01-26-12
BY JACK BULLOCK
CENTRALIA – The Christ Our Rock Lutheran Silver Stallions won its Thursday night game against Ramsey in wire-to-wire fashion.

Coach Mike Shaffer's club blitzed the Rams with a strong first half defensive effort in route to a 54-28 win.

CORL held Ramsey to just eight first half points as Coach Bill Eddy's bunch managed to make just 3-of-22 shots in the first two quarters.

Six-foot junior Hayden Klockenga topped the scoring parade for the Silver Stallions with 16-points while teammate Kyle Hahn, also a 6-foot junior, netted 10.

Nine different CORL players inked the book in the lopsided win.

Ramsey was led by 5-foot-8 sophomore Ryan Kelly with 11-points.

Hitting on just a single shot attempt in the first quarter (1-of-13) Ramsey fell behind early.

In previous games Coach Mike Shaffer felt his team had banked too much on the 3-point shot.

However on this night, the Silver Stallions did their offensive damage on the inside and in transition.

As a result CORL got a lot of easy chances, especially in the first two quarter.

“We came out and played pretty well in the first quarter. We put a little press on them (Ramsey) and I told the kids we need to pick it up (pace) and run,” said Coach Shaffer, whose team is now 11-9 on the season. “I thought the kids played pretty well on offense.”

Connecting on 8-of-13 shots in the first quarter alone, CORL sprinted out to a commanding advantage as they never let the Rams into contention.

Hahn and Klockenga combined to net 15-points in the opening stanza.

With the score 5-3 after a trey by Roberts, CORL scored the games' next 22-points.

A driving fast break lay in by Klockenga and a pair of free throws by Hahn closed the first frame at 19-3.

Tyler Burmester and Chris Turner also got into the fun with baskets to begin the second quarter.

Burmester scored in transition and Turner took a nice pass from teammate Ben Maschhoff for a jumper for a 23-3 lead.

Two more buckets by Klockenga pushed the lead to 27-3 with 4:18 left before the half.

Ramsey managed to score five more points before the half ended with Roberts nailing a 3-pointer from the left win and Jacob Bergin grabbing a rebound for a stick back as the Rams headed to the lockerroom down 35-8.

“I'm trying to teach the kids how to screen and pick-and-roll to the basket,” Shaffer explained. “These kids have a long way to go. We are trying to get them ready for the regionals.”

Ramsey, to their collective credit, didn't fold up the tents and played much better in the second half.

Coach Eddy's team made its best, yet brief, offensive run in the third quarter.

Tyler Pryor connected on a 3-point shot which was followed by baskets by Ryan Blakc and Roberts.

Roberts took an inbound pass for a lay up to cut the Rams disadvantage to 37-17.

Klockenga, Burmester and Maschhoff scored in succession to make it 44-17 with 1:20 remaining in the third quarter.

Reserve freshman Mitchell Kroeger got in the scoring act for Christ Our Rock Lutheran, hitting on a pair of fast break lay ins to open the final frame as the lead ballooned to 50-20 with 6:18 remaining.

When Kroeger added another basket (six points in the frame) CORL had its largest advantage of the contest at 54-22.

Christ Our Rock Lutheran hit on 24-of-45 shots overall while missing both of its 3-point attempts.

Ramsey was just 11-of-51 from the floor overall (21.5 percent) and just 3-of-19 from behind the arc.

The Silver Stallions out rebounded the Rams 32-25 and forced Ramsey into 20-turnovers.

CORL ended up with 18-turnovers but 13 of those came in the second half after the outcome had already been decided.

“I thought we rebounded the ball pretty well but I still believe we can do better,” added Coach Shaffer. “I hope we play a bit better Saturday night.”

CORL will take on Patoka on Saturday night in the tournament title game while Ramsey will play Mulberry Grove in the fifth place game, also Saturday night.

Ramsey (28) – Aderman 1 0 0-2 2, Roberts 2 0 2-4 6, Kelly 2 2 1-2 11, Black 2 0 0-0 2, Bergin 1 0 0-0 2, Pryor 0 1 0-0 3, Lamez 0 0 0-0 0, Wesselman 0 0 0-4 0. 2FG-8, 3FG-3, FT-3-12, PF-9.
Christ Our Rock Lutheran (54) – Turner 2 0 2-2 6, Maschoff 2 0 0-0 4, Kroeger 3 0 0-0 6, Hine 1 0 0-0 2, Burmester 3 0 0-0 6, Mueller 1 0 0-0 2, Hahn 3 0 4-6 10, Klockenga 8 0 0-0 16, Boehne 1 0 0-2 2, Krenz 0 0 0-0 0. 2FG-24, 3FG-0, FT-6-10, PF-10.
Fouled Out – Roberts, Ramsey.
Technical Fouls – None.

Mulberry Grove got 17-point points from sophomore guard Devonta Williams and 10-points from John Rickman in the loss.

Derek Phillips added seven points, all in the second half, for Coach Bobby Koontz' club.

Brandon Niemeier topped all scorers with 22-points for Metro-East.

Metro-East Lutheran JV (58) – Batts 3 0 2-6 8, Keener 1 1 1-5 6, Ansly 2 0 0-2 4, Benning 5 0 2-3 12, James 0 0 0-0 0, Niemeier 7 2 2-6 22, Ethan 3 0 0-0 6. 2FG-21, 3FG-3, FT-7-22, PF-12.
Mulberry Grove (51) – Miller 2 0 0-0 4, Dawson 0 1 3-4 6, Williamson 4 2 3-3 17, Ketchem 1 0 0-2 2, Phillips 3 0 1-2 7, Ja. Rickman 2 0 0-0 4, Jo. Rickman 5 0 0-0 10. 2FG-17, 3FG-3, FT-7-11, PF-8.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.