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Monday, 18 December 2006 |
By BRYAN CRAFT
Sports Editor
The battle of the Redskins went to the Wapakoneta varsity boys basketball team over St. Henry, 56-50, in a non-league game Saturday.
“When you get a WBL team and a MAC team together, you’re going to have a physical battle and it sure was tonight,” Wapakoneta coach Scott Minnig said.
Wapakoneta put the game away with a 16-7 fourth quarter.
Wapakoneta’s sophomore guard Jake Lambert made it a 47-46 deficit for his team. Next, Wapakoneta senior guard Randy Schmerge connected on a 3-point play for a 49-47 lead and junior guard Zach Brown drilled a trifecta for a 52-47 score.
St. Henry answered with a 3-pointer from 6-foot-5 senior post Mitch Niekamp for the 52-50 deficit. Wapakoneta closed it out with a layup by 6-foot-4 senior forward/center Derran Erb and one free throw apiece by junior guard Drew Parker and Brown.
St. Henry (4-1) used a 13-4 run in the third quarter to tie the game at 33. They outscored Wapakoneta 21-11 in the period, but were only up 43-40 at the end of the stanza.
“We had some stretches where we just played solid ball,” St. Henry varsity boys basketball coach Joe Niekamp said.
Wapakoneta (3-0) took the fourth period 13-10 for the six point win.
Schmerge led Wapakoneta with a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds. He also added 3 assists. Junior guard Kyle Maus had 12 points.
Wapakoneta’s 6-foot-7 senior center B.J. Reed had 10 points and 9 rebounds, while Brown added 8 points. Parker contributed 6 points. Reed was 4-of-6 (67 percent) shooting from the field and 2-of-2 at the charity stripe.
Minnig said St. Henry really kept their focus on Reed and battled with him.
“He got other guys shots and that was the key,” Minnig said.
St. Henry’s 6-foot-3 senior post Andy Puthoff 13 points and shot 5-of-10 from the floor, including 60 percent from behind the 3-point line. St. Henry shot 7-of-32 from behind the 3-point arc and Wapakoneta shot 5-of-14.
“They (St. Henry) got hot,” Minnig said. “They knocked down three three’s in a row if I can recall. We told our guys they’re a streaky team like that and we’ve got to limit those streaks. That was one of those streaks where they got going. We didn’t have hands in the face of shooters and we needed a timeout to regroup and that’s what we did.”
Wapakoneta had a 12-10 lead after the first quarter and went on a 7-1 run to end the period and start the second period. With the run, Wapakoneta went up 19-11 and were up 29-22 at halftime.
Wapakoneta had a 28-15 rebounding edge in the game and the turnovers were even at 10.
“A lot of those turnovers, kind of unforced, where we we’re traveling, palming, those things, that really hurt,” Niekamp said. “Hopefully if we want to beat a team as good as Wapak, who is a very good team, then we’re going to have to try and eliminate those kind of turnovers and at least give ourselves a chance on the offensive end.”
The Wapakoneta junior varsity won 55-51 to improve to 1-1. Lambert scored 13 points, followed by Luke McDevitt with 11 and Mike Bogan with 12.
The Redskins play at 6:30 p.m. Friday when they host the Delphos St. John’s Blue Jays.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 19 December 2006 )
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