Bluebirds Give Cougars Huge Game in Classic 2nd Round
Goessel Varsity Guys Basketball - Central Christian @ Goessel December 7, 2018
Central Christian coach Adam Clark shook his head as three of his starters spent most of the 2nd quarter on the bench with 3 fouls apiece. Ace ball-handler/shooter Dennis Coon collected his third at 5:04 in the 1st quarter. Goessel appeared to be in the driver’s seat playing mostly Cougar reserves the remainder of the 1st half, but could not gain traction and the Cougars kept it tied at 27 at the half. Goessel led by as much as 4 and the Cougars 10 in a contest that had 10 incredible lead changes and likely will be named “most entertaining” of this year’s Classic. Goessel’s Lindeman brothers put together a breakout game, with Dylan putting up 24 including giant treys in each and every quarter. Drew added 13 and pulled huge boards at both ends for the Bluebirds. Despite the great Bluebird effort, the Cougars put on a defensive clinic in the 2nd half and were called for only 1 foul; the contest ended 53-59 but felt for the Bluebird fans nearly like a win. Goessel had fallen to Elyria Christian earlier in the Classic week and Central Christian had taken care of Elyria.
Both teams emerged in man to start and the intensity out of the chute was palpable. Shooter Adam Hall hit the back end of two charities to start, but moments later Drew L. caught the inbound set pass and floated a nice 3 footer to go up 2-1. Goessel showed nice ball movement and an overzealous Dennis Coon was called quickly for two fouls. At 5:04 he was whistled for his third and sat the entire remainder of the half. Shortly thereafter, Hall was on the board for his 2nd personal and big man Oswalt called for his 2nd foul on a charge to the bucket. Drew L. pushed nicely in for two and Dylan stroked one from way, way out front, with his back heel nearly on the center-court Bluebird’s beak. 7-3. With Drew taking a breather, the Cougars rolled back to 7-11, then Hall had to sit with his 3rd foul. Miguel Ballesta caught a carom, skated coast to coast, and strolled in (literally) for the 9-11 finish. The feisty quarter ended 9-11; fouls stood at Central Christian 9 and Goessel 5.
Dylan stroked a gorgeous 15 footer to knot at 11 and it was back and forth in the intense and noisy gym. On a DL foray to the paint, Oswalt was also called for his 3rd foul and this left three Cougar starters on the bench in “foul anxiety.” Drew pulled up for a stop and pop from somewhere close to the cell tower south of town. The Cougars kept answering, however. Dylan ignited the frenzied home crowd with a near perfect long distance effort, this one coming from straight out of the bevy of excited fans bedecked with “20 33” patches. 18-15. The Cougar reserves showed strong and regained the lead 18-19; Coach Guhr called time at 4:46. This time Jake Hiebert took a turn from beyond the arc, launching one with laser accuracy from the Hiebert family section that swooshed so smoothly and quietly you could hear Lonnie murmur. You don’t hear that very often. In the back and forth frenzy, Jerah Schmidt found the range from 12 feet, Zogleman could not convert on two charities, and Skylar Wuest coasted in a nice finish to again lead by 4. For the 8th lead change of the night, Iberra skated in a reverse lay-in to lead 25-27 and to close a hard fought first half, Drew faked right and turned in the paint for a great close to knot at 27. The Bluebirds put up 18 to win the 2nd quarter; Central was 7-10 from the stripe and Goessel 1 for 7 as the half closed 27-27.
Each Bluebird player “slapped Home” as they entered the gym and this one looked like it was going to be a doozy. All the Cougar starters were back in and part of the Goessel game plan had to be to try to get one or more of these three into even more serious foul trouble. Coon stroked a three to start but Dylan came right back with a power drive and then Ballesta fed Drew with a no look to knot at 32 and Central called time at 3:07. The Bluebird fans were as alive as they have been in a very long time! At 2:20 Dylan put up his third giant three of the night from somewhere close to Coach Hoopes Christmas light display, but the Cougars retook the lead down the floor 35-36 and the next sequence put the Bluebirds in a hole from which they could not recover. On efforts from Finley, Coon and Hall, the Cougars went on an 8-0 run that was devastating to the Bluebird rhythm. Ballesta teased in a follow to close the quarter at 37-42.
At 6:25 in the fourth quarter, Dylan Lindeman set and delivered a huge finish from downtown, causing the cheerleaders’ pompoms to suddenly become buoyant and spontaneously fly. The crowd exploded as one with the 40-44 tally, but the Cougars kept their nose to the grindstone and ran it to 40-48. Fouls this half stood at CC 1 Goessel 2, a tale of two halves. Goessel could not convert an excellent break opportunity; Drew notched a Sport Center block on shooter Hall, then Dylan caught a Hagewood carom and coasted it in to close within 6, 42-48. Dylan was called for a very questionable hustle foul at center court; Hagewood pushed in a short jumper for the 44-51 score, but Coon extended to 10 44-54 on a huge three of his own. Now in “urgent” mode, Dylan showed his inside presence driving to the bucket and scored on a strong drive. 46-54. Coach Guhr called time at 2:14 and the Bluebirds attempted full court pressure. Down the floor, Dylan appeared to be tripped going to the bucket and face-planted on the no-call at 1:38. After a medical timeout, Goessel got the 5 second call on great defensive work from Schmidt guarding Hall. Jake H. buried one from well beyond Grandpa Hiebert’s place south of town to give the home crowd one more glimmer of hope at 1:11; time-out Goessel. Fouls now stood at Goessel 6, Cougars 1. Dylan stroked an 8 footer, but the Bluebirds were forced to foul. Ibarra missed both FT’s at 51-54, but the rebound critically went to the Cougars and sent Hall to the line. He converted one and Goessel had to foul him again, letting it go to 51-57. Down the floor with the time down to 22 seconds, Drew closed it to 53-57, but with 13 ticks left Dylan fouled out. The Central Christian zone had done its job of keeping the Cougar foul troubles completely a non-factor in the 2nd half. Caleb Yoder missed both charities, but the Cougars got possession again, Hall went to the line and drained both of his. With 7.2 seconds left Jerah also fouled out and Central Christian fouled several times to stop the clock and totally prevent any shot attempts to close the contest. Goessel had put together a supreme effort but lost three quarters by the slimmest of margins and eventually the game 53-59.
Congratulations to the Bluebirds for a wonderful effort and for demonstrating what is possible with this team. Dylan Lindeman was high scorer with 24 and Drew Lindeman closed with 13. Jake Hiebert hit two threes for 6 and Miguel Ballesta put up 4. Finishing with 2 each were Jake Hagewood, Jerah Schmidt and Skylar Wuest. Also in for Goessel tonight was Zach Zogleman.
Goessel will play Canton-Galva for 5th place tomorrow at 4:00 pm in the main gym. Interestingly, each guys and girls team from the participating towns is playing their counterpart from the same town: Goessel is playing Canton-Galva, Burrton taking on Elyria, and Little River is playing Central Christian.
-Karl Brubaker
