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Monday, 24 December 2007 |
By JOSHUA KEERAN
Sports Editor
LIMA — After playing arguably its best game of the season on Friday, the Wapakoneta varsity boys basketball team failed to match the same intensity on Saturday at Lima Central Catholic High School as a near goose egg in the first period spelled doom for the visiting Redskins.
Taking advantage of poor shooting by Wapakoneta and easy looks at the basket, the Thunderbirds downed the ’Skins 59-52 in non-league play.
“I just thought we were flat tonight,” Wapakoneta varsity basketball coach Scott Minnig said. “We didn’t do enough things like we did last night to come out on top against a good LCC team.”
Despite just shooting 19 percent from the field in the first half (35 percent for the game), the Redskins (3-3) still had a chance to leave Lima with a victory.
“Our shooting was kind of the polar opposite from last night,” Minnig said. “ I think some of that is we just have to figure out how to play on back-to-back nights.”
Trailing 29-22 at the 6:30 mark of the third period, the Wapakoneta offense awoke thanks to shooting of senior Zach Brown.
Brown, who finished the game 5-of-7 from 3-point land, fueled a 9-0 run with a trifecta from the left corner, one from the right wing and for good measure another from the right wing that gave the Redskins a 31-29 advantage with 4:35 left in the third period.
“Zach did a good job. He is a very strong kid mentally,” Minnig said. “He’s got that ability to bounce back even though he’s tired and his legs are tired. That is what
See DEFEAT, Page 3B
makes him a good, tough player for us.”
Wapakoneta, however, held the lead for only 30 seconds as the Thunderbirds closed the period on a 9-2 run to jump ahead 38-33.
The game appeared to be in the books after LCC increased its lead to 45-35 with 5:20 remaining in the game, but the Redskins failed to go away. With 2 minutes to go, Wapakoneta senior Drew Parker drilled a 3-pointer to pull the ’Skins to within 5 points at 51-46.
With Wapakoneta in striking distance, the Thunderbirds sealed the victory by hitting 8-of-10 free throws in crunch time.
Both teams started out the game unable to hit much of anything as the squads combined for only 11 points in the first period, 7 of those coming from the Thunderbirds.
In the second period, LCC opened up a 15-8 advantage, but Wapakoneta responded with five points from Luke McDevitt and a 3-pointer from Brown that put the Redskins ahead 16-15 with 3:20 left until halftime.
LCC, though, owned the final 3 minutes of the second period, outscoring Wapakoneta 10-3 to take a 25-19 lead into the locker room.
“They did a good job driving to the basket, and we didn’t do a very good job of stopping that penetration,” Minnig said. “To their credit, they problem shot the best they have from the perimeter against any opponent all year.
“We just have to do a better job defensively.”
For the Redskins, Brown scored a game-high 18 points, Parker had 13, Kyle Maus chipped in 10 and McDevitt poured in 7.
For the Thunderbirds, Desi Kirkman led the way with 16 points, Travis Kottenbrock added 12 and Joel Stolly had 10.
In the junior varsity contest, Wapakoneta got a game-high 14 points from Jordan Ruppert, but in the end LCC emerged with a 63-47 victory.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 26 December 2007 )
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