01/20/2023
BY JACK BULLOCK
NASHVILLE - The Breese Central Cougars going on scoring streaks is nothing new and they added two big scoring runs on Friday night to separate themselves from their crosstown rivals at the 40th annual Nashville Invitational Tournament on Friday night.

After starting the game with eight-consecutive points Central put the game away in the second half.

An 18-3 scoring barrage at the end of the third quarter and beginning of the fourth propelled the Cougars to a spot in the NIT championship game on Saturday night.

The 54-41 win pushed Breese Central to a stout 20-2 on the season as they will face Nashville in the title game Saturday night.

In spite of a few shortcomings, Central will attempt to defend its championship against the Hornets for the second consecutive year.

Three of the Cougars ended up in double-figures for the game with 6-4 junior Zane Schrage netting 18 points in the win.

Senior guard Cody Dickshot added 13 points, with a 9-of-11 effort from the foul line.

Six-two senior Chase Lewis hit a pair of 3-pointers in the third quarter run and finished with 11 points.

Junior guard Mason Shubert (seven) and senior Bryce Behrman (five) rounded out the scoring in in the win.

Coach Cory Arentsen and his squad dropped into Saturday night's third place game and the overall mark is 10-9.

Junior backcourt player Nick Lampe was the only Knight that ended up in double-figures with 13.

Senior Dalton Markus added eight points and a trio of players all scored six points; senior Seth Winkeler, senior Jacob Hustedde and senior Cole Peppenhorst.

Although Central had its share of trouble on the night (turnovers) but for the most part they were in command.

The early minutes saw the Cougars strike with a pair of 3-point bombs by Lewis and Shubert along with a Schrage 18-footer from the left wing for an 8-0 lead with less than two minutes gone from the clock.

“The start (run) was a big part of it (the win). We rattled off eight points and that was huge,” said Coach Shubert.

Central hit 5-of-8 shots in the first quarter but they didn't shake loose from their rivals.

Consecutive buckets by Peppenhorst followed by a nice drive in the lane by Winkeler helped close the gap to 15-13 at the end of the first quarter.

Two different times during the contest the Cougars ran clock on the offensive end for extended periods of time.

Following scores by Lewis, Dickshot and Shubert extended the lead, Behrman drove into the lane and made a nice move for points with just under three minutes left in the half for a 24-19 advantage.

That turned out to be the halftime score as Central ran off just over two minutes off of the clock to close the half.

Although they didn't score, they shortened the game as Mater Dei went to the intermission down by five.

The best move of the night for the Knights came at the beginning of the second half with Hustedde scoring on a pair of drives to the basket and Lampe doing the same going down the left side of the lane for a score to force a Central time out at 26-25 Cougars with 4:20 left in the third quarter.

Whatever was said during the huddle worked for Central.

Back-to-back 3-pointers from Lewis and Schrage opened the avalanche of points in a game-changing effect.

Schrage, with the Cougars running a spread offensive, finished down the middle of the lane with a lay in.

A three-point play on another drive to the basket, this time by Behrman, and one more bomb by Lewis closed the quarter at 42-28 Cougars.

Schrage opened the fourth quarter with another inside score to close the run and basically end the drama with a 16-point lead.

“We called the timeout at 26-25 and then we hit those two big 3's and that kind of distanced us a little bit. My son (Mason) has been battling an ankle injury so we wanted to try and spread them out and let the other guys do some things,” said Coach Shubert. “I'm proud of the boys and we made enough free throws. Our defense was good tonight.”

Coach Shubert's club ran over two minutes off of the clock during one possession before getting a pair of free throws from Dickshot.

Dickshot came up big defensively as well.

“Cody makes so much happen on the defensive end. He touches so many basketballs (passes) and he was able to get to the rim and get some things done,” said Coach Shubert.

Mater Dei would get no closer than 10 points the remainder of the game as Central finished off the game by hitting 10-of-12 foul shots, 14-of-18 for the game.

Central nailed down 17-of-33 field goal attempts with 6-of-12 from the arc.

Mater Dei was just 16-of-38 and 3-of-16 from long range.

The rebounding totals were even (18-18) but Central held Mater Dei to just four offensive rebounds, three of which came in the final minutes.

Both teams were a bit sloppy with each team (Central 11, BMD 10) having double-digits in turnovers.

Central posted a 60-27 win over the Hornets at the Mater Dei Holiday Tournament back December 28th.

On the same night Mater Dei lost to Mascoutah, 61-57.

“They (Nashville) are playing much better. They will be ready to play us tomorrow night,” said Coach Shubert.

Breese Mater Dei (41) – Lampe 3 2 1-1 13, Winkeler 2 0 2-2 6, Wagner 0 0 2-2 2, Markus 2 1 1-1 8, Hustedde 3 0 0-1 6, Peppenhorst 3 0 0-0 6.
2FG-13, 3FG-3, FT-6-7, PF-16.
Breese Central (54) – Dickshot 2 0 9-11 13, Kueper 0 0 0-0 0, Shubert 2 1 0-0 7, Behrman 2 0 1-2 5, Schrage 4 2 4-4 18, Arnold 0 0 0-0 0, Helmink 0 0 0-0 0, Lewis 1 3 0-0 11.
2FG-11, 3FG-6, FT-14-18, PF-11.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – Schrage - Breese Central.

NASHVILLE 52, MASCOUTAH 38
According to Hornets' mentor Stote Reeder, Bennett Briles just keeps getting better.

The 6-9 senior forward scored 21 points Friday night, including a pair of back-breaking 3-pointers to open the fourth quarter as Nashville broke away from the Indians for the win.

The Hornets, who are now 13-10 on the season, outgunned Mascoutah 16-4 in the final eight minutes to win going away to advance to the title game.

Senior guards Rylan Hammer and Carter Schoenherr each added eight points in the win.

Senior Aidan Heiman (six) and freshman Maddox Ritzel (four) added to the offensive output.

Mascoutah (15-6) played right with the Hornets until the final quarter when things fell apart as the Indians will play Mater Dei in the third place game.

Trailing just 36-34 after three quarters, Coach Cole Schomaker saw his club go 1-of-10 from the floor with four turnovers in the final eight minutes.

The Indians were paced by three players with eight points apiece; sophomore guard Jayden McCoo, senior Quincy Hall and senior Michael Fox.

Junior Miles Ntekop added seven for Mascoutah.

Nashville finished the contest hitting 21-of-38 from the field, 4-of-9 from the 3-point line.

Mascoutah ended up just 13-of-32 overall and 4-of-16 from the arc.

The Indians fell behind early thanks to six first quarter turnovers but they rallied to tie the game at 25-25 at halftime.

Coach Schumaker's club held three different leads in the third quarter.

Ntekop and McCoo added points, including a three-point play by McCoo on a drive in the lane.

Ntekop hit two free throws for a 34-32 lead with 2:11 left.

Nashville got points from Ritzel and Hammer, who netted six points in the frame, for a 36-34 lead heading to the fourth.

The Hornets ended up with just five turnovers compared to 13 for the visitors.

Nashvile (52) – T. Schoenherr 0 0 0-0 0, Hammer 4 0 0-0 8, C. Schoenherr 4 0 0-1 8, Ritzel 2 0 0-0 4, Hill 0 0 0-0 0, Heiman 2 0 2-3 6, Reinburg 0 1 0-0 3, Cameron 0 0 0-0 0, Blazier 0 0 0-0 0, Gajewski 0 0 0-0 0, Loquasto 0 0 2-2 2, Briles 5 3 2-2 21. 2FG-17, 3FG-4, FT-6-8, PF-14.
Mascoutah (38) – Harris 0 1 2-2 5, Thompkins 0 0 0-0 0, McCoo 2 1 1-1 8, Hall 4 0 0-0 8, Adams 0 0 0-0 0, Eddy 0 0 0-0 0, Smith 0 0 0-0 0, Musso 0 0 0-0 0, Fox 1 2 0-0 8, Beer 0 0 2-2 2, Ntekop 2 0 3-4 7.
2FG-9, 3FG-4, FT-8-9, PF-16.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.