AGWSR rallies back against Bulldogs

ACKLEY – AGWSR started out hot, faded, and then roared back in the fourth quarter to take an opening win over the Bulldog boys’ basketball team on Tuesday, Dec. 1.

Coach Ryley Schipper’s Cougars, who just got their coach back in time for the first game after his wife delivered their first baby on Sunday, delivered in a big way in the end for a 51-48 victory.

The Bulldog bench looks different for the first time in years, also, with veteran coach Heath Walton taking this season off as he recovers from a second round of cancer amid COVID-19.

Interim coach Matt Lokenvitz said that he was probably going to get 14 texts and messages from Walton on the way home from Ackley about the events of the game.

“We played a really good first half, then kind of hit that panic mode and stalled out, but even getting behind in that fourth quarter did for us, that we can show we can play from behind and getting some of those guys experience,” Schipper said of his team. “Bradly Roder really stepped up for us tonight off the bench and gave us a spark. We had balanced scoring. Jaden led the way, but we were balanced with them and David (Koop), and we need those points. We can’t rely on just one person. If we can get four guys in that 10-point range, that’s really going to help us every night.”

Lokenvitz agreed, saying his team didn’t start well and then battled back.

“It’s never going to be a perfect ironed out game one,” Lokenvitz said. “We looked like it in that first half. And for most of our guys, minus Mario (De La Cruz), (Jordan) Severs, Jace (Spurgeon), we haven’t. This is their first varsity experience. Even from the opening team, we through it to Colin and bounced it off his shoulder and then we threw it back to Benji and we kicked it. It wasn’t a good start for us, but it was just a game one, a little bit of experience. We shot 29 percent, we are not going to shoot that bad another game.

“As the game went on, it was 22-20 at halftime and they controlled everything. Other than Colin Hill, they were getting rebounds, they were getting every loose ball, they were hitting their open shots, we weren’t. They were able to walk the ball up, get into their offense and do what they wanted to do. We tried to combat that at halftime. We got into our press, tried to speed them up a little bit. It worked, we got a lead and then…up three with under two minutes to go, and we have two people jack up threes that are ill-advised, but they’ll learn how to play that in end-game situations, time and score.”

Rebounding, Schipper said, was key.

“You can get those (rebounds) if you box out right,” Schipper said. “Right now, they are just trying to out-jump everybody and not doing it the right way. We go over it all the time, but it’s going to be an effort thing. You have to put in the effort. Late in the game, we got the rebounds when we needed them. That was good for us. I told the guys in the locker room, ‘it’s the effort.’ You’ve got to want it all night.”

Despite the fact that AGWSR was 1-for-7 from the free throw line in the final minute of the game, the Cougars got key lay-ups and the Bulldogs were just 2-for-4 from the charity stripes themselves.

Ben Macy also emerged in that fourth quarter, scoring all eight of his points in the final eight minutes.

“Ben’s a confidence guy,” Schipper said. “He got his confidence going in that fourth quarter, he felt good. Instead of settling for a three, he attacked the basket. I told him I didn’t just want that shot late, but if it is going to be a lay-up, I’ll take it. That really helped. We’ve got to have guys step up in that fourth quarter.”

Two late three-point attempts in the final seconds wouldn’t go for the Bulldogs and the Cougars emerged with the win, their fourth out of the last five.

“We don’t lack shooters and I’ve never told those guys any shot is a bad shot, if you are open to shoot it, I will tell you when to stop shooting,” Schipper said. “If you are open, shoot it.”

Lovenvitz promised his team will improve from this game.

“We’ve got to get some senior leaders who have been there before get the ball, get it to the top and understand the time and situation, try to understand that they don’t have to be the hero, ‘I’ve got to be the one to shoot the ball,’” Lokenvitz said. “Get the ball inside, inside was working in the second half and we got away from it in the last four minutes of the game. So, partially that’s my fault. I haven’t been out here coaching in 10 years, I coach baseball, which is much different than coaching basketball and going up and down. I could have called a timeout and been better. We’ll learn from that and won’t shoot 29 percent all of the time and get better.”

AGWSR 51, Bulldogs 48

Bulldogs (0-1, 0-0)– Jordan Severs 4-12 2-4 10, Jace Spurgeon 0-3 0-0 0, Riley Heeren 0-2 0-0 0, Benji Sauke 0-2 0-0 0, Colin Hill 3-7 1-4 7, Mario De La Cruz 2-15 0-0 6, Marco Guerrero 5-9 0-1 14, Tommy Birdsell 1-2 0-0 2, Cal Heeren 2-8 0-0 6, Scott Harr 0-0 0-2, 0, Payton McNealy 1-3 1-2 3. Totals 18-63 4-13 48.

AGWSR (1-0, 0-0)– Daniel Stahl 4-10 0-2 9, Bradly Roder 3-3 0-0 7, Jaden Penning 6-12 4-6 19, David Koop 3-5 1-2 7, Ben Macy 4-9 0-2 8, Chase Harms 0-2 1-5 1, Gabe Nederhoff 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 20-42 6-17 51.

Bulldogs      7   13   15   13      -   48

AGWSR     14     8   10   19      -   51

Three-point goals– H-D 8-33 (Guerrero 4-8, C. Heeren 2-8, De La Cruz 2-9, Birdsell 0-1, Spurgeon 0-2, R. Heeren 0-2, Severs 0-3); AGWSR 5-20 (Penning 3-7, Roder 1-1, Stahl 1-5, Nederhoff 0-1, Koop 0-2, Macy 0-3). Rebounds– H-D 34 (Hill 13, Severs 6, McNealy 3, Sauke 2, C. Heeren 2,Spurgeon, R. Heeren, Guerrero, Birdsell); AGWSR 31 (Koop 9, Harms 7, Penning 6, Stahl 4, Roder 2, Macy). Assists– H-D 8 (Guerrero 3, C. Heeren 2, Severs, Birdsell, Harr); AGWSR 10 (Stahl 2, Penning 2, Koop 2, Macy 2, Roder, Harms). Steals– H-D 6 (Severs 3, Hill, Birdsell, C. Heeren); AGWSR 4 (Harms 2, Roder, Penning). Blocks – H-D, None; AGWSR 2 (Stahl, Koop). Total fouls – H-D 19, AGWSR 16. Fouled out – H-D (Sauke).