Bluebirds On Right Side of Bracket At Berean
Goessel’s girls survived cold floor shooting, a “less than stellar” ball handling night, and 7 for 19 from the charity stripe to beat Bluestem 42-34 Monday night at Berean Academy. An 11-0 run before the half earned the Bluebirds the win in what otherwise was a dead even contest. Eli Walter was on hand to fist pump each starter at half court and Catch it Kansas covered the contest.
The first quarter began at a moribund pace, with each team unable to find the hole. At 5:49 Alex Hiebert found a nice touch from the short right corner off a Jessica Harvey feed . Bluestem’s co-captain, 5’ 10” Candis Remsberg rolled right for two a moment later and perfected that move 7 times against the ‘Blue on the night. Harvey hit on a determined drive to go up again, but Goessel felt the arctic blast on the floor and could not get anything to fall. Remsberg and Albers gave the Lions their biggest lead of the night 4-8 against the Bluebird zone. The ‘Birds came out in a ¾ pressure man to man which generated a turnover and upped the intensity. Harvey had a nifty pick and an uncontested lay-in, Bluestem answered the other way and Alex Hiebert scooted open on the break for a nice two to leave it at 8-10 at the quarter.
Still in pressure D, Goessel created their best run of the night, scoring on a Harvey drive at 6:24. Aleena Cook caught an Erin Brubaker miss, was fouled going up and hit one of two to retake the lead for good at 11-10 and Goessel was in the bonus. Alex stroked another trademark 7 footer from the right and the Lions called time at 4:42. Harvey penetrated again, was fouled and nailed both charities, then scored two more for the 11-0 run and 17-10 lead. Goessel’s pressure defense kept the Lions off the board for close to 8 minutes, a run that won the game. Finally at 2:38, Albers rumbled in off the break for two and hit a free throw on the next possession to stay at 17-13. Alicen Meysing pulled a key offensive rebound and went up inside to finish the half at 19-13. The 11-3 quarter was absolutely necessary in the friendly confines at Elbing and Goessel used the trapping half court press the rest of the night.
Harvey continued to be the “damsel causing distress,” taming the Lions with deft ball-handling and fed Alex open underneath for the lay-in to start the second half. Page Hiebert was called for her third at 6:55 and sat the rest of the third quarter. Remsberg squirted loose for yet another pitch and roll, was fouled and hit for the three point play to close to 5, 21-16. The Lions continued to roar and Goessel called time at 5:53 after another Aleena Cook follow taking it to 23-16. Remsberg just wouldn’t go away and Bluestem followed once more at 4:20 to close within 3. Makayla King showed tough defense and hit a solid jumper to go up 25-20, but point guard Lioness Hannah Davis zipped past the ‘Blue with a breakaway steal/lay-in. Goessel called time at 3:22 and in a subsequent tussle under the bucket, the basketball found its way into the hoop for a 25-24 score. With the 8-4 run, the Lions looked like they might retake the lead, but Alex fought hard underneath and sealed the deal at the 0:50 mark. With six ticks on the clock, Johanna Hoffman hit one from the DEEP left corner (from very close to the Butler County Snowy Owl sighting – ask Mrs. B) to give the ‘Blue breathing room at 30-24 despite tying the quarter.
So many free throws were shot in the final quarter the official record book was a blur. Goessel was 3 for 5 the first half from the line, shot no free throws in the third quarter, and a trying 4 for 14 in the final stanza or 37% on the night. Page was back in for the rest of the game. Hoffman added another field goal to start the final quarter and Bluestem answered with a pretty feed to Remsberg inside. Alex promptly answered, then back to Remsberg, then in the exchange of buckets Cook zinged a lovely bounce to Alex to go up 36-28. Harvey took a charge, Goessel went into the 1-1 with 5:14 left in the contest, but Harvey missed to stay at 36-28. The quarter went into ‘chess-match’ mode, with the Lions fouling and the ‘Blue unable to close with repeated misses from the unyielding charity stripe (fans are pretty sure the different acoustics with the new tile in the Warrior gym played a part). Davis went into Lion kamikaze mode, penetrating every time down the floor and getting fouled. She was unable to convert either and the score stuck for several back and forth exchanges. Finally, after a Goessel time at 2:30 Alex stood on the high post, caught the pass and hit Harvey in a highlight “money” back door exchange for the 39-31 lead. Can we post that one to Catch It Kansas?! After Davis hit the back end of two free throws, Bluestem called time at 1:25 and in a very painful sequence, eleven more free throws were added to the scorebook. Nemesis ball handler/shooter Davis fouled out at 0:18. The Bluebirds hit an unbelievable three of eleven in the final minute and a half and the contest ended 42-34.
The Bluebirds lost the first quarter, tied the third and won the 4th 12-10. The key 11-3 2nd quarter gave the momentum and distance to keep this one in the “W” column. Goessel survived the lid on the rim tonight to head into the winner’s bracket and will play top seed Berean on Thursday. Berean (9-1) walloped Stafford (0-7) in the other contest earlier in the evening.
Alex Hiebert displayed a nice touch in pressure shooting situations underneath, defended the bigs well inside, and ended with 14, scoring in every quarter. Jessica Harvey was a 2012 Tournament top five scorer and started off well again in 2013 with 14 as well. Harvey took 11 attempts from the charity stripe tonight. Johanna Hoffman had two key field goals including the only three of the night for the Bluebirds and tallied 6. Aleena Cook fought hard inside, hit 2 of 4 from the line and finished with 4. Makayla King and Alicen Meysing added a field goal apiece. Page Hiebert, Alyssa Booton and Erin Brubaker were kept off the board on the night but played key minutes in the winning effort.
