02-01-10
BY JACK BULLOCK
CISNE - The Cisne Running Lions got a pair of free throws from an unlikely source on Monday night in beating former Midland Trail Conference foe Dieterich.

Sophomore guard Aaron Billington who – according to Cisne head coach Kevin Bowen had been struggling from the foul line this season – was all business at the stripe with just :01 remaining in overtime.

Having gotten fouled by Dieterich’s Sam Thoele on a defensive rebound – the 6-foot-1 guard calmly sank both foul shots to give the Lions a well deserved 62-60 win at home.

Those important shots came on a night where two of the Cisne players shined brightly.

Hyden Byars and Ronnie Hyder each scored 27-points in leading the Lions to an improved 14-8 overall record.

Dieterich – coming off of a week in which they won the consolation championship of the National Trail Conference Tournament – didn’t do a good job of holding on to any of its second half leads.

The Movin’ Maroons saw their record slip to 10-8 after missing five free throws in the final two minutes of regulation to let Cisne off the deck.

In fact Dieterich – a normally 75 percent free throw shooting team for the season as indicated by head coach Jamie Vanscyoc – were just 9-18 on the night.

Dieterich – a team that nailed 12 3-point shots Saturday afternoon in beating Stewardson-Strasburg in the consolation final – hit nine more on Monday night.

But it was their failure to close out the game after having big leads in each of the final two quarters that resulted in their eighth loss of the season.

“We shot 9-of-18 from the foul line and we normally shoot at least 75 percent. That would have been more than enough tonight to win,” said a dejected Coach Vanscyoc – Dieterich’s head coach. “For whatever reason tonight – we didn’t make them.”

Following the 27’s from Byars and Hyder – Billington’s two free throws and two other field goals were good for six points while teammate Mathew Byars added two free throws of his own for the total of 62.

The Lions were 14-of-17 from the foul line – a clear difference maker in a close contest.

Byars and Hyder earned every point on this night as Dieterich threw a triangle-and-two against the Lions to try and slow down this scoring duo.

However the seniors stepped up to carry the load for the important home win as Cisne can now head into the regional tournament seeding process with another poker chip to throw in the postseason pot.

“We tried to play good defense on both Hyder and Byars and it isn’t saying very much for us when we let two players beat us,” added Coach Vanscyoc. “Give credit to them – they (Byars and Hyder) hit some very tough contested shots. But we didn’t play very well together tonight.”

Cisne matched each of the Movin’ Maroons’ moves in this game – rallying from being down ten points in the third quarter and six late in the fourth frame. They also trailed by as many as eight in the first half.

Each time the Lions responded with big runs.

A change in defense by Cisne – going to a trap late in the game – forced Dieterich into some mistakes and tough shots.

After shooting the ball pretty well up until the fourth quarter – Dieterich missed eight shots in the final eight minutes of regulation and committed three costly turnovers late.

“I thought they (Dieterich) were uncomfortable late in the game when we started trapping them,” added Bowen. “We talked before the game that you have to cover those guys (Dieterich’s guards) because they can all make those outside shots.”

Dieterich got going first in this game with six points coming from senior center Tony Probst and a pair of 3-point baskets by Cody Hinterscher and Blake Kuhl.

When Kuhl found the mark with 1:12 left – Dieterich led 16-11.

A pair of free throws by M. Byars closed out the stanza at 16-13.

Probst – a 6-foot-5 senior – was in foul difficulty and spent a lot of time on the Dieterich pine Monday night and that left a lot more room for Hyder to drive to the basket for Cisne.

Hyder scored six points in the second quarter on moves to the goal as the Lions overcame a 23-15 deficit to take the lead at halftime.

Following five straight points by Byars on a 3-pointer and drive in the lane – Hyder hit the final two shots of the second frame with both coming on moves past Dieterich defenders.

His second score came as the Lions held the ball for the final shot.

The 6-foot-1 senior guard dribbled all the way around the Dieterich defense for a baseline score that beat the buzzer for a 24-23 lead at the break.

A 14-2 run by Dieterich with Sam Thoele scoring five of them and Probst adding a conventional three-point play pushed the lead out to ten for the visitors in the third quarter.

But Cisne again countered with a 10-0 run to even the score at 40 heading to the fourth.

“They put a run on us in the third quarter and it was 40-30 but then we made a 10-0 run on them,” said Coach Bowen – whose team took this game seriously even though this is no longer a MTC game like it was for many seasons. “We got down tonight and earlier in the year we would get down and then we would start “jacking” up shots but tonight I thought we showed a lot of patience offensively."

A couple of three-point plays by seniors Cory Niemerg and Probst gave Dieterich some breathing room.

Probst stuck back a rebound while being fouled by M. Byars with 3:22 remaining in regulation to put the Maroons in a good position to escape with a win at 54-48.

But Dieterich didn’t hit their free throws and Cisne rallied with a pair of big mid-range shots from Byars and Hyder from near the top of the circle.

Hyder sent the game into overtime with a 17-footer from the right wing with :03 left.

Dieterich – after taking a timeout – turned the ball back over to Cisne on a double dribble by Hinterscher.

Byars took an off-balanced desperation heave that fell short as both teams readied themselves for overtime tied at 56-all.

Dieterich looked like they would get out of town with a win after scoring the first four points of the extra session with Jeremy Ohnesorge hitting a shot in the lane on a pass from Probst and 2-of-4 free throws from Thoele and Probst.

But Hyder hit 1-of-2 free throws and - after another turnover by the Maroons – Byars canned a long 3-pointer from the left wing to even the score at 60 with :21 remaining.

Holding the ball for a final – Dieterich got a good look at the basket with Probst launching a shot from in the lane as the seconds ticked down.

But his shot bounced off the backboard into the hands of Billington who was fouled by Thoele – setting up the winning free throws.

Dieterich was led in scoring by Kuhl with 20-points while Probst added 15.

They finished 21-of-56 from the floor on the night and were 9-of-30 from the 3-point line.

Dieterich also committed 16-turnovers.

Cisne was 23-of-46 (50 percent) overall and were out-boarded 34-25.

The Lions survived their own problems (15-turnovers) for the win.

“I thought our guys did a good job getting the basketball to them (Hyder and Byars) tonight,” added Coach Bowen. “Ronnie (Hyder) creates a lot of stuff off the dribble but Hayden – a lot of his stuff was ‘catch and shoot.’ Our guys set some good screens tonight and got them good looks at the basket.”

Dieterich (60) – Kuhl 1 5 3-6 20, Hinterscher 0 2 0-0 6, Thoele 2 1 0-3 7, Bohnhoff 1 1 0-0 5, Probst 5 0 5-6 15, Ohnesorge 2 0 0-0 4, Niemerg 1 0 1-3 3.
2FG-12, 3FG-9, FT-9-18, PF-16.
Cisne (62) – M. Byars 0 0 2-2 2, Billingtno 2 0 2-2 6, Lampley 0 0 0-0 0, Hyder 12 0 3-5 27, H. Byars 7 2 7-8 27, Maby 0 0 0-0 0, Atteberry 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-21, 3FG-2, FT-14-17, PF-18.
Fouled Out – M. Byars - Cisne.
Technical Fouls – None.