01/04/2024
BY JACK BULLOCK
OKAWVILLE – Coach Stote Reeder's Nashville squad struggled offensively in their most recent contests.

A loss to Benton on Friday night produced the lowest point total (27) of the season for the Hornets.

But on Saturday night Nashville did a much better job running their offense against Washington County rival Okawville.

Four players hit for double-figures and the defense stepped up, especially in the final three quarters of the game, to lead to a 54-32 road victory.

The triumph improved the club to 11-5 overall.

The offense got a bunch of open shots against the Okawville zone defense and the Hornets threw up a brick wall against the Rockets in the second half as they held 6-9 senior Aidan Anderson to a season low 10-points and the rest of Coach Ryan Heck's club couldn't help much.

After a good start, the Rockets scored just nine points in the final two quarters and fell to 6-9 on the season.

“They got the looks that they wanted and guys that we were trying to help off of made shots tonight,” said Coach Heck about his defense against Nashville. “We shot it poorly tonight and that is just not a good a recipe. It got away from us late.”

Nashville produced four double-figure scorers and used a big fourth quarter run to make the game look much more of a rout that it was for three quarters.

Six-three junior guard Maddox Ritzel led the way with 18-points for the Hornets in the win.

Nashville connected on six 3-point shots in the game and 6-1 senior Ethan Pinski nailed down four of them, finishing with 12-points.

Coach Reeder got 10-points each from senior guard Ty Schoenherr and 6-7 senior forward Griffin Briles.

“We ran things really, really well tonight,” said Coach Reeder. “Last night (loss) we really didn't execute at all so good for the boys for fixing that. “Ty (Schoenherr) made some big shots in the second half and our defense on Anderson was really, really good. They (Okawville) made some adjustments and our kids made adjustments on the fly right back at them. I'm very happy with them.”

Another major factor of the contest was that Nashville drained 10-of-10 free throws in the game, 8-of-8 in the second half, as they made the Rockets pay handsomely for sending the Hornets to the stripe.

A commanding 32-21 rebounding edge was also part of the night of dominance.

Junior guard Ryker Obermeier added seven-points for Okawville and junior Calvin Maynard added five.

Maynard and senior John Schaller connected on 3-pointers in the first quarter for Okawville as the Rockets stayed close early.

Anderson scored seven of his points in the early going and grabbed five of his eight rebounds.

However Ritzel, Briles and Pinski got things going offensively early, getting the shots they wanted against the Rockets' zone.

Pinski hit two of his 3-pointers as Nashville took the lead for good.

A pair of free throws by Schoenherr gave the Hornets an 18-12 lead with under a minute left in the quarter.

A 3-point bomb by Maynard got the Rockets to within three at the first horn.

A 7-of-9 shooting frame by Nashville was a good start for the visitors, which was much different than the previous night.

(CONTINUED)

Okawville managed to hang close in the second quarter with Obermeier hitting a 3-pointer and Maynard scoring inside.

Briles also added points on a couple of nice cuts to the basket with an assist going on the first one to Pinski as Nashville took a 27-23 lead at the half.

The Hornets worst shooting quarter of the game came in the third but Okawville failed to capitalize on the lull.

Nashville hit just 1-of-10 attempts overall but they cashed in six free throws and held the lead at 36-29 heading into the fourth.

The Rockets were just 2-of-11 from the floor in the period.

“It sat at 27-26 in the third quarter for about five or six possessions and I thought if we could get in front of them with them being in kind of a rut that they had been that we could put some pressure on them I felt like we could have done some stuff,” said Coach Heck. “Then it just snowballed. Their physicality overwhelmed us at the end.”

Consecutive 3-point bombs by Schoenherr gave the Hornets a 42-30 lead early in the fourth.

Anderson scored his only points in the second half on the inside with 5:42 left in the game.

It was the Rockets final points as Nashville went on a game-ending 12-0 run.

Briles (1) and Ritzel (2) added scores as did Schoenherr on a inside score off an assist by junior guard Tyse Reinberg.

Nashville opened the quarter and hit 7-of-7 shots from the field before the coaches went to reserves for the final 2:34 of the game.

The five missed shots in the fourth quarter by the Hornets were by the bench players late during “mop up” duty.

“He (Anderson) is a dang good player and our guys battled through foul trouble guarding him. He was able to draw some fouls but we stuck with the game-plan,” said Coach Reeder.

Coach Reeder's squad ended up 20-of-43 overall and 6-of-18 from the 3-point arc.

They committed seven turnovers but zero in the fourth quarter.

The Hornets only allowed two offensive rebounds to Okawville in the final 16 minutes.

The Rockets only hit 10-of-44 from the field, 4-of-20 from long range in the loss.

“We fought for a long time and were competitive. I don't feel like the final score reflects how competitive this game was,” said Coach Heck.

Nashville will play Southern Illinois River-to-River Mississippi Division rival Pinckneyville on the road January 10 while Okawville (weather permitting) will play at Red Bud on January 7 and will host Carlyle on Friday in Cahokia Conference Illinois Division play.

“Last night (loss to Benton) I was disappointed and tonight coming up here this is a hard game coming up here to Okawville. They have a good team and it is a rivalry. To come off of last night and play well tonight, I'm really proud of them.”