Goessel Back in the W Column
Goessel Guys Varsity Basketball January 28, 2020
Perhaps the giant weather map blue blob enveloping the Midwest in late January portended tonight’s contest v. Canton-Galva. Trying to find re-scheduling options in the great mid winter has been challenging for all this season. Against an athletic Eagle team tonight, Goessel would need to stay poised, particularly with ball-handler Jerah Schmidt out . Canton-Galva led by as much as 4 and the Bluebirds went up by as much as 12, but could not put away the feisty Eagles. Sophomore football standout Tyson Struber led all scorers with 17 on the night, but Goessel put together a balanced scoring attack to hang on for the needed win, 45-37.
Goessel came in 7-3 and Canton-Galva 4-7 with both teams seeking to come out on top in this Wheat State League matchup. Dylan Lindeman took the home team up 2-0 with a steal and layup to start, but the Eagles showed savvy to move to 3-7 at 4:53, their largest lead of the night. Skyler Wuest caught a nice low bounce on the fly 5-7. Canton started out in a Box and One covering #20 tonight. Caiden Duerksen, starting tonight, bounced underneath for a spectacular put back of a long Wuest effort to move to 8-9 and the quarter closed 8-11.
In the most invigorating segment tonight, Jake Hagewood bagged one from 12 feet, then zigged madly on the break, was fouled, and canned both charities to lead for the 2nd and final time 12-11. Next time down the floor, Nate Zogleman went from wall to wall with an exquisite ramble to lead 14-11, then added icing on the 8-2 run with a near perfect touch tip off of a Wuest outside attempt. 16-11. Timeout CG 5:35. To “Go Go Blue and White” from Goessel Cheer, the crowd continued to show loud and large, but the Eagles stormed back to 18-17 on nice pushes from Struber and Westbrook. Timeout Goessel 4:14; there was no clipboard slam from Coach Guhr, but fans still imagined they heard one, and this was a key time out. Hagewood had several timely buckets tonight, bridging nervous abysses. The Eagles retreated into a full zone, Zogleman zonked one in, then Hagewood put his head down and carved his way through the eyrie to lead 24-19. Moments later, things continued to go the Bluebird way as Zogleman went to the bank from beyond the foul line to lead 26-19 at the half. The 18-8 quarter was instrumental in bringing this one home.
Half time looked like a mid-western beach party, with sunglasses galore, a giant beach ball, tutus, a set of pom pom dudes, all manner of hats and a great atmosphere. The students, Goessel band and cheer team chased away any gloom that the giant blue weather blob had brought to USD 411. To begin the 3rd, Wuest threw a stunning bounce to a streaking Duerksen for a “how its done” finish, then Sophomore Duerksen poked a passing lane and went the distance for two more to lead 30-19. At the 3:58 mark, Lindeman had to sit with a leg nudge. Fortunately, Braydon Collins collected his 4th and had to sit also. Voted the play of the night, Kale Funk sallied forth down the lane, caught a perfect offensive board in stride, put it back up and in before the Eagle defenders could lift a wing. 33-21. In a quick back and forth sequence, this one went to 36-26 in action so fast it caused fan Sawyer’s popcorn to fly.
At 7:48 in the final stanza, the fans’ collective breath went “ohhhhhhh” as Lindeman was whistled for his 4th personal and went to the bench. After a Colgin 3 to get back to 36-30, Lindeman was back in at 6:50 and hit a rock solid pull up jumper at 5:48 to restore rhythm to the home team. Wuest rocked the house with a tough push inside and two charities to lead 40-30. The student section roller coaster went sailing during a Canton timeout at 3:33 and surely went off the rails and back on a few times. Wuest canned two more at the line and the Eagles only converted 4 of their last 13 free throws to give Goessel breathing room. The 4th was ferocious and fans hoped no one would get hurt in the frenzied action. Canton-Galva put Goessel at the line for 6 attempts to close the game. Duerksen got one and Wuest was a perfect 6 for 6 from the stripe in the 4th to put the game away. The quarter went 9-11 and Goessel pulled away with the hard fought win 45-37. Wuest had 11 including 9 free throws to lead Goessel, Hagewood added 10, Zogleman put in 8, all in the 2nd quarter and both Lindeman and Duerksen added 7. Funk put up 2 but that bucket was against some leaping trees. Also in for Goessel was Luke Wiens.
-Karl Brubaker