Spartans have won three of their last five games
By Drew Herron - AJ/NT Sports / Jan. 28, 2014
ANITA – Tuesday night’s rematch between Exira-EHK and CAM
was expected to be a close one. Fortunately for those who bought a ticket, it
did not disappoint.
Exira-EHK came out ahead in a game of runs against
Cumberland-Anita-Massena, topping the Cougars on their home floor 45-40.
It was a see-saw battle that brought a bit of everything. A
frustrating first half for both sides set the table as each team was careless
with the ball, and both ends missed multiple lay-ups. Fouling wasn’t an
affliction early for either side, it was more a case of defensive grind and a lack
of execution offensively that kept both squads under 20 points for the first 16
minutes of play.
Exira-EHK scored two quick buckets before the halftime
break, turning a 15-19 deficit into a tie at 19 and it gave the Spartans a jolt
of confidence and a level score for the second half.
Exira-EHK then took a six-point lead (34-28) into the fourth
quarter before CAM started hitting from the outside to reclaim the lead. Both
sides battled down the stretch, swapping a one-point lead three times in the
final three minutes before the Spartans were able to finish things out from the
free throw line and the paint.
“We talked about how important it would be to get out early
in the third,” Spartans coach Doug Newton says. “We figured the longer they
hung around, the more confidence they would get and would be tough (to beat) at
the end. That’s exactly what happened…(CAM) played with a lot of heart.”
The Spartans outscored CAM 15-7 in the third frame to build
a cache large enough to endure through the Cougars’ new found ability to knock down
3-pointers in the fourth.
With 4:39 left, Exira-EHK’s Tate Simpson knocked down a long
ball from in front of the CAM student section off an in-bounds trigger, and it
looked like the Spartans might start to pull away. That pushed the lead to
eight points (37-29), and the clock was starting to work in the favor of what
appeared to be the hotter team.
Then, CAM senior Brady Runyan hit consecutive three pointers
in quick succession, and Conner Bell’s first points of the game came at a most
crucial time for CAM when he connected from long range with 2:21 left. It gave
the Cougars their first lead in a while, and it tightened the game up
tremendously.
“Two times down the floor, he erased that pretty quick and
changed everything,” coach Newton said of Runyan’s back-to-back 3-pointers.
A Drew Peppers lay-up with 1:45 staked the lead for good for
the Spartans at 41-40, and then he provided heroics later on to ice the
victory. With 26 seconds on the clock, EEHK’s Jake Paulsen was on the stripe
with a narrow one-point lead for his team. He missed both attempts, though
Peppers tactfully scooped up the rebound with a put-back to follow, and EEHK
was in command at 43-40.
CAM set up for a final shot, but the Cougars could not
reverse it fate, only send EEHK back to the line.
Coach Newton says Peppers’ put-back was the decisive moment,
no doubt.
“Runyan hit some shots that were just about the difference
in the game until Peppers with that put-back…that was a real heady, a very
smart play. He used his quickness and his athleticism to his advantage to make
a quick move for the lay-up. That was a huge play.”
CAM falls to 3-15, while Exira-EHK improves its record to
5-12 on the season. The Spartans have won three of their last five games, and
appear to be improving by the week.
“I know that my guys have not quit,” coach Newton says
“We’ve struggled at times to score, we are not a great
offensive team, but we’ve been pretty competitive. If we could get a little bit
more in focused in practice, then we might have been a little tougher than we
have been. If we can continue to get better offensively, then we might have a
little something going.”
GAME SCORING (01/28):
EEHK (5-12): Brady Hansen 10, Tate Simpson 10, Jake Paulsen
8, Drew Peppers 6, Lucas Schwery 6, Jared Hansen 5 Free Throws: 3/5
CAM (3-15): Michael Holste 17, Brady Runyan 9, Tanner
Winther 7, Connor Bell 3, Logan Dinkla 2, Jordan Winther 2 Free Throws: 1/3
#iahsbkb #exira-ehk
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