tournament MVP honors after scoring a combined 30 points in wins over Celina and Coldwater. He had a game-high 17 points against Coldwater, connecting on 4-of-8 from deep. Ontrop, who had eight points against the Cavs, also made the All-Tournament team. Evers added 10 points Saturday.

Noah Miller led Coldwater with 10 points and seven rebounds, earning an All-Tournament selection.

The other All-Tournament honorees were Marion Local's Alex Eyink and Celina's Max Thobe, whose teams squared off in the consolation game.

Marion Local 42,
Celina 39

Marion Local had been on the wrong side of four close games to start this season.

The Flyers were finally on the right side Saturday.

After giving up a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter, Marion Local regrouped and held off Celina.

"I told the kids after that I was really happy with how we responded. Celina had the lead a couple times there in the fourth quarter and we were able to make big plays on both sides of the ball," Marion Local coach Kurt Goettemoeller said. "At the end, we made some big stops and got some big rebounds to finish it off."

Marion Local won for the first time this season in five tries. Celina fell to 0-7, but Bulldogs coach Jay Imwalle sees improvement.

"On a positive side, I told the kids that if you continue to work this hard, you're going to get rewarded for it," Imwalle said. "Is it frustrating? Absolutely. But you've just got to keep working and getting better, and I think we did get better this weekend."

Celina led 10-7 after one quarter. The Bulldogs held Marion Local scoreless for more than 3 minutes to start the second quarter and took a 13-7 lead using their half-court pressure. But 3-pointers by Bryce Moeller and Alex Klosterman tied it with 3:50 left. Moeller scored eight points in the final 5 minutes, and the teams were knotted at 18-all by halftime.

Eyink scored nine points in the third quarter and Moeller added five as the Flyers went on a 15-6 run for a 10-point lead.

"That was a dogfight in the first half," Goettemoeller said. "Alex Klosterman hit some big shots to keep us in it. We did not play very well at all, but the score was tied. In the third quarter, we made some nice plays offensively, played good defensively and got a 10-point lead."

That didn't last long, however.

Jack Duncan made two quick treys to start the fourth, pulling Celina to within 34-30 as 7:15 remained on the clock. A minute later, the Bulldogs took a 35-34 lead on a pair of Josh Rasawehr free tosses, capping an 11-0 run. Charlie Huelsman put Marion Local in front again with a 3 on the next trip down before Max Thobe hit tying free throws.

Eyink later drew a foul and made the go-ahead free throw. Otte scored the next four for Marion Local. Sandwiched in-between was a bucket by Rasawehr. Otte made a cut backdoor on an inbound play, and Charlie Huelsman found him for a layup and a 42-39 advantage. After that, Celina missed three looks at the tying 3-pointer.

"We fought back and (took the lead)," Imwalle said. "That's a positive we've got to build on. Down the stretch we made some mental errors. In a close game like that, that's the difference."

Moeller scored a game-high 13 for Marion Local while Eyink added 10.

Rasawehr paced Celina with 11 points.