12-13-13
BY JACK BULLOCK
ALTAMONT – Turning pressure defense into easy scores, the Altamont Indians forced the pace and cruised to a relatively easy win in its National Trail Conference opener at home on Friday night in the school’s homecoming game.

Head coach John Niebrugge and his club, priding themselves with a defensive mentality, turned their contest with South Central into a lay up drill, as the Tribe scored at will in transition.

Breaking loose midway through the second quarter, Altamont improved to 3-0 on the season with a 70-40 victory at home.

Garrett Ziegler, a 6-foot senior guard, was the main culprit and recipient of the South Central generosity as this veteran backcourt leader topped all scorers with 19-points in the triumph.

Ziegler had four steals in the first quarter alone as the Indians forced the inexperienced Cougars into 31-turnovers.

Griffin Jackman and Aaron Goeckner each added 11-points in the victory, an important start to the NTC regular season schedule.

Two other players; Justin McGinnis and Derek Jarhaus, added nine points apiece as Altamont had a lot of contributors (nine players scoring) in the 30-point win.

“We pride ourselves on wanting to get a lot of possessions which means get up and down the floor and shoot the basketball a lot,” said Coach Niebrugge, in his second season leading the Indians’ program. “I felt like in the first half our shots weren’t falling and we could have been up more. We were shooting good shots and in rhythm but we couldn’t get them to fall. At halftime I told the kids to keep shooting.”

South Central (0-4 overall, 0-2 NTC) fell despite 12-points from sophomore guard Brett Harmeier.

Six-foot-five senior Tyler Ross finished with eight points for the Cougars and head coach Rick Simmons.

Altamont set the tone early, forcing 10 of the SC mistakes and turning six of those into points in a frenzied first eight minutes.

Five early turnovers in the first 1:54 of the quarter was a bad omen, even in Friday the 13th terms.

Ziegler cashed in on four of them with fast break points as Altamont scored the first eight points and led 10-3 with 5:10 remaining.

“I think that (focus) comes from the seniors. This is the second year for them in the program and we talked about it all week to stay within your self. Do what we do. Go at our pace and play our defense and the game will come to you,” finalized Coach Niebrugge.

South Central tried to hang in despite the problems turning the ball over.

A pair of conventional three point plays by Harmeier and Evan Langley kept the contest close for a while.

A couple of baskets by Ross and two free throws by Jace Wilkins ended the first quarter at 17-12 Altamont.

However the storm, which was caused by the Altamont defensive onslaught, was about to get more intense.

With South Central hanging tough, trailing just 24-20 following a score by Langley, the Indians went on an 8-0 defensive charged scoring sprint.

Four different men in Orange and Black scored in less than a minute with Cole Borders getting in on the fun with a steal and fast break lay in.

Ziegler picked up another pilfer for a bucket followed by Matt Kuhns taking an assist from Ziegler for more fast break points.

A baseline jumper by Jackman finished the run for the first double-digit lead of the night for the hosts at 32-20 with 3:08 to go before intermission.

“We did a good job of putting ourselves in a position early in the game, down just 24-20 and had the ball,” said Coach Simmons. “But we turned the ball over twice and they scored lay ups. It went from 24-20 to 32-20 before we scored again. It (turnovers) is the problem we have and we know we have it. We need to work to get better. Passing and the decision-making, we make up our minds way too early that we are going to pass that ball. Offensively we are out of sync.”

After a brief reprieve (two scores by South Central) Altamont went on another eight-point scoring binge.

Two more steals by Ziegler resulted in two more fast break scores and a 40-24 advantage.

After a couple of free throws (one each from Noah Powless and Harmeier) the Cougars trailed 40-26 at intermission.

“Garrett (Ziegler) I mean I don’t know if there are too many quicker guards than him at the 1A level,” added Coach Niebrugge. “He can read the offense and get out in the passing lanes. And when he gets it (steals) he can beat people to the rim.”

South Central limped into the locker room with 19-turnovers and a 16-point deficit.

Eight was the number for Altamont on this night as they used another 8-0 to close the third quarter.

After South Central had cut their disadvantage on the scoreboard to just 47-34 at the 3:26 mark, the Cougars didn’t score again until the final quarter.

Coach Niebrugge got a pair of baskets by Jahraus and Ziegler and a period ending 3-point bomb by Goeckner.

This 6-foot-2 senior guard, corralled a rebound off of a missed free throw by Jake Seidel and nailed a step-back 3-pointer just before the horn for a 55-34 Indians’ lead.

Two more scores to open the final quarter closed the book on the contest as Altamont cruised home.

Jackman scored both baskets and even freshman guard Ryan Armstrong (conventional three-point play) got in on the fourth quarter fun.

All of this was part of a 9-2 finish as the Indians stayed undefeated.

Altamont shot the ball well overall (30-of-64) at 46.8 percent in spite of a 3-of-13 performance from beyond the arc.

The Indians held a 34-27 rebounding edge, which included 17 offensive boards.

Even in a fast pace, Coach Niebrugge’s club committed just 13-turnovers with five coming late in the contest.

The Cougars were just 15-of-44 overall (34 percent) and missed all five of their attempts from 3-point land.

Nevertheless the 31-turnovers proved too costly for South Central who remained winless on the season.

“This is a senior laden team and I thought we handled it (homecoming) tonight pretty well,” added Coach Niebrugge. “I like our pace. That (defensive pressure) is what we are built on. Pressure man-to-man. Sometimes our shots aren’t falling but you can never have a bad defensive night. We’ve got to get scores off of our defense and that is one of our goals.”

Both teams’ head back into action next week at the St. Elmo Holiday Tournament.

Top seeded Altamont plays Cowden-Herrick on Tuesday night at 6:15 pm while South Central plays the game following against Okaw Valley.

“Quite honestly you have to give credit to Altamont. They have such a swarming defense and they can take you out of your offense, especially with a young team like ours,” Coach Simmons added. “And you don’t get any breaks because they can bring in four or five guys off the bench who will play just as hard.

South Central (40) – Harmeier 3 0 6-9 12, Henken 0 0 0-0 0, Wilkins 1 0 2-2 4, Markley 0 0 0-0 0, Langley 2 0 1-1 5, O'Leary 0 0 0-0 0, Butts 0 0 0-0 0, Riley 3 0 0-0 6, Arnold 0 0 0-0 0, Ross 4 0 0-0 8, Powless 2 0 1-2 5. 2FG-15, 3FG-0, FT-10-14, PF-16.
Altamont (70) – Jackman 4 1 0-0 11, McGinnis 3 0 3-4 9, Ziegler 7 1 2-2 19, Borders 2 0 0-0 4, A. Goeckner 4 1 0-0 11, Armstrong 1 0 1-2 3, Seidel 0 0 0-2 0, Kuhns 1 0 0-2 2, J. Goeckner 0 0 0-0 0, Jahraus 4 0 1-2 9, Wolff 1 0 0-1 2. 2FG-27, 3FG-3, FT-7-15, PF-17.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.