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The
Official Newspaper of Manchester and Delaware County, Iowa
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
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Hawks drop heartbreaker to ADM in OT
by Alison Nesteby
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Entering the 2008 State Basketball tournament, the 18-5 Hawks were big underdogs; seeded seventh and set to take on #2 seed ADM in the first round, who posted a season record of 23-1.
As the game got underway, it appeared the game was going to be a painful one for the Hawks. ADM scored first but the Hawks quickly tied 2-2 on a jumper by Chris Crawford. From there on, ADM took advantage of the Hawks missed shots, and jumped ahead 13-2 with four minutes left in the first.
BJ Hermsen hit a jumper with 3:41 left get the Hawks started again. Hermsen’s shot was quickly followed by a free throw and a field goal by Ben Lechtenberg to bring the Hawks back 15-7. Crawford sank two free throws and Hermsen added a layup before senior Matt Walters sank two free throws with 13 second left to get the Hawks back within four, 17-13 at the conclusion of the first.
The woes continued for the Hawks in the second quarter, with ADM going on another scoring streak, leaving the Hawks behind 15-29 with 3:54 remaining in the first half.
Crawford stole the ball from an ADM player and sank a layup with 3:30 left on the clock to start to Hawks scoring once again. Seth Engelken and BJ Hermsen would each add two baskets for the Hawks in the second quarter to bring the Hawks within seven, 34-27, at the half.
The second half was like a whole new ball game for the Hawks. They held the Tigers scoreless for the first three and a half minutes of the third quarter, while putting up eight points themselves. The Hawks found their first lead of the night after a Lechtenberg layup put them up 35-34 with 5:36 left. The Tigers quickly put up another basket to regain the lead, but Lucas Kafer added another for the Hawks to put the Hawks up once again by a single point, 37-36 with 4:12 remaining. Derek Klein sank another, and put the Hawks up by three with with 3:13 left. The Tigers clearly weren’t happy with that and answered right back with another two baskets to regain their one point lead with 1:54 left.
A long three by an ADM player put the Hawks down by four with 1:12 remaining in the third quarter, but it wasn’t going to stay that way for long. |
Top: Junior Ben Lechtenberg goes above two ADM players to make a shot on Tuesday. Bottom: Senior BJ Hermsen makes two of his 15 points against ADM at State last week. |
Hermsen nailed a jumper with 49 second left, and Crawford assisted Lechtenberg on a jumper in the last second of the third to tie the Tigers, 43-43.
The Tigers started the fourth quarter with yet another three-pointer to put them up 46-43, the biggest lead they would hold in the fourth. Kafer fired a jumper, which was followed by a a layup by Crawford to give the Hawks the lead again, 47-46. Crawford was fouled on his jumper, and sank a free throw to give the Hawks the 47-48 lead.
Back and forth and back and forth, the teams switched for the lead, but with three minutes remaining, Chris Crawford hit a jumper that tied the two at 52-52. Two free throws gave ADM a two-point lead, and a clutch shot by Lechtenberg with 1:14 left tied the Tigers 54-54.
ADM ran down the clock following the Lechtenberg basket, which resulted in a jump ball in WD’s favor with four second remaining.
Kafer passed inbound to Hermsen, who was in-turn fouled by an ADM player at halfcourt. The Hawks had 2.2 second left to get a shot off, with the tough ADM defense doing all they could to run down those last two seconds.
Kafer got the ball to Hermsen who, despite the Tigers surrounding him, got at three-point shot off at the buzzer, which bounced just off the front rim of the basket, forcing overtime.
Four minutes were put up on the clock and the jump ball ended in WD hands. The Hawks ran the clock down to 2:57, when ADM stole the ball and took another 30 seconds off before sinking a basket with 2:25 left to give them the lead, 56-54.
Hermsen added a jumper with just over two minutes left to tie the Tigers, 56-56.
ADM added another three-pointer for the night and increased their lead with 1:17 left.
Hermsen was fouled with 55 second remaining, and sank both free throws to bring the Hawks within three 58-61. Crawford would add two free throws with 34 seconds left, but unfortunately, that would round out the scoring for the Hawks.
The Tigers regaining possession with just 30 seconds left forced the Hawks to foul, and foul again. The Tigers scored their six points on free throws in the last 30 seconds.
The Hawks saw their season come to an end after a valiant battle with a very tough team. The final score was 68-60.
ADM went on to take 3rd place in the State Tournament.
Junior Ben Lechtenberg was high scorer for the Hawks with 17 points and seven rebounds. Seniors BJ Hermsen and Chris Crawford each scored 15 points, while Hermsen grabbed 11 rebounds.
The Hawks concluded their season with an 18-6 record. They also ended the season, with the exception of the state tournament game, on a 12-game winning streak.
The Hawks will miss five seniors in their lineup next year, with Kafer, Crawford, Hermsen, Gaffney and Walters all graduating in 2008.
WD vs. ADM
FG: WD 24-55 43%; ADM 24-48 50%
FT: WD 10-12 83% ADM: 12-14 86%
Assists: WD 8 (Crawford 4, Kafer 2, Engelken 1, Hermsen 1)
Rebounds:WD 28 (Hermsen 11, Lechtenberg 7, Kafer 3, Crawford 2, Walters 2, Mangold 1, Klein 1)
Individual scoring: Lechtenberg 17, Crawford 15, Hermsen 15, Engelken 5, Kafer 4, Klein 2, Walters 2 |
109
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Manchester Press 2005-2008
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