The Climax-Fisher Knights Boy’s Basketball team turned the ball over too much and ran into foul trouble as the Badger/Greenbush-Middle River (BGMR) Gators were excellent at the free throw line in a 55-40 win in the opening round of the Section 8A Basketball Tournament on Monday night.
First Half –
Both teams got off to a slow start and after four minutes of play the score was just 2-2. The Gators were able to get a few layups inside and separate themselves for a 7-4 lead with 11:03 remaining in the half, but points were still hard to come by. Climax-Fisher would rattle off an 11-2 run and get things going highlighted by Ethan Evitts stealing the ball three times for easy transition buckets. That would force a BGMR timeout with 7:23 left until halftime with the Knights in front 15-9. The first half was a game of runs, and the Gators would respond with a big one, going on a 17-3 run to take a commanding 26-18 edge. Climax-Fisher wouldn’t go away, and they would score six straight points on two more field goals by Evitts, and a layup from Dylan Korynta to cut the deficit down to just two points at 26-24 late in the half. The Gators Cole Blazek would put up a runner right before the buzzer sounded, and the shot would drop, giving BGMR a 28-24 lead at the halftime break. Foul trouble was starting to become a concern for the Knights at the halftime break with Branson Solheim and Ryan Morris each picking up 3 first half fouls, and to make matters worse, the Knights who don’t have much depth to begin with, had an injury to Jarrett Steinmetz right at the end of the half. Leading the way for Climax-Fisher in the opening half was junior Ethan Evitts who scored 11 first half points, and senior Dylan Korynta who had 10. The Gators were led by seniors Gabe Warne who had 12 points, and Ty Christian, son of head coach Kent Christian who had 7 points.
Second Half –
The second half started very similar to the start of the game, points were hard to come by, but the Knights would eventually rattle off five straight on a Luis Gonzalez and one, and Ethan Evitts jumper to tie the game at 29-29 with 15:03 to play. BGMR would hit four straight free throws after that, and after a Ryan Morris three, the Gators would hit one themselves to take a 36-32 lead. That three would start an 8-0 BGMR run as they pulled in front 41-32 with 10:27 left in the game. Ryan Morris would score four more points for Climax-Fisher to try and will them back into the game, and that made the score 41-36 in favor of BGMR with 6:30 left to play. That would be as close as it would get, and the Gators would have excellent free throw shooting the rest of the game to outscore the Knights 14-4 down the stretch to secure a 55-40 win. Ethan Evitts and Ryan Morris would both foul out for Climax-Fisher, and they couldn’t overcome an 8-0 Gators run that gave BGMR a 49-36 lead with 2:43 remaining. The win avenges a regular season loss for the Gators as Climax-Fisher won the regular season matchup 61-56.
Climax-Fisher finishes the season with a final record of 5-22. They will lose two seniors as Dylan Korynta and Luis Gonzalez will both graduate this spring. BGMR improves to 4-23 and will now play Sacred Heart in the Sub-Section Quarterfinals on Thursday night.
FOR KNIGHTS COACH ALEX WENTZEL’S COMMENTS, CLICK BELOW
|
|
1st
|
2nd
|
Final
|
|
BGMR
|
28 | 27 | 55 |
|
Climax-Fisher
|
24 | 16 | 40 |
|
For Climax-Fisher
|
Points
|
Rebounds
|
Assists/Steals
|
| Ethan Evitts | 13 | 6 | 5 steals/1 assist |
| Dylan Korynta | 12 | 4 | 1 steal |
| Ryan Morris | 9 | 5 | 4 steals/4 blocks |
| Luis Gonzalez | 4 | 9 | 1 assist/1 steal |
| Jarrett Steinmetz | 2 | 1 |
|
For BGMR
|
Points
|
| Gabe Werne | 18 |
| Ty Christian | 17 |
| Cole Blazek | 11 |
| Brennan Collins | 7 |
| Masen Swenson | 2 |
