For about 26 minutes of the 32 minutes of game time in Saturday’s championship game of the McLouth Invitational boys’ basketball tournament, ACCHS and Oskaloosa were neck-and-neck.
Then the Tigers – more specifically, guard Ben Hawk – took their side of the game into another gear and Oskaloosa was forced to settle for second with a 53-37 ACCHS victory.
Hawk scored 10 straight points at one point to turn a 2-point ACCHS deficit into an 8-point Tigers lead early in the fourth quarter and the Bears didn’t respond. More than 25 turnovers for the Bears didn’t help their cause despite a 27-12 advantage in rebounding. ACCHS committed only 15 turnovers.
Oskaloosa made their way to the championship game with a quarterfinal win over Maranatha and a 1-point semifinal win over county rival Jefferson County North. ACCHS took down Valley Falls in the first round and the host McLouth Bulldogs in the semifinals to reach the title tilt.
The first three quarters of the game were very competitive as Oskaloosa took the early lead but ACCHS came back to tie the game. Oskaloosa took another 3-point lead at 11-8 but ACCHS forward Troy Wehking scored 5 late points to give ACCHS a 13-11 lead entering the second quarter.
The Tigers’ lead reached 6 points in the early part of the second quarter and hung there for most of the quarter. Oskaloosa got a 3-pointer from junior guard Brandon Barnes with 40 seconds left in the half that cut the ACCHS lead to 23-20 at halftime.
Oskaloosa hung in the game throughout the third quarter and eventually regained the lead. Senior post player Chase Tenpenny notched a 3-point play and the Bears turned defensive rebounds into points to tie the game at 27. A Barnes jumper gave the Bears the lead with 2:36 left in the quarter and Barnes added a lay-in to give the Bears a 4-point lead. Wehking scored off an offensive rebound to cut the lead back to 2 and the Bears had a chance for a final shot in the quarter. The inbounds pass from sophomore Adam Bowser sailed out of bounds without any other Bear player touching it, however, so ACCHS got an inbounds opportunity along the sideline on their end of the court. The ensuing inbounds pass went to Wehking, who hit a turnaround jumper at the buzzer to tie the game at 31 entering the fourth quarter.
Two free throws by Bears senior J.T. Thurston gave Oskaloosa a 33-31 lead with 6:47 to play but that’s when Hawk went to work. He started what would be a single-handed 10-point run with a 3-pointer to give ACCHS a 34-33 lead. The Bears had several chances to respond but couldn’t get back on the board. After a Bears turnover, Hawk hit a running jumper and, after a rebound went out of bounds off Oskaloosa, Hawk converted a 3-point play to make the Tigers’ lead 6 at 39-33. Hawk got a steal on the Bears’ next possession and took a hard foul before sinking two free throws to give ACCHS an 8-point lead.
The Bears’ offensive woes continued as ACCHS pulled down another defensive rebound and two free throws by Tigers guard Riley Hundley made the lead 10 points with 3:43 to play. Tenpenny scored off a putback and Bears senior Adam Paavola hit two free throws to cut the lead back to 6 but a Hawk jumper and two Hundley steals kept the Tigers in command. Hawk was 8-for-8 at the free throw line in the quarter as the Tigers were able to salt away a 53-37 win and a tournament title.
Hawk led the Tigers with 28 points and 4 steals in the win while Wehking added 15 points. Oskaloosa was led by a big game from Tenpenny, who finished with 13 points and 17 rebounds. No other Bear reached double figures in scoring.
The loss dropped Oskaloosa’s record to 7-5 on the season.
JCN third, Valley Falls fifth
The third place game between JCN and McLouth started out looking like a replay of JCN’s runaway win in McLouth in January but ended with a Bulldog surge before JCN pulled out a 48-37 win.
The Chargers jumped out to a 7-0 lead and would lead 12-4 after the first quarter as McLouth struggled offensively. JCN stretched the lead to double digits in the second quarter as McLouth continued to be unable to get points. The Chargers’ lead was 25-8 at halftime.
The Bulldogs showed signs of life on offense in the third quarter to start the second half on a 6-point run but JCN rattled off 7 straight points and maintained a 16-point lead at 39-23 going into the fourth quarter. The roles of the first half were reversed in the fourth quarter as McLouth went on an 8-point run to cut the Charger lead to 8 on a lay-in by freshman forward Gavin Swearngin.
Free throws helped JCN maintain the lead at 8 but Swearngin scored on a putback to cut the lead to 6. After a steal by senior Jarrod Bechard, junior guard Cole Batman hit one of two free throws to cut the lead to 5 at 41-36 with 1:47 to play. That was as close as the Bulldogs would get, though, as JCN senior Dalton Speer hit one of two free throws and sophomore Jeff Hale did the same to stretch the lead back to 7. The Chargers got the ball back and got a free throw from senior Matt Perry with 51 seconds left to make the lead 44-36. The Chargers would go the entire quarter without a field goal but free throws and McLouth’s inability to keep up the offensive pressure helped JCN put the lead back to double digits and finish off a 48-37 win.
Three North players finished in double figures as Hale scored 11 points and Speer and senior Riley Noll scored 10 points each. McLouth was led by 16 points from Swearngin but no other Bulldog scored more than 6.
JCN coach Jim Brickell said his team was fortunate that McLouth didn’t have a better first half. He credited both teams at times for good play.
“The main thing is the result,” Brickell said. “We didn’t anticipate having that big of a lead at the half. I credit McLouth for coming back there in the fourth quarter but I also credit our guys for getting that margin and holding on. They scored 8 points the whole first half and then 15 points in the third quarter. We knew they were better than 8 points in a half. We had some letdowns defensively and didn’t make free throws like I’d like to see. Both teams battled hard. I’m pleased getting out of here with third place. That’s two wins out of three games.”
The win improved North to 5-6. McLouth fell to 1-10.
In the fifth place game, the Valley Falls Dragons avenged an earlier defeat at the hands of the Cair Paravel Lions with an overtime 59-56 victory.
Cair Paravel went into the second quarter with a 10-4 lead and stretched it to 15-6 before the Dragons mounted a comeback to tie the game at 17 on a short jumper by junior post player Riley Bunde. Senior forward Josh Kearney gave the Dragons the lead with a short jumper with 1:04 left in the half but Cair Paravel scored the last 3 points of the half to take a 20-19 halftime lead.
The Dragons came out firing offensively in the second half as two 3-pointers by junior guard Mitchell Streeter helped the Dragons to a 27-24 lead. A 3-pointer by sophomore Alex Nottingham helped stretch the lead to 32-24 and the Dragons ended the quarter with a 37-28 lead.
The Dragons’ lead reached its peak early in the fourth quarter as Streeter drilled another 3-pointer to make it 40-28. Cair Paravel surged back, however, as senior Lucas Bider hit a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 41-35 with 3:37 left. A lay-in by senior Jeremy Wynne cut the lead to 42-38 with 1:33 left but the Dragons still held a 6-point lead at 46-40 with 47 seconds left. A Wynne running jumper cut the lead to 4 with 33 seconds left and Wynne got a quick steal and a lay-in by senior Taylor Petrik cut the Dragons’ lead to 2 shortly thereafter. Valley Falls freshman Brock Watson hit a free throw to make the lead 3 with 19 seconds left but Wynne answered with a 3-pointer to tie the game with 10 seconds remaining.
The Lions came up with a steal with time running down but a desperation shot sailed wide and the game headed to overtime. Petrik hit a 3-pointer to give the Lions a 1-point lead in the early going and a Wynne lay-in made it 52-49 Lions. Streeter answered with a 3-pointer to tie the game and a Nottingham short running jumper off a Bunde defensive rebound gave the lead back to the Dragons. A Kearney score stretched the lead to 4 with 57 seconds left but Wynne answered with a drive and lay-in to cut the lead back to 2. Streeter hit two free throws with 27 seconds left and, this time, there would be no late heroics for the Lions. Dragons sophomore Brooks Glassel hit a free throw with 7.9 seconds left to make it a 5-point game and a Lions putback score at the buzzer was meaningless as the Dragons escaped with a 59-56 win to improve to 6-7.
Streeter led the Dragons with 17 points while Nottingham scored 15 and Bunde added 12. Kearney was also in double figures with 11 points. The Lions were led by 17 points from Wynne and 16 from Petrik.
Dragons coach Caleb Gatzemeyer said he was happy to get two wins at the tournament after an opening round loss to ACCHS.
“Effingham (ACCHS) is a good team and they took us out of what we wanted to do that first game,” Gatzemeyer said. “We thought we might see Cair Paravel in the championship if we could have made it, so we knew they were tough going into this game. We talked at halftime about being more methodical with the ball and being patient. If we slow down with the ball and knock down some free throws down the stretch, we win in regulation. Alex Nottingham really got us going tonight. Riley had a big game last night (in the semifinals) so we’ve had some real team efforts here. This is a good win for us. It’s been an up and down season but we’ve been in most every game we’ve played. The guys finished well today.”
Maranatha defeated Bishop Seabury in the seventh-place game.
Tenpenny, Riley Noll, Bunde, McLouth’s Cole Batman, Thurston, and McLouth’s Derrick Crouse were named to the all-tourney team.
