Senior Recognition Night
Goessel Guys Basketball - Elyria Christian January 12, 2018 @ Goessel
Goessel recognized its Seniors tonight: Jayce Schmidt, Nathaniel Schmucker, Jordan Griffin, and Carson Sterk. Thank you Seniors for your contributions to Goessel basketball! On Homecoming and Senior Recognition Night, the Bluebirds faced #1 ranked (KBCA January 8th, 2018 1A Div II) Elyria Christian in a Wheat State League contest. Elyria had two starters sitting with injuries but have such a deep bench any fan unaware of that fact would not have noticed one iota. The Bluebirds won the 4th quarter with great effort down the stretch, but could not contain the Eagle onslaught through the 2nd and 3rd quarters. The WSL contest ended 29-53.
6’5” Senior Tyler Thiessen does it all for the Eagles, up-front on offense and a monster redwood in the paint on defense. His penetrations into the lane require nearly the entire defense to collapse on him and the Eagle roster has 10 players on it 6’0” or longer. Competing on the boards requires every ounce of stamina and effort. Goessel played even with the Eagles through the first quarter, slowing it way down and patiently attacking. A 3-2 lead with a trey from Griffin at 5:40 was the only Bluebird lead of the night, with solid defense giving the home fans hope for a solid night. Zogleman picked the pocket of Stucky, went the length of the floor only to be stuffed by Thiessen on the layup, but Lindeman alertly caught the carom and laid it in for the play of the night. 5-6. At 1:59 the popcorn machine overheated and the fire alarms went off, sending the local fire crew to the cafeteria. This may be one of the few times ever where High School basketball went on with the fire alarm ringing. Aloha in 10 degree weather! Nelson socked one from downtown at the buzzer to go to 5-9 in the defensive 1st quarter.
The Eagles picked up the pace in the 2nd quarter, with Thiessen foraying to the hoop and scoring thrice. At 6:06, Jerah launched one from beyond the concessions homemade chicken soup dispenser, nearly causing the popcorn machine to start smoking again. Thiessen sat at 4:56, Dylan jumped the Eagle passing lane at full speed and closed for two, then Jordan found nothing but nylon from beyond the raffle cake table to close to 13-23. Moments later, however, he was called for his 3rd and also had to sit.
Zogleman took a charge from Thiessen in the paint, literally the only way to stop his explosive slide moves toward the bucket. Elyria’s outside shooting was also effective tonight; two of those came as daggers at the end of the half which closed 13-29.
Goessel could not find any action on post moves inside and almost all the Bluebird scoring came on breaks, follows or treys. The Eagle trees are simply too tall. Jordan put on a gyrate, shake, rattle and roll move through three Eagle defenders that looked better than any Hawaiian dance move. Schmucker found the net for two. Turnovers plagued the Blue in the 3rd quarter and Elyria ran it to 17-45 in the 4-16 quarter.
In the 4th, Jordan found the range on a long trey that brought fans to their feet 20-45. On a tussle in the paint, Carson flipped a no-look to Jordan for the lay-in off an over the top in-pass from Lindeman, then Sterk turned and dropped two in . Jordan was able to go up and in v. Thiessen to get back to 26-48. Fouls stood at Goessel 8 and Elyria 1. At 2:40, Jordan went to the line for the first and only free throws on the night for the Bluebirds…. The Eagle defense was very, very solid with no extraneous fouling and great footwork. Both teams cleared their benches at 2:22. Kale Funk played tenacious defense and was credited with a 5 second call. Nathaniel Schmucker buried a trey from between two Hawaiian shirts located in the deepest southeast corner of the coliseum. The contest ended 29-53. The Bluebirds came within two missed free throws of going to running clock early in the 4th, but never let the game get to 30.
Thiessen led all scorers with 23. Jordan Griffin led Goessel with 15 in a solid night (55% from the floor and 60% from 3FG), Nathaniel Schmucker scored 5, Dylan Lindeman 4, Jerah Schmidt 3, and Carson Sterk 2 . Sterk led the Bluebirds with 6 boards. Also in for Goessel were: Luke Wiens, Jayce Schmidt, Nate Zogleman, Jake Hiebert, Jake Hagewood, Kale Funk, and Zach Zogleman.
-Karl Brubaker
