02-18-2021
BY JACK BULLOCK
RED BUD- For Red Bud head coach CJ Cruser on Thursday night, the strategy for his Kaskaskia Division home game against Marissa-Coulterville was similar to what you would see in the National Hockey League.

Although the substitutions weren't technically “changing on the fly” like on the ice, Coach Cruser initially used two groups of five every few possessions.

The wholesale changes allowed the Musketeers to keep fresh players on the court and that depth helped wear down the Meteors.

Taking the lead with a 12-1 scoring run in the middle part of the first quarter, Red Bud never trailed again in a 45-25 conference win.

The Musketeers are now 3-1 overall and in the division with the victory.

Coach Cruser played 13 kids in the contest and nine of them scored points in the victory.

“We didn't get to practice much. We had four contact days before our first game and we didn't have any continuity so I decided to practice five guys in one group and five guys in another group. These five and those five. Just trying to get some continuity,” said Coach Cruser. “That's been my philosophy with this team. We made sure we had a good lineup with each five. I've been taking turns with them starting each game. Those ten and I've been mixing in the other three in spots.”

Red Bud was topped by a pair of players who netted 10 points each.

Six-foot-two junior Nic Fehr and 6-foot-9 senior Mason Ferrell were the two double-figure scorers on the night for the hosts.

Max Diewald, a 6-foot-3 senior, added eight points and 6-foot-2 senior Parker Van Dorn produced six.

Marissa-Coulterville (0-2) got 11 points from 6-foot junior guard Hunter Baker in the loss.

Coach Scott Wine had his club within striking distance in the second quarter but they failed to capitalize on the Musketeers' foul issues before halftime.

The Meteors, down just 10 with just over three minutes left in the half, missed six consecutive free throws on three trips to the line in the act of shooting.

Combined with a pair of late scores from Red Bud, Coach Wine's squad trailed 27-13 at intermission.

Sophomore guard/forward Garett Harrel added seven points for Marissa-Coulterville.

Junior Caleb Trieb scored four points and senior Nolan Cathcart added three points for M-C.

The young Meteors (Cathcart is the only senior) struggled from the field hitting just 10-of-38 (26.3 percent) overall, including 0-of-9 from the 3-point arc.

Add 21 turnovers to the stats and the Meteors looked like the young team that they are.

Baker and Harrel hit a field goal each in the early moments of the game that gave M-C a brief 4-3 lead.

However back-to-back 3-pointers from Diewold got Red Bud going early.

Each of his treys were from the same spot (left wing) which started a string of 10 consecutive points.

Fehr scored on an inbounds pass which was followed by an offensive rebound bucket by Ferrell.

A 3-pointer by Fehr made it 13-4 with 2:16 left in the first frame.

Van Dorn scored a pair of baskets in the final minute as Red Bud led 17-7 at the first horn.

Baker got a pair of shots to fall in the second quarter to get the deficit down to just 19-11.

Ferrell used his size advantage to nail down three straight scores.

His third shot to fall was followed by a late quarter basket by junior Easton Lucht.

With the six missed free throws in succession, Marissa-Coulterville failed to score in the final 3:47 of the half and trailed by 14.

Fehr added a drive to the basket for a score and then another 3-pointer before some other Musketeers got in on the fun in the third quarter.

Sophomore Devin Hall cashed in a couple of free throws before senior Wyatt Cowell added a bucket from the right corner.

A tip-in at the third quarter horn by sophomore Evan Dressel pushed the lead to 38-18 Red Bud.

Red Bud began the fourth quarter with consecutive buckets by Diewold and Ferrell for a 42-18 lead.

M-C got a pair of baskets in the fourth quarter from Trieb and a conventional three-point play by sophomore Herrell to close out the Meteors' scoring before the hosts ran out the clock.

Red Bud had problems on offense as well but the defensive effort along with a rebounding edge proved to be the difference.

The Musketeers held a 33-25 edge on the glass and they survived 10 third quarter turnovers by hitting 4-of-10 shots from the field while snagging 11 rebounds (five offensive) in the stanza.

“They (Marissa-Coulterville) don't have the numbers that we have (players) and our size hurt them. Our big guys got some buckets early and that helped,” said Coach Cruser. “We weren't very good in the third quarter but our defense got us stops.”

For the game Coach Cruser's club netted 19-of-46 overall (41.3 percent) and 4-of-11 from the 3-point arc.

Both teams are hoping to get back into action this weekend, weather permitting.

Red Bud will travel to Steeleville on Saturday to play the Warriors.

Steeleville is now 2-0 on the season and in the league with wins over Lebanon and Dupo.

Marissa-Coulterville is supposed to host Lebanon on Saturday.