Wolverines ousted in conference semifinals

Jake Doyle’s three pointer with :02 left on the clock clanged off as Villisca eliminated the East Mills boys basketball team 46-45 in the semifinals of the Corner Conference tournament on Thursday at Stanton.

The Wolverines (6-7) battled the taller Bluejays all night with a gambling style offense coach Kevin Schafer encouraged his team to play.

“We knew if we just stayed back they’d use their size to get too many easy buckets and they did,” said Schafer. “But I have to give it to our kids. We wanted to gamble and play the passing lanes. They did everything we asked of them. This was the best we could possibly play, we just came up a little short.”

Villisca (10-2), the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament, led 23-20 at the half, but both teams traded leads in the second half until the final seconds.

Doyle’s shot to win the game came with 6-foot-6 center Eli Corder’s hand in his face.

“He had to rush it,” said Schafer of Doyle’s potential game-winner. “But it was a tough shot. I thought we had a chance at the rebound and we might have gotten fouled there but the officials disagreed.”

A.J. Westover led Glenwood with 16 points.

“This was probably A.J.’s best game this year,” said Schafer. “He shot it well and penetrated for us. We needed to hit some threes to stay in it and he did that.”

Jake Doyle added 10 for East Mills.

Ryan Focht, a 6-foot-5 forward, finished with a game-high 17 points and Corder added 16 for Villisca.

East Mills 55,

Stanton 48

East Mills led by as many as 26 but had to hang on late in a 55-48 consolation match victory over Stanton in the Corner Conference tournament on Saturday.

The Wolverines “dominated” for three quarters said coach Kevin Schafer before the previously top seeded Vikings rallied to cut that lead to three later in the fourth quarter. But East Mills hit its free throws in the final minutes to hang on.

“We played really well,” said Schafer. “They were the number one seed coming in and we really came out to play. I don’t know if they had a hangover from their loss but our kids really wanted this one and we played that way.”

The Wolverines shot a blistering 62.5 percent from the field (20-of-38) and grabbed 17 steals from the Vikings.

A.J. Westeover led East Mills with 15 points, three assists and five steals. Jake Doyle and Luke Schafer added 13 points each.

Clarinda Academy 62,

Fremont-Mills 48

Clarinda Academy outscored the Fremont-Mills boys 19-6 in the fourth quarter of a 62-48 quarterfinal final victory to eliminate the Knights from the Corner Conference tournament last Tuesday.

“We had plenty of opportunities to score in the first quarter, but we turned the ball over way too many times, and did not capitalize on primary break situations and too many missed lay-ups,” said Fremont-Mills coach Matt Thompson. “We played well out of halftime, had a seven-point lead with five minutes left in the third quarter, but eventually their depth and athleticism wore us down.

“They did a great job of putting pressure on our guards, and after three and a half quarters, of being hounded, you start to make mistakes.”

Playing on its home court, Clarinda Academy connected on 21-of-60 shots and turned the ball over 21 times but managed to hold the Knights to six fourth quarter points.

Ryan Menicucci led Fremont-Mills with 12 points. Brandon Herrick added 11 and Thomas Ware 10.

Angelo Kennedy and Vershawn Collins combined for 32 points to lead the Eagles.

East Mills 64,

Sidney 46

A.J. Westover led four Wolverines in double figures as East Mills knocked off Sidney 64-46 in the quarterfinals of the Corner Conference tournament last Tuesday.

The Wolverines led by double figures for most of the game.

“We came out quick, got a lead and held on,” said East Mills coach Kevin Schafer.

Westover finished with a game-high 19 points. Jake Doyle added 12, Luke Schafer 11 and Jake Bolton 11.

Fremont-Mills 84,

South Page 41

The Knights jumped on South Page early with a 31-5 first quarter and never looked back in an 84-41 victory over South Page on Thursday.

“We jumped on them early, did a nice job of forcing turnovers and sharing the ball in transition,” said Fremont-Mills coach Matt Thompson. “Our scoring was very balanced, we played real unselfishly, and shot the ball well. We just played South Page last week and were happy to come out of there with a win but were not happy with our play. I think the kids were happy with our performance. Hopefully, we can get some of that to carry over for the stretch run.”

Ryan Menicucci led 12 Knights scorers with 18 points. Brandon Herrick pitched in with 11 points.