Knights cage Wolverines in Corner Conference tussle

    TABOR - Fremont-Mills was outscored 11-9 in the fourth quarter, they gave up 31 points to East Mills’ guard Luke Schafer and leading scorer Corey Morrical had just five second half points.

    Yet, it was the Knights who walked away with the win in a 63-55 victory over East Mills last Tuesday before a reporter-estimated crowd of 500 at Lied Gymnasium.
    Schafer hurt the Knights early – he scored 17 first half points – in a variety of ways and against a variety of defenders. Fremont-Mills coach Matt Thompson tried forwards Nate Meier and A.J. Scarborough and guards Nick Williams and Logan Wood on the 5-foot-9 senior.
    “We knew coming in he could score,” said Thompson, adding Luke Schafer averaged 23.5 points per game against his team last season. “We came out trying to focus on him and limiting him. But he still gets 31 and a lot of those are contested shots. I was applauding our kids for getting hands up and in his face when he makes those shots. He’s just a good player who knocks down shots.
    “The times he did break us down we did do an O.K. job containing him, especially in the second half. He didn’t get quite as many easy looks.”
    The two teams combined for 75 first half points with the Knights leading by as many as 15 points. Second half scoring wouldn’t come quite as easy.
    Trailing 43-32 at the break, the Wolverines traded baskets with the Knights throughout the third quarter, with F-M extending its lead to 54-44 to end the period. A quick 7-4 run, capped by Morrical’s fastbreak layup to open the fourth quarter put the Knights out in front 61-48 with 3:48 to go.
    Following a time out, East Mills sparked a run of its own. Layups by Daniel Duysen and Pierre Bassich, sandwiched around a Knight free throw, along with another Schafer three-pointer cut the lead to 62-55 with :33 to go. But that was as close as the Wolverines would get.
    Thompson said his team did about all they could to let the Wolverines stick around.
    “I thought we settled a little too much for jumpers down the stretch where we should have pounded it inside,” Thompson said. “They were in the bonus, I thought we could have gotten to the line a little more, we’re shooting decent there. I would have liked to see us attack the basket a little more. But that’s alright, they did a good job inside sealing and calling for the ball. This is a pretty unselfish team and they’ve played together a long time.”
    The Wolverines outscored the Knights 11-9 in the final frame but East Mills coach Kevin Schafer said both teams looked tired the final three minutes.
    “You could tell both teams were shot in the fourth quarter,” Schafer said. “The first half, they shot lights out. We could have played a little better but I don’t know how we could have been in the lead. Maybe within five or six points but the way they were shooting they were very difficult to guard.”
    Schafer said his team sped up its pace in the fourth quarter and it worked getting them back in the game but it took its toll on his team’s energy. The Wolverines missed three three-pointers over the final :25 of the game.
    “The first half they were getting the majority of the fast break buckets. In the second half, we got a few of those going to kind of come back,” Schafer said. “We cut it to seven there in the fourth quarter and we had some opportunities, we took some quick shots we were hitting in the third quarter but in the fourth, our legs were gone.”
    The post trio of Nate Meier, A.J. Scarborough and Clayton Wilson controlled the paint most of the game for the Knights. Meier scored a team-high 18, Wilson added 11 and Scarborough had nine to team with Morrical’s 16 points from the outside. Schafer scored a season-high 31 but just one other Wolverine (Duysen) scored more than five points.
    “He (Schafer) had been struggling a little bit shooting lately but the other kids had been picking up the slack. It looked like tonight, other than Duysen, the other kids were deferring to him,” Schafer said. “F-M’s height and athletic ability and strength inside bothered out inside players. But we seemed to settle as the game went on. I was very pleased with how we rebounded and how hard we played. This was probably one of the better games we’ve played this year. This was good intense game. It wasn’t always pretty but the intensity was there.”

East Mills 69,
Heartland Christian 14
    Colden Hillyer and Luke Schafer combined for 23 for the East Mills boys basketball team in a 69-14 victory over Heartland Christian on Friday.
    The Wolverines (6-1 overall, 3-1 in the Corner Conference) shot a season-best 53.4 percent from the field (31-of-58) in the win. The East Mills defense held Heartland Christian to 6-of-32 shooting (18.7 percent).
    Hillyer led a balanced scoring effort with 12 points. Schafer added 11 with Ethan Stephens, Charlie Ruff and Bassich scored eight points each.
    Zach Nichols led Heartland Christian with seven points.