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Wednesday, 21 February 2007 |
 Wapakoneta?s Christy Steinke shoots during a recent game. (Staff photo/ William Laney)
By BRYAN CRAFT
Sports Editor
The Wapakoneta Redskins hosted the No. 1 team in Division III in the state with a perfect 18-0 record. The Redskins failed to blemish the Liberty-Benton Eagles quest for perfection during a rescheduled game Monday night.
The Wapakoneta Redskins suffered a 68-50 loss to the Eagles in non-league varsity boys basketball action. The Redskins drop to 10-9 on the season, while the Eagles improve to 19-0 behind a 25-point night by junior forward Nathan Hyde.
“They’re good, they’re darn good,” Wapakoneta coach Scott Minnig said. “I guess you can look for positives with a loss, but we’re not happy losing. It’s a great test for us coming into tournament. It was a great time for us to play, pretty intense, and it was good for us in that regards.”
Four players other players helped power the Eagles’ 68-point performance with Aaron Craft and Pat Wallace both netting 11 points, Brandon Craft scoring 10 to complement Hyde’s 25-point game. T.J. Recker scored 9 points for the Eagles.
Junior guard Drew Parker led the Redskins with 10 points, with Randy Schmerge pouring in 9 points. Kyle Maus, Zach Brown and Jake Lambert scored 8 points each in the loss. B.J. Reed chipped in with 5 points and Reid Turner had 2 points.
One of the difference in the contest was the discrepancy at the free throw line.
“I thought we did a good job of penetrating and creating off the dribble,” Liberty-Benton coach Steve Williman said. “Our kids played very unselfish tonight. I thought we distributed the ball when someone was open, got ourself to the line but also finished some plays at the same time.”
Minnig thought he would have received a better performance on his home court.
“It was quite a big difference, especially at home — you would like to think we would get to the line more times but we didn’t,” Minnig said.
Liberty-Benton led 20-19 after one period and took the second period 14-10 for a 34-29 lead at halftime. The third period went to the Eagles 13-6 for a 47-35 score and they won the final period 21-15 for the 18-point victory.
The Eagles outrebounded the Redskins 23-15 and won the turnover battle 6-4.
“Their the first team to beat us on the boards all year,” Minnig said. “It was quite a shock with me, considering their tallest guy is 6-foot-3.”
Wapakoneta shot 21-of-41, or 51.2 percent, from the field in the contest, including 4-of-11, or 36.3 percent, from behind the 3-point line and were 4-of-7, or 57.1 percent, at the charity stripe.
Liberty-Benton shot 24-of-52, or 46.1 percent, from the floor, including 6-of-12 from downtown and were 14-of-22, or 63.6 percent, from the free-throw line.
The Redskins close out the regular season with a Western Buckeye League win against the Celina Bulldogs at Wapakoneta.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 21 February 2007 )
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