Pound The February Stone
Goessel Guys Varsity Basketball Rural Vista Heat @ Goessel February 17, 2020
With a week until 1A Regionals begin, Goessel faced Rural Vista tonight in a rare Monday night tilt. The Bluebirds look like a #2 seed in the Goessel Regional and face the prospect of needing to get by Elyria Christian at home after a first round bye to have one more chance at Little River. The Bluebirds simply need one win to move on to sub-state (the top two regional winners move on), but this team has needed every ounce of reserve to pull out some very close contests this winter and Elyria is no walkover. Goessel put up an impressive first half tonight, looking razor sharp on defense, allowing the visiting Heat no field goals until the 4:00 mark of the 2nd quarter. After the 17-0 first quarter, the offensive production took a turn south, but the outcome was never in doubt as Goessel rolled 43-14, allowing only two Heat field goals the entire 2nd half.
At 7:40, Dylan Lindeman pulled up and floated from 15 feet to go up 2-0. After missing three layups in succession, Goessel’s Jake Hagewood got pounded on the drive and socked in two charities, then Caiden Duerksen flipped in a nice follow and after another Hagewood pull-up jumper, the Heat called time at 3:21 down 8-0. Out of the timeout, Lindeman struck pay-dirt, swooshing from somewhere in Aisle 20 of Keith’s deli section. On the inbounds, before anyone could see what happened, Nate Zogleman jumped the pass and laid it in, then Luke Wiens went to the hoop in a long range run-out, was fouled and galloped in one charity. Down the floor the next time Jerah Schmidt set quickly directly in front of the clarinet section and absolutely buried one smooth as could be. The breathtaking 17-0 run felt good for a Monday.
At 7:29 6’4” Junior Campuzano was fouled and converted two free throws, but half a minute later Lindeman again found the range from 13 ft and Zogleman flummoxed one in off the glass for two more to lead 19-2. 6’4” De Brito went to the line and added two more and Goessel called time at 5:19. With 4 minutes remaining De Brito finger rolled for the first Heat field goal of the night. Down the floor Campuzano and Zogleman got into a rebounding tie-up where it looked to fans as if there were some sort of bizarre headlock…one fan exclaimed in a loud voice “the head isn’t part of the ball.” Goessel went 1-4 in the quarter from the line after hitting 3-4 in the first stanza. After a visitor three from Stillwell, the Blue came alive again, going on a 8-0 run to close the half 30-9. Two of the four FG’s came on sensational bullet passes from Lindeman on the break to Zogleman in the 13-9 quarter.
The Bluebird mascot roamed the sidelines working the crowd, the cheer time brought the assembled fans together, and the band warmed the room. In the 3rd, Jerah Schmidt caught a Lindeman long range miss, put a mini head fake to the paint and finger rolled for two, then Lindeman went the length of the gym and hit 1-2 from the line, Jake Hagewood was credited with a world class defensive pick, and Duerksen caught a nice pass to finish underneath. Skyler Wuest pulled up from 11 feet for two. With nine seconds left Goessel ran the length of the floor and Duerksen found Hagewood sliding underneath, hit him with a zinger long-range and the Junior gently caressed it through the nylon for the 39-11 lead.
In the 4th, Wuest put up a nice short jumper to lead 41-11 putting things into running clock almost immediately. At 5:37 Goessel’s bench was in and Campuzano, who had attempted numerous treys all night, finally connected to go to 41-14. With all subs in, Eddie Gaeddert had the opportunity to win the quarter for the Blue and did so by hitting two for two from the line with time running down. Goessel won all quarters tonight, 17-0, 13-9, 9-2 and 4-3 allowing only two field goals the entire 2nd half (one 2FG in the 3rd and one 3FG in the 4th). The Bluebirds put up balanced scoring tonight in a great team effort, with Lindeman leading with 12, Zogleman adding 8, Hagewood accounting for 7, #5 Jerah Schmidt with 5, Caiden Duerksen and Skyler Wuest each with 4 and Eddie Gaeddert perfect off the bench for 2 (2 for 2 from the line). Luke Wiens went 1 for 2 from the line for 1 point on the night. Fans gave Junior Jake Hiebert a huge hand as he returned to action again tonight briefly after being released to play just today from an injury earlier this season. Also aiding the success of the team tonight were Dawson Stutzman, Kale Funk, Timothy Schrag, and Jacob Schrag. Pound the Stone!
-Karl Brubaker