01-21-13
BY JACK BULLOCK
NASHVILLE – Coach Dennis Rueter saw his Gibault Hawks take a step towards a repeat trip to the championship game of the Nashville Invitational Tournament on Tuesday night.

Using a game-changing 12-0 run to end the second quarter and begin the second half, Gibault bounced Mascoutah into the consolation bracket with a 63-54 win in the tournament opener.

Having finished the opening half with five consecutive points to break the game’s last tie at 25-all, this coach told his troops at halftime he wanted “five to become seven.”

As it turned out “five became twelve” and, despite a few sloppy offensive trips at the start of the fourth quarter, Gibault made it to the semifinal round for second straight time.

Nick Row, a 6-foot-1 senior vet, topped the Gibault scoring effort on the night with 16-points and an impressive 12-of-12 assault from the foul line.

Senior Wes Degener tossed in 13-points for the Hawks with Mitch Meyer and Tyler Enright added 11 and 10 for Gibault.

Degner and senior guard Zach Neff triggered the run by scoring twice in the last minute of the second quarter.

Degener scored on a move near the basket and Neff closed the quarter with a 3-pointer from the left wing to make it 30-25 at intermission.

A 3-pointer from Meyer and a drive to the basket Enright to begin the third quarter forced a Mascoutah timeout at 37-25.

“I thought we played pretty well. We talked about that at halftime. I thought that the three that Neff hit right before the half was big,” said Coach Rueter. “We ran a play coming out of the half. We ran what I think is our best set play and we want to go up seven. We didn’t score on it but I told them I want to establish right away and get separation. We got a couple of baskets and got the lead up and it was tough for them (Mascoutah) to come back.”

Although the Indians made a brief move in the fourth quarter thanks to Gibault miscues, the Tribe never got closer than six points in the loss that dropped their record to 3-15 on the season.

Six-foot-one junior Brian Pettiford topped Mascoutah with 14-points while Tim Parks added 10 and Andy Norrenberns chipped in nine.

Pettiford and Norrenberns helped get the Indians to within 52-46 with 2:41 remaining when that pair scored consecutive buckets as Gibault had three of their turnovers in the game during a two-minute stretch to open the final quarter.

However Gibault padded the lead and kept Mascoutah at ‘arm’s length’ by hitting 9-of-10 free throws in the final 1:59.

Six of those came from Row as Gibault improved to 14-3 on the season.

“There was no reason for the turnovers that we had (three in the fourth quarter) and we were pretty fortunate that we made free throws,” added Coach Rueter. “We have some kids that are experienced, not just basketball but in general. They have been through the wars (athletically) and they handle these situations pretty well.”

The Indians had chances in the fourth quarter but they didn’t make enough shots in the many opportunities.

Mascoutah hit 6-of-17 shots in the final eight minutes, hitting just 1-of-8 from beyond the arc in that time frame.

For the contest, Mascoutah finished 21-of-50 from the floor but the difference in points on the game came from the foul line.

While Gibault lived at the stripe, hitting 19-of-23 overall, the Indians were just 6-of-13 from the same spot.

Gibault hit 18-of-40 from the floor, but were very good from beyond the 3-point line, hitting 5-of-11.

Gibault used a 7-0 run to get an early lead in the first quarter but Mascoutah retaliated.

Jared Rueter hit his only shot of the contest, a 3-pointer from the right wing, which was followed by baskets by Enright and Meyer.

Head coach Cody Reynolds saw his Mascoutah club responded with a couple of first half runs of its own.

A Parks 3-pointer and a pair of scores by Pettiford and Trevahn Williams was a 7-0 run, also.

With Degener scoring again in the first quarter and a pair of late free throws by Row, Gibault was ahead 13-12 at the first horn.

MZ Duprey and Parks opened up the second quarter with 3-pointers and a rebound put back by Pettiford gave Mascoutah a 21-18 lead.

Following a rebound basket by Duprey, the Indians saw its lead disappear.

The Hawks completed the third quarter with a 19-10 advantage in the frame and a 49-35 lead heading into the fourth.

Mascoutah held a slight rebounding edge at 26-23 while the turnover battle with Gibault with eight and the Indians with nine.

Degener topped the Hawks with eight rebounds with Row grabbing five.

“When he plays well it makes us a lot better,” said Coach Rueter about Degener.

Gibault will face Breese Central in the first semifinal on Friday night while Mascoutah will take on Nashville on Thursday.

Mascoutah (54) – Williams 2 0 0-0 4, Simmons 0 1 4-6 7, Parks 2 2 0-1 10, Johnson 0 0 0-0 0, Pettiford 6 0 2-4 14, Manley 0 0 0-0 0, Duprey 1 2 0-0 8, White 1 0 0-0 2, Norreberns 3 1 0-2 9.
2FG-15, 3FG-6, FT-6-13, PF-20.
Waterloo Gibault Catholic (63) – Jared Rueter 0 1 0-0 3, Jacob Rueter 0 1 0-0 3, Enright 4 0 2-5 10, Z. Rueter 0 0 0-0 0, Neff 1 1 2-2 7, Meyer 1 3 0-0 11, Degener 5 0 3-4 13, Row 2 0 12-12 16.
2FG-13, 3FG-6, FT-19-23, PF-13.
Fouled Out – Duprey, White - Mascoutah.
Technical Fouls – None.

Hitting just 15-of-48 shots overall, and 3-of-22 from beyond the arc, Coach Brad Weathers’ club fell into the consolation bracket for the second consecutive year.