01-21-16
BY JACK BULLOCK
NASHVILLE - The Breese Central Cougars knew it was going to be a tough week, as it always is, at the Nashville Invitational Tournament.

And despite a very tough fourth quarter on Thursday night against the host, everything has gone as planned for the state-ranked club and number three ranked team in the ABV 2A top ten.

The Cougars improved their record to 17-2 on the season with a come-from-behind 51-48 victory over the Nashville Hornets.

With the win Coach Jeremy Shubert's team improved their mark in the NIT to 2-0.

Behind 26-points from senior guard Logan Kohrman and a late defensive stand that forced six fourth quarter Hornet turnovers, Central rallied in the final minutes to prevail.

“We got some stops. I thought Chase Schneider did a heck of a job guarding Royce Newman. He only had two points in the first half,” added Coach Shubert. “We persevered. We have to clean up the free throws (10-of-18). We have senior leadership.”

For Coach Brad Weathers' squad it was a bitter defeat in a game in which they, too, rallied in the fourth quarter to take a 46-40 lead with just 1:25 remaining.

But three of those turnovers came in the final 85 seconds, allowing Central a slight opening.

“A six-point lead with 1:08, and we don't take care of the basketball. That's the bottom line,” said Coach Weathers. “We worked very hard and a lot of the night was very good for us. We were down eight at one time and we worked very hard.”

Behind two free throws from Kohrman and his fifth 3-pointer of the game, Central began what turned out to be a game-winning 9-0 run to get back the lead for good.

Having struggled from the foul line early in the quarter, hitting just 1-of-4 charities, and getting just one field goal in a near six minute stretch, Central managed a final run to claim the victory over their rivals.

Junior forward Chase Schneider netted 11-points for the Cougars and Jack Strieker tossed in six-points for Breese Central.

Strieker hit a pair of important shots in the final frame, with his second basket being part of the final sprint to the finish that gave Central the lead 47-46 with :34 left.

“We didn't execute like we wanted to on the offensive end but a lot of that had to do with their (Nashville) physicality. Give our kids credit. We made some big plays. We need more guys to attack the rim (besides Kohrman),” said Coach Shubert. “Jack Strieker stepped up and got us two big lay ups.”

Senior forward Mitchell Rule scored just three-points in the game, but they were all in the final :20.7

He hit 3-of-4 free throws and his first two closed the 9-0 scoring burst.

Nashville was led by 6-foot-7 senior Royce Newman with 13-points, eight of which came in the final quarter.

Newman only had two-points in the first half as Central kept him in check.

“Central made it difficult for us to score inside. We worked hard and got that lead but then we made some poor decisions,” said Coach Weathers. “That cost us the ballgame. They have a lot of quickness out there and they have five guards that are 6-2, 6-3 all the way around. They have great guard play. They can cover a lot of ground.”

His bucket in the lane with :10.4 remaining cut the Hornets' deficit to just 49-48.

Rule hit just 1-of-2 free throws after a quick foul by Nashville, but the Hornets committed yet another turnover just moments later on a errant pass to Newman that went out of bounds.

Newman fouled Schneider before the ball could be inbounded after the turnover. Schneider then hit 1-of-2 from the line, making the second shot.

The Hornets' final chance turned into another turnover, their 14th of the contest as the Schneider intercepted a long pass as time expired on the Breese Central win.

Kohrman, who headed into the contest averaging 16.5 points a game, started out the game strong for Coach Shubert's team.

He scored 12 of Central's 16 first quarter points.

Kohrman got open for a pair of early 3-point bombs and netted a couple of baskets on drives to the goal.

His score in the final :40 of the quarter backed by a steal and fast break lay in by Strieker put Central on top 16-14 at the end of one.

Schneider canned a pair of 3-pointers in the second quarter and added a drive to the basket for eight points in the frame.

Six-foot-seven freshman Tyler Joest added a bucket in the stanza as his shot from near the basket forced a Nashville timeout with the Cougars up 23-16 with 4:45 left.

The Nashville backcourt of junior Hayden Heggemeier and senior Jaris Dalman netted 10-points each in the contest.

They both came up with scores in the final minutes of the half.

Dalman scored on a shot in the lane on a pass by teammate Brogan Kemp and Heggemeier added a 3-pointer from the left wing to make it 23-21 Central.

Schneider answered with a trey of his own for a five-point lead at the break.

Kohrman delivered a pair of 3-pointers in the third quarter as the Cougars appeared ready to put the Hornets away as they took a 32-24 lead.

But Nashville retaliated with a 9-2 run to end the third.

Junior guard Ryan Brink hit a 3-pointer while Dalman and senior Brady Bultman cashed in four-consecutive free throws.

Central was holding the ball in the final seconds for a last shot in the quarter when Kemp stepped in front of a Cougars' pass in sprinted to the other end of the floor for a lay up that beat the buzzer as Nashville trailed just 34-33 heading to the fourth.

Joest put Central up 38-33 by scoring on a drive to the basket while being fouled.

He converted the free throw for a five-point lead.

Nashville then went on a 13-2 run, with six of the points coming from Newman.

Heggemeier added five-points with a 3-pointer and when Brink hit a shot from the right wing, Nashville led 46-40.

Both teams shot the ball about the same from the floor.

The Hornets were 18-of-39 overall, 3-of-10 from the 3-point line.

Nashville held a 23-15 rebounding edge but they finished with 14-turnovers.

The Cougars were 17-of-39 overall, but 7-of-16 from long range with Kohrman leading the way.

Central committed just eight turnovers in the contest which helped lead to the win.

Coach Shubert will send his team back out on the court Friday night at 8 pm as they will tangle with crosstown rival Mater Dei, who are also 2-0 in the tournament.

Nashville saw its overall mark slip to 13-7 and are now 2-1 in the NIT.

The Hornets will play Mater Dei at 6:30 pm on Saturday.

“We will continue to get better but when you are that close it hurts,” said Coach Weathers. “We worked awfully hard tonight and then we let it slip away. It's tough.”

Breese Central (51) – Schulte 0 0 0-1 0, Kohrmann 4 5 3-4 26, Strieker 3 0 0-0 6, Rule 0 0 3-4 3, Schneider 1 2 3-8 11, Zanger 0 0 0-0 0, Joest 2 0 1-1 5.
2FG-10, 3FG-7, FT-10-18, PF-14.
Nashville (48) – Heggemeier 1 2 2-2 10, Dalman 4 0 2-2 10, Bultman 2 0 2-2 6, Brink 1 1 0-0 5, Newman 5 0 3-5 13, Kemp 2 0 0-2 4.
2FG-15, 3FG-3, FT-9-13, PF-14.
Fouled Out – Zanger - Breese Central.
Technical Fouls – None.

Mascoutah (29) – Stewart 0 2 0-0 6, Brandon 1 0 0-0 2, J. Johnson 1 0 0-0 2, Gibbons 0 0 0-0 0, Allen 0 0 0-0 0, Dressler 0 0 0-0 0, Mayberry 5 0 1-2 11, Flores 0 0 0-0 0, Weiss 2 0 1-2 5, Smith 0 0 0-0 0, Green 1 0 1-5 3.
2FG-10, 3FG-2, FT-3-9, PF-13.
Breese Mater Dei (53) – Goebel 0 0 0-0 0, Timmermann 3 0 0-0 6, Pollmann 2 0 2-2 6, Theising 1 0 0-0 2, Broeckling 2 1 0-0 7, Langenhorst 2 0 0-0 4, Boeckmann 2 0 3-3 7, Heimann 0 0 2-2 2, Kampwerth 2 0 0-0 4, Robben 1 0 0-0 2, Toennies 6 0 1-2 13.
2FG-21, 3FG-1, FT-8-9, PF-16.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.