01-23-10
BY JACK BULLOCK
NASHVILLE - The host Nashville Hornets got off to a good start on Saturday night in the title game of its own Nashville Invitational Tournament.

Unfortunately for Coach Brad Weathers’ team – the start was the only thing that was noble on this night.

Breese Central scored 20-consecutive points after spotting the Hornets an early basket and cruised to a 44-29 championship game rout at the Assembly Hall.

The Cougars took home their second straight NIT crown with a suffocating defensive performance – limiting the hosts to just 10-of-47 shooting on the night from the floor (21 percent) as they improved to 17-2 overall.

Nashville (14-6) was a ghastly 3-of-22 from behind the 3-point line and was dominated on the glass 30-16.

While the Hornets struggled in all offensive phases – Central did enough overall to overcome 19 turnovers and foul trouble to some key players.

Garrett Gaffner continued his quality play he has shown not only in this season but also in his varsity career.

The 6-foot-5 senior led all scorers with 16-points while grabbing three rebounds and handing out four assists.

Sam Brown topped Nashville with seven points in a contest that was even more lopsided than the final score indicated.

But none of the stats really mattered after the first ten minutes of the contest as Central “rocked” Nashville with a crowd-silencing run to open the game.

“When you look at it, that was the key to the game. The kids came out really ready to play. On both ends of the floor they really did a tremendous job,” said Central mentor Stan Eagleson. “The start gave us a lot of confidence and that is important playing these guys. We have had all of those close games with them and that gave us a cushion.”

Following a drive to the basket by the Hornets Brock Pries that began the game’s scoring with two minutes gone in the championship tilt – Central took over.

Gaffner and teammate David Wiegmann combined for 10 of the Cougars’ first 11 points.

Wiegmann scored on three consecutive trips up the floor to push the lead to 9-2 and forced a Nashville timeout to try and halt the run.

The timeout only delayed the inevitable as Breese Central cold-heartedly went for the jugular as Gaffner scored on a short hook shot in the lane and Blake Norrenberns canned a wide-open 3-pointer from the top of the arc to close the first quarter at 14-2 Cougars.

The Hornets were just 1-of-13 from the floor (0-6 from 3-point land) in the opening eight minutes.

“We continued to battle and fought to the end against Central and I actually thought we did a decent job defensively but we just couldn’t score any points,” said Nashville head coach Brad Weathers. “They are bigger than us at probably all five spots on the floor. For us to beat them, we have to be on. The effort was there tonight and we guarded them pretty well and held them to 44 points. You have to credit their defense because we couldn’t get it done offensively.”

Six consecutive shots by Gaffner and another Nashville timeout later and the lead was 20-2 inside a very still Assembly Hall on the Hornets side.

A shaky final three minutes of the first half by Breese Central allowed for some hope to creep in for the hosts as Nashville used this lapse from the Cougars to make a brief run.

Kyle Heggemeier nailed a 3-pointer from the right corner and Gannon Mamell hit a 15-footer from near the foul line as part of an 8-2 run to close the half as the Hornets trailed just 23-11 at the break.

A bucket by Brock Pries to open the third quarter got Nashville as close as it would get to Central at 23-13.

Central outscored the hosts 8-2 the rest of the frame and took a 31-15 lead into the final quarter thanks to back-to-back fast break scores by Central’s Brandon Rakers.

A 6-0 run by the Cougars with Gaffner scoring twice in the lane and a score by Brandon Book made it 42-21.

Nashville scored the games’ last seven points to make the trouncing look a bit closer than it was.

The Cougars were 19-of-36 from the field (53 percent) with Gaffner hitting 7-of-11 of his attempts. Wiegmann added eight points as did Book.

Book – a 6-foot-6 sophomore – also played well defensively as did the rest of his teammates. Book was credited with four of the Cougars’ seven blocked shots.

In a rematch of the Mater Dei Holiday Tournament championship contest – Central’s defense was the difference according to Eagleson.

“It is tough inside for them (Nashville) because of our size and they have to rely on the perimeter shot. We tried to contest them a little better tonight than we did the last time,” added Coach Eagleson referring to the Cougars’ 40-36 win over the Hornets in the finale of the Mater Dei Holiday Tournament. “Overall we did a much better job. We didn’t give up too many points in this tournament and that is what good teams do. The defense will be there every night if you give the effort and keep working hard at it. You’re going to miss shots and Nashville didn’t have a good shooting night and we’re going to go through some of those nights so the defense has got to be there night in and night out.”

Central and Nashville both head back into conference play next Friday as the Cougars take on Freeburg at home and the Hornets host Chester.

“Nashville always gets after you defensively and that was part of it (turnovers) too,” finalized Eagleson. “Looking down the road that is the biggest thing we have to improve on is taking better care of the ball. I told the kids that this is the end of January and it is time to cut out some of those mistakes that we have been making.”

Breese Central (44) – Rakers 2 0 1-2 5, Timmermann 0 0 0-0 0, Poettker 0 0 1-2 1, Wiegmann 4 0 0-1 8, Norrenberns 0 1 1-1 4, Finan 0 1 0-0 3, Scheer 0 0 0-0 0, Jackson 0 0 0-0 0, Book 4 0 0-0 8, Gaffner 7 0 2-2 16.
2FG-17, 3FG-2, FT-5-8, PF-16.
Nashville (29) – Guest 1 0 0-0 2, Mamell 1 1 0-0 5, Meyer 0 0 1-2 1, Fieber 0 0 1-1 1, Pries 3 0 0-0 6, Brown 0 1 4-8 7, Heggemeier 0 1 0-0 3, Lietz 0 0 0-0 0, Sachtleben 1 0 0-0 2, Holle 1 0 0-2 2. 2FG-7, 3FG-3, FT-6-12, PF-13.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.

BREESE MATER DEI 46, MASCOUTAH 27
The Knights (13-6) finished the NIT in third place with the win over the 8-11 Indians.

Coach Brian Perkes’ club was led by sophomore Cory Arentsen with 13-points while senior Alec Kuhl added 10.

MD led 24-11 at halftime and Mascoutah never threatened.

Logan Wager and Jacob Lider topped the Tribe with five points each.

Mascoutah (27) – Schmittling 0 0 0-0 0, Stevenson 2 0 0-0 4, T. Wager 0 1 0-2 3, Pollman 0 1 0-0 3, Von Bokel 1 0 0-0 2, Bregenhorn 0 0 4-4 4, Huffman 0 0 0-0 0, Lider 1 1 0-0 5, Campbell 0 0 1-2 1, L. Wager 2 0 1-2 5, Schipper 0 0 0-0 0, Segelhorst 0 0 0-0 0. 2FG-6, 3FG-3, FT-6-10, PF-13.
Breese Mater Dei (46) – Detmer 1 1 0-0 5, Richards 2 0 0-0 4, Arentsen 3 2 1-2 13, Beckmann 0 1 2-2 5, Kampwerth 2 0 0-0 4, Kuhl 3 0 4-4 10, Sherman 1 0 0-0 2, Timmermann 0 0 0-0 0, Fuehne 1 0 0-0 2, Donnewald 0 0 0-0 0, Weinberg 0 0 1-2 1. 2FG-13, 3FG-4, FT-1-2, PF-13.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.

WALTONVILLE 59, WESCLIN 54
Getting some revenge from a loss two weeks ago – the Spartans took home the consolation championship with a win over the Warriors behind 19-points from Skyler Witges and 12-points and 10-rebounds from Joseph Lewis.

Coach Mike Denault’s squad rebounded from a loss to Mascoutah for two straight close wins to finish the week 2-1 and improve the overall mark to 14-4.

Using a late surge – Waltonville broke a 42-all tie at the end of three quarters to avenge a 76-69 loss to Wesclin at the Centralia Shootout on January 9th.

Wesclin (10-11) was led by 6-foot-7 junior Phil Kunz with 19-points and 10-rebounds while Alex Wilken added 16-points.

The smaller Spartans crashed the boards and out rebounded Wesclin 40-19 with Dylan Johnson grabbing nine of the rebounds to go with his six points.

Gavin Bassett came up with 10-points and six rebounds for the Spartans as they were 20-of-58 from the field and held the Warriors to just 18-of-51.

Waltonville (59) – Bassett 4 0 2-2 10, Wheatley 1 0 1-2 3, Witges 4 3 2-3 19, Stanhouse 3 0 3-4 9, Compton 0 0 0-0 0, Johnson 2 0 2-3 6, Lewis 3 0 6-8 12.
2FG-17, 3FG-3, FT-16-24, PF-18.
Wesclin (54) – Isenhower 0 0 0-0 0, West 0 2 1-2 7, Wilken 4 1 5-8 16, Klein 1 2 2-2 10, Kunz 7 0 5-7 19, Hilmes 1 0 0-0 2, Deterding 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-21, 3FG-3, FT-17-25, PF-17.
Fouled Out – Klein, Kunz - Wesclin.
Technical Fouls – None.

GIBAULT CATHOLIC 55, FREEBURG 49
The seventh place contest went to the Hawks as Kyle Prader paced Gibault with 24-points and 10-rebounds as Coach Dennis Rueter’s club improved to 8-12 with the victory.

Freeburg (2-19) got 21-points from Conner Halloran and 16-points from Dustin Kimball in defeat.

Gibault outgunned the Midgets 21-11 in the fourth quarter to rally for the win.

Freeburg was just 4-of-12 from the foul line in the loss.

Gibault Catholic (55) – Rueter 0 1 1-2 4, Hogrefe 1 0 3-6 5, Stumpf 0 0 4-4 4, Wiegand 0 0 1-3 1, Kovarik 0 0 0-0 0, McFarland 0 0 0-0 0, Prader 11 0 2-2 24, Cooper 0 0 1-2 1, Pratl 3 2 4-4 16, Meyer 0 0 0-0 0, Reinholz 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-15, 3FG-3, FT-16-23, PF-11.
Freeburg (49) – Money 0 0 2-2 2, Stuhlsatz 0 0 0-2 0, Becker 0 0 0-0 0, Hill 0 0 0-0 0, Knapp 0 1 0-0 3, Wolf 1 0 0-0 2, Halloran 4 4 1-2 21, Starnes 1 0 0-0 2, Koesterer 0 0 0-0 0, Brown 1 0 1-2 3, Kimball 5 2 0-3 16,
2FG-12, 3FG-7, FT-4-12, PF-16.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.