The Community Post

Cardinals fall short against Trojans

By COREY MAXWELL Managing Editor

BOTKINS — The action was intense in The Colosseum on Saturday night between Botkins and New Bremen, with the Trojans battling its way back from a ninepoint hole in the first quarter and winning 55-50 in non-conference boys hoops action.

The Cardinals couldn’t have asked for a better start on Saturday, hitting five of its eight first field goals.

A Nick Alig three put New Bremen up 11-2 with under three minutes left.

Botkins started 0-for7 from the field, but following a Botkins timeout, the Trojans made three 3-pointers in a row to end the quarter and the game was tied at 11.

The Trojans took its first lead of the game early in the second when Jameson Meyer hit a floater in the lane to make it 13-11.

Later, Meyer hit a three from the left wing to put Botkins out front 18-14.

The Cardinals struggled from the field in the quarter, hitting just one of eight shots from the field, but a three from Bergman would tie the game at 18.

Botkins’ Jacob Pleiman scored on an andone and hit the free throw with seven seconds left and the Trojans took a 22-18 lead into the half.

The Trojans hit three of its first four shots from the field in the third quarter and quickly went up 28-20 with New Bremen calling a timeout with 5:22 left.

Following the stoppage, Alig hit a three to make it 28-23.

David Homan recorded his third steal of the quarter around the five minute mark and Bergman later scored on a step-back 3 to make it 28-26.

Pleiman scored on another and-one to put the Trojans back up 31-26 with under three minutes left.

Botkins’ Jaydon Wendel got hot near the end of the quarter, hitting two three-pointers, including one at the buzzer which gave Botkins a 37-29 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

“Jaydon does a great job for us. He always seems to give us a lift when we need a big shot here or there,” said Botkins coach Phil Groves.

“He always comes in at the right time.”

Botkins shot 6-of-10 from the floor in the period.

Carter Pleiman scored in the lane for two and then Wendel hit another three to put Botkins up 45-34, its biggest lead of the game.

Following back-to-back timeouts by Botkins, Jacob Pleiman got open on the in-bounds play and dunked it, but hung on the rim and was called for a technical foul. Bergman hit both of the technical free throws and got the ball back trailing 47-36.

Homan would go on to hit a 3 with 1:52 left and Botkins called timeout leading 47-39.

Following the timeout, Bergman stole the in-bounds pass and was fouled on his layup attempt. He knocked down both free throws to cut the lead to six.

On the Cardinals next possession, Aaron Thieman came up short on a 3-point attempt but Alig was in perfect position underneath the rim and rebounded the ball and laid it in to cut the lead to four at 47-43.

Botkins’ Jordan Herzog was fouled and made two free throws to put the Trojans lead back up to six at 49-43.

Homan answered that with a threepointer from the right wing to make it a three-point game.

The Cardinals fouled Herzog again which put Botkins in the double bonus. Herzog made 1-of-2 and Botkins led 50-46.

Thieman was then fouled on a drive to the basket and made one of two free throws to make it 50-47.

Carter Pleiman proceeded to make two free throws to extend the lead to 52-47.

On the other end, Bergman hit a deep three from the left side to cut the Trojans lead to two.

New Bremen fouled Meyer who made both free throws and Botkins led 54-50.

Bergman tried his magic again on the Cardinals next possession, but his 3-point attempt fell short.

Meyer was fouled again with 6.8 seconds left, missed his first but made his second shot.

The Cardinals turned the ball over on the in-bounds play, which sealed the win for Botkins.

“We got down early and the kids really battled. We called the timeout and it was just kind of a wake-up situation, we didn’t come ready to play,” said Groves. “The kids responded. They’ve battled through adversity all year and this is another instance where they countered other teams’ runs and really battled and came out on top.”

For New Bremen, coach Cory Stephens was proud of the way his team fought back into the game after trailing by double digits in the fourth.

“We just need to clean some things up and we’ll be all right,” he said. “Our philosophy and what we’re trying to do when we practice, at times, we did it well and it worked. At times we didn’t do it well. Against a good team like Botkins who’s well-coached and they have great players, they took advantage of it.”

Following the game, Stephens said the team reaffirmed the goal for this season, which is to win the conference.

“We talked about what our goal is and everyone said, ‘Win the MAC.’ I said, ‘OK, we’re going to learn from this game, now we got to go forward,’” said Stephens.

Bergman led the way for the Cardinals, hitting four threes and going a perfect 6-of-6 from the line for a game-high 20 points.

“Trevor played well, hitting three 3s in the second half. The big thing is going 6-for-6 from the line,” said Stephens. “He stepped up at the free throw line when we needed points. He did a nice job.”

Botkins will be back in action on Tuesday, traveling to Fort Loramie.

New Bremen will play again on Friday at home, taking on Versailles, the No. 1 team in Division III.

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2022-01-25T08:00:00.0000000Z

2022-01-25T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://thecommunitypost.pressreader.com/article/281582359013384

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