Boys Junior High Basketball B-Team Remains Undefeated With Win At Keystone (02/23/16)
(By Coach Jason Craig)
On Wednesday (February 17th), the undefeated Jr. High Boys B-Team traveled to Keystone to take on the undefeated Panthers.
(Photos by Christie Datko) Coach Craig tells Tyler Schmader, Don Cunningham, Ben Murtha, Cal German and Ethan Burford what they need to do to take over the lead!
The Panthers played very well in the first half and were in position to pick up another win. However, the Bobcats were able to shake off a sloppy start to turn the game around and pick up the win.
Keystone shot the ball well in the first quarter scoring 10 points. However, with less than a minute left in the quarter and Keystone up 10 – 2, Cal German hit a big 3-pointer from the corner to wrap up the quarter at 10 – 5 in favor of the Panthers. Hunter Craddock had the other basket for Clarion.
Clarion looked to the big guy, Tyler Schmader in quarter 2 and he came through with 2 much needed baskets. Donnie Cunningham also had 2 points, but Keystone would win the quarter 8-6 and go into halftime with an 18-11 lead. This is the first time all season that we were losing at halftime.
In the second half, we decided to pick up the intensity and play full court man-to-man defense. The strategy paid off and we started the comeback, winning the quarter 11-8. Ben Murtha, Lucas Baker, Ethan Burford, German, Schmader and Craddock used their speed to create turnovers that lead to layups for us. Baker had 4 points in the run while Murtha and German each had 2. Ethan Burford was fouled while shooting a 3-pointer and calmly stepped to the line and drained all three foul shots. Heading to the final quarter, the Panthers were still leading 26-22.
Tyler Schmader looking for a shot underneath as Don
Cunningham helps out!
We kept the pressure on for the rest of the game and held Keystone to just 2 points in the final quarter. German and Schmader had baskets in the quarter to pull Clarion to within 2. Then Mitch Geiger hit a shot on the baseline to tie the game at 28. Schmader was then able to collect a rebound and lay it back in to give the Bobcats their first lead of the game, 30-28. Murtha, Geiger, Burford and German would control the ball the rest of the way to set the final at 30-28.
Schmader lead Clarion with 8 points. German (7), Baker (4), Burford (3), and Geiger, Murtha, Craddock and Cunningham (2) also scored for the Bobcats.
Blazosky lead all scorers with 12 points. Other scorers for the Panthers were Schruers (6), Larson and Hogue (4), and Rearick (2).
The team has been off since last Thursday due to no school, the weekend and a snow day, and it showed. We played a sloppy game but they never gave up. They believed they could come back and they played hard in the second half to make it happen. The win moves the young Bobcats to 9-0 and are still undefeated this season.
(Thanks to Coach Craig for this article and to Christie Datko for the photos. Keep up the good work, Cats!!!!)