Vossler, Clark combine
for 49 in victory
By MARC TOBIAS
mtobias@dailystandard.com
ST. MARYS — St. Marys continued to roll as it picked up
its fifth consecutive win with a 69-61 triumph over Western
Buckeye League rival Wapakoneta.
Maybe more importantly, the win keeps the ‘Riders undefeated
in league play at 2-0 while the Redskins fall to 0-2 in WBL
action.
St. Marys benefited all night from quick transition baskets,
the majority of which were uncontested layups.
“We want the game to be fast, but I don’t think
we want it to be as fast as they want it to be,” said
St. Marys coach Josh Leslie. “We thought if they wanted
to press us, then a lot of the times we wanted to get layups,
and I think we did a pretty decent job of that. I don’t
know how many turnovers we had, but I think we got more layups
than we did turnovers.”
St. Marys turned the ball over just eight times.
No ‘Rider took more advantage of those fastbreak points
than Scott Vossler, who finished the game with 25 points.
None of those transition baskets were bigger than the two uncontested
layups late in the game, each right after the Redskins nailed
three-pointers to cut into the St. Marys lead.
“It’s disappointing right at the end when twice
in a row the guy (Scott Vossler) was so wide open for layups
after we hit threes, but I’m pretty proud of what the
kids did tonight,” said Wapakoneta assistant coach Mike
Bollinger.
Bollinger was the acting coach because head coach Brian Vorst
was serving the first of his two-game suspension for being ejected
in last week’s game against Delphos St. John’s.
Bollinger said he thought the kids may have been hurt a little
bit by Vorst’s absence, but what the Redskins were really
hurt by was the two-headed monster of Vossler and Wes Clark.
Vossler connected on 11-of-14 from the field while Clark was
just as solid by hitting eight-of-13 for 24 points. Clark also
hit three-of-four from long range.
“Wes was big, since his injury early on he hasn’t
had a night like this,” Leslie said. “This is good
for him to build up some confidence. Scott, that’s kind
of what you expect out of him. He’s a four-year player
and a senior and leader on this team. He’s capable of
doing that, and we make a conscience effort to get him the ball.”
“Clark kind of surprised us tonight, I didn’t expect
him to shoot as well as he did, we came in really wanting to
concentrate on Vossler and Burke,” Bollinger said.
The other thing that hurt Wapakoneta was its lack of success
from three-point range.
It’s no secret the Redskins like to chuck it up from long
range, but when they connected on just six-of-24 from the three-point
stripe it was difficult for them to stay close.
“If you knock a few more of those down, instead of being
down eight or nine points you might be only down three and feel
you’re still in the game,” Bollinger said.
“The thing we didn’t want to have was McCormick
or (Brett) Schroeder to be able to sit on the line or a foot
behind the (three-point) line and get a good look,” Leslie
said.
Leslie’s game plan worked, as the Redskins had few easy
looks from long range, and most of the ‘Skins three-point
attempts were from 22 feet or farther out. St. Marys meanwhile
hit six-of-13 from behind the arc.
The two squads were tied at 34-34 at the half, but St. Marys
was able to use an 18-11 third quarter to help build a lead.
The ‘Riders went on a 10-2 run to end the third for a
52-45 lead.
“We told the guys they were probably going to come out
aggressive in the third quarter,” Bollinger said. “Their
coach probably wasn’t too pleased about being tied in
their own gym against Wapak, and they did come out with a lot
of aggressiveness.
“I think our kids were half a step slower in the second
half as well,” Bollinger added. “That’s one
of the reasons we cut back on our trapping, but we still were
giving them too many easy looks.”
Todd Graves had another big rebounding night for St. Marys as
he pulled down 11 boards.
McCormick ended up leading the Redskins with 17 points, while
Schroeder and Brandon Steinke each added 12 points.
St. Marys improves to 7-2 on the year while Wapak falls to 3-4.
The ‘Riders return to action tonight when they travel
to New Bremen.
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