The Daily Standard
Story Archive
Minster's Cole Albers (42) boxes out St. Marys' Cayden Geiger (2). The Minster forward scored his 1,000th career point in the game.
MINSTER - When you're on, you're on. That was the case for Minster, who used three double-digit scorers, including 18 points from Andrew Ketner, to beat St. Marys 64-42 in non-conference boys basketball action and extend their win streak to seven games.
Both teams came out firing in a pace-setting first quarter. St. Marys used four points from Cayden Geiger and Huck Hertenstein to take a 10-8 lead. Turnovers allowed Minster to stay in the game, with the Roughriders committing five in the first quarter. Cole Albers was a perfect 3-for-3 in the quarter for the Wildcats, with his last layup tying the game at 10-all by the end of the quarter.
While the teams were close in the first quarter, the second belonged to Minster. A corner jumper from Beckhem Stephey gave the Wildcats the lead, and he added to it with a three from the elbow to make it 15-10. Stephey set up Albers with a nice pass inside to give the center eight points in the game, and Carson Kaylor made a three to push the lead to 20-12. It forced a timeout from St. Marys, as Minster opened up the quarter on a 10-2 run.
Geiger got the Riders back into it off a personal 5-0 run. The final basket was a trey from the corner to trim the deficit to 20-17, but Albers responded with a three of his own. Minster's lead got back to seven off a trey from Andrew Ketner, and Albers' put-back layup made it 28-19.
It was no ordinary basket however. Albers hit 1,000 career points with the basket and became the 10th Wildcat in boys program history to get the honor.
"It's really cool for him," Minster coach Michael McClurg said. "He's played here four years now, and he's having a really good senior year. He's put in a lot of work for it, so we were excited to see it and get it done."
A buzzer-beater three from Dominick Meyer ended the half with Minster leading 31-19. The Wildcats were a solid 46% from the floor in the half, and forced nine turnovers from St. Marys. Albers paced the hosts with 13 points, and was 6-for-6 in the half.
St. Marys' Huck Hertenstein (23) drives against Minster's Dominick Meyer (20).
St. Marys made a living in the corner in the opening 16 minutes, with Hertenstein and Geiger the beneficiaries. Geiger had nine in the half to lead the Riders and Hertenstein had six. They were a combined 7-for-12 from the floor over the two quarters, and were sometimes the only options for St. Marys.
Blake Dingledine and Geiger tried to aid a Riders' comeback early in the quarter, with Geiger's floater making it 37-30 halfway through the quarter.
That is when Minster turned it on. A corner three from Kaylor pushed the lead back into double-figures with 3:50 left. Ketner followed that up with a three of his own, and he connected again from deep to make it 46-30. It was a 9-0 run, and the blows kept coming for St. Marys.
"(Minster) was hot," St. Marys coach Tim Barga said of the run. "I don't care who you put out there, if you're open pretty soon you're going to start making them."
Andrew Wiss' trey from the corner extended the run, and Ketner finished off the quarter with a three to bring his point total 15 on the night. It was a 15-0 run over four minutes of action, and Minster took a 52-20 lead into the fourth quarter. Ketner was 4-of-6 shooting in the quarter, all from behind the arc.
"We talked all week about poise," coach McClurg said. "Anytime you play a zone, sometimes kids start taking shots they're not used to, and we know which guys we want to get shots. I thought we stayed poised with it all."
Minster's Cole McClurg goes up for a layup against St. Marys.
With Minster leading by 22 entering the fourth, the final eight minutes of the contest were given to both teams' benches. Kaiden Ibarra scored seven points for St. Marys in his time on the court. John Youngs and Kyle Ibrahim combined for five points in a 12-point fourth quarter. Geiger was held out of the quarter, but finished with a team-high 13 points.
Minster's final quarter saw Ketner make another three, as the senior finished with a team-high 18 points on the night.
"(Ketner) was frustrated with himself in the first half, and we just told him to shoot his shots, and he found it," coach McClurg said.
The Wildcats will carry their winning streak into the Hangar in a MAC matchup with Marion Local Friday night. St. Marys plays their penultimate home game next, in a matchup with WBL foe Kenton.
"Our whole year has been like this," Barga said. "We just have to come out and go hard next."
