02-10-15
BY JACK BULLOCK
TRENTON -Heading into Tuesday night's contest at Cahokia Conference rival Wesclin, the Breese Central Cougars were in search of their eighth league title since 2004.

After a great start and a big finish, Coach Jeremy Shubert's squad accomplished the mission.

Jumping out to a 14-2 lead early and hitting the big shots in the fourth quarter, Breese Central clinched the Mississippi Division crown with a 56-51 win on the road.

Behind 22-points from junior forward Logan Kohrmann and a defensive stand in the final quarter that forced the Warriors into 11-consecutive missed 3-point shots, Central improved to 21-6 overall and closed out the conference portion of their slate at 9-1.

Kohrmann led the club to the win with another key stat as he helped the Cougars get to the foul line many more times than the hosts did.

The 6-foot-2 junior nailed 8-of-8 from the charity stripe, as Breese Central was successful 21-of-30 on the night while Wesclin was 7-of-9.

Jack Strieker, a 6-foot-2 sophomore, added 16-points for the Cougars.

Wesclin was led by 6-foot-7 junior center Jake Stephens, who battled foul trouble but still came up with a stellar performance.

Stephens netted 20-points despite picking up his third personal foul in the first quarter and having to spend time on the pine.

He helped trigger both of the Wesclin scoring moves in the middle two quarters for the Warriors as they scrambled back into the contest after trailing by 13-points in the second quarter (18-3).

Senior guard Brendan Bernhardt added 16-points for the Warriors as these two nearly made winners of Wesclin on the night.

However Central, as this program has been prone to do in its successful run of play over the last decade, stayed calm and held their collective composure.

Despite a few missed free throws in the final minutes, they held off the hosts by forcing the opposition into a 20-of-52 shooting effort.

This included a 4-of-21 showing from long range.

“It was important for us to get off to a good start but give them (Wesclin) credit. Stephens got the three fouls but they stuck with him. We tried to attack him some but we are just not a team that scores with our back to the basket,” said Coach Shubert. “So we tried to attack him off the dribble.”

The Cougars didn't shoot the ball well themselves (17-of-43) but held on with the defensive stand and the free throw parade.

Coach Brent Brede of Wesclin saw his team get off to a poor start and, even though they managed to rally for a brief lead, the Warriors fell to 17-8 overall and 6-2 in the league with both losses coming to the Cougars.

Breese Central drilled the Warriors, 62-42 on January 6.

“Late in the game we had a hard time getting the ball inside. Jake was having his way inside but we couldn't him the catch and some of that has to do with the way that Central guarded us but but a lot of it has to do with our guys have to be patient and have confidence that they can get it to him,” said Coach Brede. “And we didn't do that enough late in the game.”

This contest started out with Breese Central getting the defensive stops and scoring from the foul line.

Hitting 5-of-6 from the line to go with a 3-pointer from Strieker, the Cougars “streaked” out to an early advantage.

A steal and a fast break score by senior Robbie Harmon was one of three first quarter turnovers by Wesclin that produced Central scores.

Sophomore guard Kolby Schutte and Kohrmann each scored in the final minute.

Kohrmann took a pass from teammate Chase Schneider to close the frame at 14-2 Cougars.

Stephens picked up his third foul on a block call in the lane with 2:04 remaining and was relegated to the bench for a time.

Central appeared to be headed for a impressive runaway victory with yet another scoring burst in the second quarter.

Three straight scores on drives to the basket by Kohrman, twice, and Strieker forced a full timeout by Coach Brede as his Warriors were in trouble at 24-8 with 4:38 to go before interemission.

The stoppage worked as the Warriors reacted with their first rally.

Coach Brede took a chance and put Stephens back into the game and the junior big man responded with a huge quarter.

He netted eight consecutive points for Wesclin, getting inside for some nice moves and a key rebound of his own missed shot to get the Warriors back into the game.

Two free throws by Stephens and a 3-point bomb by Bernhardt got the Orange and Black attack going and forced Coach Shubert into a timeout with 1:55 left.

Following a Strieker drive to stop the Warriors run briefly, Wesclin closed out the quarter with consecutive scores by junior Jared Timmermann as the teams went to the half at 28-23 Central.

“I thought defensively (in the second quarter) we kind of stood at times and let them score too often. But defensively Kohrman and Mitchell Rule did a nice job on #25 and #12 (Timmermann and Steenbergen) defensively,” said Coach Shubert. “They have been pretty good scorers for them but they shut them down.”

Seven straight points in the middle of the third quarter by the hosts produced the game's first tie.

Stephens continued to score inside and 3-pointer from junior guard Jarad Steenbergen evened things at 34-all with 3:26 left in the stanza.

Central hit just 3-of-13 shots in the quarter and when Wesclin added a pair of scores in the 1:15, the Warriors led 39-36.

Michael Thoele, a 6-foot-1 senior, canned a 3-pointer from the left corner and Bernhardt added a drive down the middle of the lane from a spread offense for a three-point advantage heading to the fourth.

Central got a huge basket from Strieker to open the final quarter on a drive that produced a three-point play and also coaxed Stephens' fourth foul with 7:31 left.

“That was a big play (Strieker's three-point play) that got us back even. He is going to have to keep attacking the basket for us,” said Coach Shubert.

The Cougars managed to pull out the victory, trailing 43-41, by four straight free throws from Kohrman and then a back door cut to the basket by Harmon for a 47-43 lead.

Breese Central tightened up the defense and made the Warriors pay from the foul line.

Kohrman, junior Mitchell Rule and Strieker combined to hit 5-of-6 free throws while Wesclin was missing from the arc.

Despite gathering up four offensive rebounds in the stretch of missed long range shots, the Warriors couldn't take advantage of the chances.

A rebound basket by senior Justin Goff got Wesclin to within 54-51 with :14 remaining.

However two more free throws, this time by Schneider, closed the chapter.

Central was just 17-of-43 from the field (39.5 percent) and were out-boarded 30-26.

Nevertheless, Breese Central took care of another conference race and can now get ready for a postseason regional that is loaded with a pair of non-conference home games (Greenville and Alton Marquette Catholic) to finish the regular season.

“The teams that have beat us this year have had size. Our six losses are to Nashville (twice), Mater Dei (twice) and Mette got us at T-Town for 32-points and Columbia got us earlier in the year,” said Coach Shubert. “We have struggled guarding the post this year so we are going to have to keep battling.”

Wesclin still has work to do with league games against Freeburg and Columbia.

“As bad as we were in the first quarter it was amazing that we came back and took the lead. When you look at how this game was lost, it was lost when we came out in the first quarter and we didn't guard them and weren't focused,” said Coach Brede. “It is hard to explain and I give our guys credit for fighting back and putting ourselves in a position to win but the first quarter for us is a tough one to understand.”