Thursday, December 29th, 2022
Flyers overcome Bulldogs
Redskins beat Cavs in AAA Holiday Classic opener
By Tom Haines
Photo by Nick Wenning/The Daily Standard
Marion Local's Brandon Eyink drives past Celina's Braylon Gabes at the Palace on Wednesday.
COLDWATER - Hot shooting and physical defense kept the Celina boys basketball team breathing down the neck of Marion Local through the first half, but in the third quarter, the Flyers took control.
Marion held the Bulldogs to five points in the third to establish a 15-point lead on the way to a 59-41 victory in the second game of the Asset Allocation Associates Holiday Classic at the Palace on Wednesday.
St. Henry held off Coldwater for a 64-58 win in the first game, setting up a Redskins-Flyers matchup in the championship game on Friday.
"We needed a game like that, but St. Henry's going to present a whole different challenge," Marion coach Kurt Goettemoeller said. "We haven't seen zone all year, and we're going to see zone on Friday night. They're going to press us full court the whole game. Hopefully we can come out and get a W, but either way, it's going to make us better, because we need to see different styles."
Coldwater and Celina will play at 6 p.m. Friday in the consolation game, while St. Henry and Marion are scheduled to tip off at 7:30.
Marion Local 59, Celina 41
Unlike Tuesday's game against Minster, the Flyers started out hot, scoring 19 points and shooting 7-of-13 in the first quarter.
But unlike their first matchup with Marion, when they were shut out in the first quarter, the Bulldogs also started fast. Grant Duncan's trey from the right wing rattled home to make it 7-4 Celina, and after Jadyn Mescher and Luke Pohlman hit treys to make it 14-9 Flyers, Duncan drained another three and Caleb Gabes added two free throws to keep the deficit to five after one.
Photo by Nick Wenning/The Daily Standard
Celina's Grant Duncan shoots a three over a Marion defender at the Palace on Wednesday.
"It was better," Celina coach Adam Johns said. "We're becoming much more aggressive offensively, attacking the basket a little bit more. That's probably the best we've moved and shared the ball all season… think we're steadily getting better as the season goes along, which is a good sign."
Marion (4-1) stretched the lead to eight early in the second, but Gabes got a bucket and Landen Ackley banked in a trey. Isaac Rasawehr added a three off a long rebound to make it 24-22 with 2:59 to go before the Flyers got a bucket back heading into the break.
In the first half, both teams shot 50% from the field, but Celina (0-8) shot 5-of-7 from three. The Bulldogs forced five Marion turnovers in the second quarter while allowing just six shots from the field.
"We're not going to take everything away, obviously, but we challenged most of their shot attempts," Johns said. "We turned it over five times, so that helped the cause as far as them having empty possessions. But that was one quarter where we were able to make a little run."
Marion's defense got the better of the Bulldogs from there, allowing just five points in the third as the Flyers pulled away.
"In the first quarter, they were getting their cutters and they were getting open jumpers, and to their credit, they were making them," Goettemoeller said. "They hit a couple big threes, but they were also hitting jumpers off their cutting action. But we did a better job of knocking cutters down in the second and third, and that made a big difference."
Niekamp stretched the lead to six 75 seconds into the third, Knapke added a short jump shot two minutes later, and after Braylon Gabes drove for a layup to cut into the lead, Niekamp responded right away with a long two as Celina's offense fell silent.
"I'll have to go back and watch, but curious to see our aggressiveness going to the rim," Johns said. "I think that was part of it. I know we ran some stuff early that we got some pretty good looks and knocked some shots in, but maybe that's part of it."
As the Bulldogs looked to cut into a nine-point deficit with under a minute to go in the quarter, Grant Duncan went spilling across the floor on the offensive end but was called for an illegal screen, and the refs sent Tate Hess to the line for two technical free throws.
Knapke added another bucket on the free possession, and at the end of the quarter, Johns made one last remark to the ref walking past, which earned him a technical of his own. Mescher hit both free throws to stretch the lead to 44-27 at the start of the fourth.
Celina made one last rally, with an Ackley trey capping an 11-3 run to make it 47-38 with 4:33 to play. Mescher answered with a three and the Flyers outscored Celina 9-3 from there to close it out.
"I give Celina a lot of credit," Goettemoeller said. "They're better. From two weeks ago when we played them, they're better. They're harder to guard, they cut harder. Those Gabes twins are getting better. It was a hard game, and that's exactly what we need."
Knapke finished with 18 points and 15 rebounds, while Mescher scored 15 and Niekamp added 12. Braylon Gabes put up 11 points to lead Celina.
St. Henry 64, Coldwater 58
Photo by Nick Wenning/The Daily Standard
Coldwater's Evan Harlamert goes up for a shot as St. Henry's Nicholas Bertke closes in on defense at the Palace on Wednesday.
The Redskins scored the first eight points and held the Cavaliers scoreless for the first 4 1/2 minutes to seize control early on.
"I didn't think, the first time we played them, that we brought the necessary energy from the onset, that they played harder," St. Henry coach Eric Rosenbeck said. "And I thought they played hard again the second time as well, but our kids stepped up their energy two, three, five, tenfold."
Coldwater, for its part, struggled to get the ball inside and took nine of its 14 shots in the first quarter from behind the arc. Luke Schwieterman drove the lane to put the Cavaliers on the board with 3:30 left in the first, and Evan Harlamert hit a pair of treys in the next 70 seconds, but Coldwater's offense remained disjointed.
"Probably the most frustrating part, one, we didn't board, and then offensively I thought we looked out of sync," Coldwater coach Nick Fisher said. "We've got some guys coming back, and just some of our rotations aren't clean. I'll take the blame for that, that's something we need to clean up there."
Buoyed by the fast start, the Redskins led the rest of the way. But the Cavaliers never let them get comfortable.
Coldwater halved the deficit by the end of the first quarter and got within two early in the second before Luke Beyke hit a three from the corner to make it 19-14 St. Henry. Beyke added a pair of free throws and Curtis Puthoff drained two treys as the Redskins stretched the lead to 11, but Coldwater whittled it back down to seven at the half.
"We could make it a four-, five-point game, we just never could get over that hump," Fisher said. "A little bit of that is going back and being more disciplined offensively, better execution. And they do a good job of mixing up their defenses and keeping you off-balance."
Marcel Blasingame hit a three on a kickout from Brady Lefeld and Evan Harlamert went the length of the court for a layup that cut the deficit to 38-34 midway through the third. Beyke and Evan Bowers answered with buckets, Devin Delzeith added a pair of of free throws, and after Baylen Blockberger hit a trey, Bowers put back a miss to bring the lead back to nine after three.
Photo by Nick Wenning/The Daily Standard
St. Henry's Devin Delzeith fights through Coldwater defender Curtis Duerr at the Palace on Wednesday.
The Cavaliers scored the first four points of the fourth, but Beyke hit a jumper in the lane and a transition three to make it 51-41 with 5:34 to play.
"They got it down to four or five several times, and for us to come down and make free throws, take care of the basketball, get a defensive stand - all those things help," Rosenbeck said.
Coldwater never gave up. Justin Kaup converted a hoop-and-harm to cut the deficit back to seven, and Blasingame, Harlamert and Lefeld combined for four treys over the final 2 1/2 minutes to keep the pressure on St. Henry. But the Redskins shot 9-of-11 from the free throw line down the stretch to close it out.
Beyke finished with 25 points and Bowers added 16. Harlamert led the Cavaliers with 16 points, with Blasingame turning in 11.
On the night, 29 of Coldwater's 52 shots came from the perimeter.
"I think we just settled," Fisher said. "I don't think we ran much offensively, we just settled for shots early. If you're hitting them, it's one thing. If you're not hitting them, it's another thing. It can compound the problem, when they're killing us on the offensive boards."
