01-22-11
BY JACK BULLOCK
NASHVILLE –  Free throws can win a team a championship.

But it can also contribute to a teams' downfall.

In Saturday nights championship contest of the 29th annual Nashville Invitational Tournament the Mater Dei Knights can look to missed opportunities at the foul line for their eventual 38-35 loss to rival Breese Central.

Going just 4-of-12 from the charity stripe on the night – while missing four consecutive free throws in the fourth quarter – the Knights allowed Breese Central to hang around long enough for the Cougars to rally for the three-point win.

Breese Central took full advantage of the MD problems by cashing in late with a pair of free throws from 6-foot-6 junior forward Brandon Book that gave Central its final margin with just :02.1 remaining.

Mater Dei's Connor Beckmann missed a desperation 3-pointer from half court at the buzzer as the Central won its third consecutive NIT championship in front of a large crowd at the Assembly Hall.

Coach Stan Eagleson's Cougars saw their record improve to 18-2 with the triumph while the Knights and coach Brian Perks tasted defeat for the first time this season after 18-straight wins.

“That has been the strength of this team all year and I keep telling you guys this after every game that offensively we're not very good and we have to get better but defense keeps us in the game,” said Coach Eagleson.

BC also got a bit of revenge on MD after losing to their rivals 48-44 back on December 30 in the championship game of the Mater Dei Holiday Tournament.

Book led all scorers in the low scoring contest with 13-points while teammate Blake Norrenberns chipped in 12.

The previously unbeaten Knights didn't put a player in double-figures as Cory Arentsen led the way with seven points while Tyler Detmer, Jacob Kampwerth and Trevor Richards added six points apiece.

“It came down to the last possession which has been pretty characteristic of the times that we have played them (Central),” said Mater Dei mentor Brian Perkes. “It was kind of an ugly game and I think that (defense) is why it was ugly. Defensively both teams are pretty physical. There is some athleticism on both teams and it is just difficult to score.”

In a game in which defenses were dominant – Central managed to put together enough offense in the final quarter to eek out the victory.

Freshman Jacob Timmerman hit perhaps the biggest shot of his brief varsity career to give Central the lead for good with 5:41 remaining in the fourth quarter.

His 3-pointer from the left wing put Central up 34-31.

“I thought Jacob Timmermann hitting that big three gave us a little bit of cushion and after that it was defense and free throws,” added Coach Eagleson. “It was just a real ugly game, I don't know what else to say.”

Despite five fourth quarter turnovers – 18 for the game – Breese Central hung on for the win.

Central had problems dealing with Mater Dei's half-court trap defense.

“That (the trap) has been pretty successful for us and it did create some turnovers,” added Coach Perkes. “Unforunately we weren't able to turn those turnovers into many points tonight.”

Mater Dei had its chances in the final minutes but were just 3-of-11 from the floor and committed four turnovers of their own.

Two of the made shots – a fast break score by Arentsen after a steal and then a tip in by Kampwerth who followed up his own miss – cut the Central margin to 36-35 with 3:21 remaining.

But the Knights failed to score the rest of the way in tasting defeat for the first time this season.

A costly turnover for Mater Dei with Arentsen called for traveling gave the ball back to Central with :03.9 remaining.

After committing a couple of fouls to get Central to the line – Book finished of the Knights with a pair of clutch free throws.

“We were able to guard them that last fifteen seconds,” added Coach Eagleson. “We played good defense and forced that turnover and then Book-er made the free throws.”

Neither team shot the ball well on the night as Central finished 15-of-42 from the floor overall and just 1-of-8 from behind the 3-point arc.

Mater Dei ended up just 13-of-50 overall – 5-of-20 from beyond the 3-point line.

Central out rebounded the Knights 27-19 and hit a better percentage from the foul line as they connected on 7-of-9 (78 percent).

“We missed four in a row (free throws) in the fourth quarter and that is uncharacteristic of this team,” Coach Perkes added. “We are going to be judged on how we handle this (loss). Are we going to move forward or are we going to base our whole season on this loss. If I know this group of kids like I think I do we'll come out and work extremely hard on Monday and get ready for our game on Tuesday and move forward.”

Breese Central (38) – Rakers 1 0 2-2 4, J. Timmermann 0 1 0-0 3, Grapperhaus 1 0 0-0 2, A. Timmermann 0 0 0-0 0, Becker 1 0 0-0 2, Thomas 0 0 0-0 0, Schulte 0 0 0-0 0, Norrenberns 6 0 0-1 12, Rickoff 0 0 0-0 0, Ke. Scheer 1 0 0-0 2, Book 4 0 5-5 13, Ky. Scheer 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-14, 3FG-1, FT-7-9, PF-14.
Breese Mater Dei (35) – Detmer 05, 2 0-0 6, Beckmann 0 1 0-0 3, Timmermann 0 0 2-2 2, S. Fuehne 0 0 0-0 0, Arentsen 12 1 0-2 7, Richards 1 1 1-3 6, Kampwerth 3 0 0-2 6, Weinberg 0 0 0-0 0, A. Fuehne 2 0 1-2.
2FG-8, 3FG-5, FT-4-12, PF-14.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.

NASHVILLE 50, GIBAULT CATHOLIC 39
The host Hornets took home third place honors on Saturday night with a win over the Hawks.
Led by Donovan Holle with 11-points and Sam Brown with 10 – Nashville saw its record improve to 17-3 on the season with the victory.

Gibault saw its mark slip to 11-7 despite a game best 16-points from Spencer Stumpf.

Nashville bounced back from a tough semifinal loss to Central on Friday night a win on Saturday.

Coach Brad Weathers' club dialed up long distance by hitting 7-of-13 shots from behind the 3-point arc and held on for the win despite hitting just 11-of-23 from the foul line.

Holled scored six of his points in the early minutes of the game to give Nashville a lead that it wouldn't relinquish.

Grabbing his own rebound – Holle's put back with 5:46 left in the first quarter gave the Hornets a 6-0 lead and forced a Gibault timeout.

An 8-0 run to close the first half by Nashville pushed the Hornets advantage to 26-12 at intermission.

Brown scored five of those points on drive to the basket and a 3-pointer from the left wing.

Then senior Gannon Mamell connected from the top of the arc to give Nashville a 14-point spread.

Gibault managed to cut the Nashville lead down to six points midway into the fourth quarter following a 7-0 scoring burst.

Stumpf scored five of the points on a conventional three-point play and an additional shot in the lane.

When he hit his free throw with 3:48 to go – the Hawks trailed just 42-36.

But Nashville finished the game with an 8-3 run with a fast break score by Tyler Meyer and six free throws by Brown, Meyer and Jared Meier to finish off the Hawks.

Gibault hit half of its two-point field goals (14-of-28) but were just 1-of-7 from 3-point land.

Nashville held a slight rebounding edge (17-16) and were 16-of-40 from the field overall.

“We talked about it this morning and before the game tonight that we needed to not only physically but mentally tough. After last night we wanted to get back into the groove of things,” said Coach Weathers. “I thought we got off to a very good start in the first half and things were falling pretty well for us. You have to give Gibault credit. They battled and made some defensive adjustments that caused us some problems. Then we had to fight through a little bit of adversity. The shots weren't falling and we didn't shoot free throws as well down the stretch but we played through it. I thought it was a good win for us against a good ballclub.”

Nashville (50) – Mamell 1 1 1-2 6, Meyer 1 1 4-6 9, Huge 0 0 0-0 0, Fieber 0 2 0-2 6, Polczynski 0 0 0-0 0, Sc. Brown 0 0 0-0 0, Sa. Brown 1 2 2-6 10, Lietz 0 0 0-0 0, Meier 1 1 3-3 8, Holle 5 0 1-4 11.
2FG-9, 3FG-7, FT-11-23, PF-14.
Gibault Catholic (39) – Row 1 0 0-0 2, Rueter 0 0 0-0 0, Hogrefe 1 0 0-0 2, McFarland 0 0 0-0 0, Pratl 2 0 1-4 5, Kovarik 2 0 2-4 6, Stumpf 7 0 2-3 16, Sexauer 1 0 3-4 5, Schreder 0 1 0-0 3, Cooper 0 0 0-0 0, Hermann 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-14, 3FG-1, FT-8-15, PF-16.
Fouled Out – Sexauer - Gibault.
Technical Fouls – None.

The 6-foot-7 senior center scored 13 of his points in the second half as the Warriors held off the Indians by making 11-of-13 free throws – including 8-of-9 in the fourth quarter.

Michael Klein and Alex Wilken added 12 and 11-points respectively as Wesclin improved to 14-6 while Mascoutah fell to 6-13.

Weclin – with Kunz doing most of the inside damage – connected on 21-of-35 two-point attempts. Kunz was 9-of-15 for the game and was 3-of-3 from the foul line.

The Indians shot the ball well enough (24-of-52 overall) to win but committed 13 turnovers.

Masacoutah got ten points apiece from Jeoy Bregenhorn and Tycen Wager.  

Mascoutah (54) – Roberson 0 0 0-0 0, Stevenson 1 1 0-0 5, MacDonald 2 0 0-0 4, Wager 4 0 2-2 10, Moore 0 0 0-0 0, Bregenhorn 5 0 0-0 10, Taylor 1 0 0-0 2, Lider 4 0 0-0 8, Parks 2 1 1-1 8, Schipper 2 1 0-0 7.
2FG-21, 3FG-3, FT-3-5, PF-16.
Wesclin (68) – Isenhower 0 0 0-0 0, West 0 2 0-0 6, M. Klein 3 1 3-3 12, Wilken 3 0 5-6 11, C. Klein 2 1 0-0 7, Eversgerd 0 1 0-0 3, B. Kunz 1 0 0-1 2, P. Kunz 9 0 3-3 21, Emig 3 0 0-0 6.
2FG-21, 3FG-5, FT-11-13, PF-5.
Fouled Out – Wager - Mascoutah.
Technical Fouls – None.

Waltonville (69) – Kabat 2 1 3-5 10, Laird 0 0 1-2 1, Askew 1 1 4-5 9, Stanhouse 4 0 4-4 12, Witges 3 1 3-5 12, Hale 3 4 3-5 21, McCoy 1 0 2-2 4.
2FG-14, 3FG-7, FT-20-28, PF-16.
Freeburg (54) – Money 4 1 0-0 11, DeLong 2 2 0-0 10, Knapp 2 0 3-3 7, Wolf 1 1 0-0 5, Livers 0 0 0-0 0, Cockrell 0 0 0-0 0, Mueth 2 0 0-0 4, Diecker 5 0 5-9 15.
2FG-16, 3FG-4, FT-10-14, PF-14.
Fouled Out – Askew - Waltonville; Money - Freeburg.
Technical Fouls – None.