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Div. IV sectionals begin at Coldwater: New Knoxville blows past W-G |
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Thursday, 04 March 2010 |
By CHRIS VOLOSCHUK
Sports Editor
COLDWATER — The Waynesfield-Goshen Tigers boys basketball team came into its Division IV sectional opener against New Knoxville Wednesday with a game plan aiming to slow things down.
After forcing a turnover on New Knoxville’s first possession of the game at Coldwater High School, the Tigers ran a bit of a stall game on offense, passing the ball around the perimeter. It worked in the early going, as the game was tied, 3-3.
But then the Rangers, fresh out of a timeout, found the gas pedal and floored it.
For the last 27 minutes of play, the Rangers got 11 players to score and opened up a huge lead that turned into a 70-28 win. It set the Rangers (13-8) up for a rematch with the Fort Recovery Indians Friday night.
“It surprised the kids early when (W-G) came out and held the ball on offense,” New Knoxville varsity coach Kort Fledderjohann said. “It took a minute for the kids that they had to go out and get them. But after that we did pretty well.”
Waynesfield-Goshen’s stall turned into a New Knoxville layup line by the end of the first period. The Rangers caused nine turnovers and got many of their baskets in transition. They were led by junior guard Marcus Reineke’s 10 points, including a pair of 3-pointers.
After the first eight minutes, the Rangers led 17-3 and were on a 14-0 run.
“Probably when we’ve been our best this year is in transition,” Fledderjohann said. “We were able to get out on the (W-G) ball handlers in the middle of the first quarter and cause some turnovers. And a lot of our strength is at the guard spot, running the floor.”
New Knoxville’s one-team drag race continued in the second, as their scoring run jumped to 36-4. W-G (5-15) junior Connor Mortimer knocked down a deep three to end his team’s near 10-minute scoring drought and senior guard Jerry Weeks made one of two free throws to help create a halftime score of 36-7.
Defensively, New Knoxville helped cause four more turnovers with the use of both man and zone defense. At the offensive end, senior forward Tyler Wright scored eight points inside to increase the margin.
At the half, the Rangers had 24 of their 36 points come from inside the paint.
“Game plan-wise we tried to execute in the beginning, then things didn’t go our way and we got our heads down a little bit and started feeling sorry for ourselves,” W-G varsity coach Romie Youngpeter said. “It snowballed. Someone’s got to step up and stop (New Knoxville).”
Already with a comfortable lead, the Rangers were able to use the entirety of their bench in the second half. In the third period, Cody Horstman scored six points as they outscored W-G 18-12.
Weeks canned a pair of threes on his way to a team-high 12 points and fellow senior Taylor Miller added four to give the Tigers their first double-digit scoring frame of the night.
“Our seniors played extremely hard,” Youngpeter said. “They had an opportunity to move on in the tournament and they didn’t give up.”
New Knoxville outscored W-G 16-9 in the fourth for the 70-28 final. After Miller converted a pair of free throws early, the Tigers did not score again the rest of the game.
“If I could script the way the tournament started, this would be the best way,” Fledderjohann said. “We’re playing Wednesday night instead of Tuesday. It gives us one extra day to practice and one day of rest before we play Fort Recovery.”
After Weeks, Miller scored 11 points and grabbed five rebounds for the Tigers. Connor Mortimer finished with three points and Matt Spangler two. As a team, W-G committed 22 turnovers but was able to tie New Knoxville in rebounding with 19. It shot 24 percent from the field and 7-of-8 on free throws.
The Rangers shot an extremely efficient 67 percent from the field, mostly due to the number of open looks they got insid. Reineke led the way with 17 points and was followed in double figures by Wright, who finished with 11. Brian Bambauer scored eight, Ryan Vanderhorst six and Zach Leffel and Jake Allen four. Four others combined for 10. The Rangers were 13-of-23 from the line.
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 06 March 2010 )
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