BOYS CORNER CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT: Wolverines win third Corner crown in four years

For the third time in four years East Mills has captured the Corner Conference Boys Basketball Tournament Championship.

Playing on its home court, the No. 2 seeded Wolverines used a quick start to gain the momentum and a lead that swelled to as many as 14 points and then held off a late comeback attempt in a 54-46 win over top-seeded Bedford.

The win was revenge of sorts for the Wolverines (12-4 overall, 7-1 in the conference) who lost in last year’s conference finals 51-42 to the Bulldogs (13-3 overall, 9-0 in the conference).

“We had great effort on defense, and we did the best we could rebounding against them,” said East Mills coach Kevin Schafer.  “We shot well from the three points line which was big.  Camden and Beau led us offensively and I thought Cooper (Hagen) was outstanding on defense.  Really proud of the whole team.”

East Mills led 45-36 at the end of three quarters and the back-to-back three-pointers by Mason Camden and Beau Burdic extended the lead to 51-37 with less than five minutes to go.

But the Bulldogs responded by rattling off nine straight points to get within 51-46 with less than three minutes to go. That was, however, as close as they would get. The Wolverines would hit 3-of-4 free throw down the street to secure the win.

Camden topped the Wolverines with a game-high 26 points. Burdic chipped in 17 points.

Quentin Dalton’s 18 points led Bedford.

Semifinals

East Mills 56,

Stanton 36 

East Mills used a 15-4 third quarter run to blow a 12-point halftime lead wide open in a 56-36 win over Stanton in the Corner Conference Boys Basketball Tournament semifinals Thursday in Bedford.

“Our defense caused a number of steals which led to transition buckets,” said East Mills coach Kevin Schafer. “Our three-pt shooting came around after the first quarter. I’m happy with our post players making some key buckets as well.”

 Mason Camden poured in 26 points and Zayne Graybill added 10 for the Wolverines.

 Brodee Sowers had a double-double with 13 points and12 rebounds to pace Stanton.

Bedford 55,

Fremont-Mills 22

Bedford’s defense never let Fremont-Mills get into a rhythm in a 55-22 win over the Knights in the Corner Conference Boys Basketball Tournament semifinals Thursday on the Bulldogs’ home court.

The Bulldogs led 21-4 after a quarter and the Knights never were able to puncture that lead.

Quentin Dalton had 19 points and John Deemer 13 to lead Bedford.

Fremont-Mills was led by Mason Reed’s 16 points.

Quarterfinals

East Mills 67,

Hamburg 27

East Mills scored the game’s first 14 points and led 40-1 before Hamburg could even muster a field goal in a 67-27 rout in the Corner Conference Boys Basketball Tournament Quarterfinals last Tuesday in Malvern.

The Wolverine’s performance was night and day just a week ago when the head coach Kevin Schafer’s team could not find its shooting touch nor contain Hamburg’s size in a narrow 66-57 win.

“The whole first half we played really well,” Schafer said after Tuesday’s game. “We struggled against them the other night. We struggled shooting it and we struggled defending them. They were scoring. We played more 2-3 (zone) this time and their bigs didn’t hurt us on the boards like they did last time. We could double team quicker and control the perimeter and you always hope it works and it did tonight.”

Hamburg center Gabe Staley, who scored 22 points the first time around, was limited to five points in the quarterfinals.

It certainly didn’t hurt matters East Mills shot the ball much better. The first two quarters they made 10 three pointers, six coming from Beau Burdic as poured in 24 first half points and took a 47-5 lead into halftime.

“The first time we played them, we were 6-of-29 (from three). This time, at least in the first half, we were much better than that,” Schafer said. “When we’re hitting those, we can look really good. We’re kind of a roller coaster this year, even in games we can go from looking really good in one quarter to really average in the next. We don’t get a lot of post-scoring, so we need to shoot it like that.”

Burdic finished with a game-high 26 points. Mason Camden added 21 points.

Keith Thompson scored eight points to lead Hamburg.

Stanton 73,

Essex 23

Stanton led by 18 at the half and then opened the third quarter on a 15-0 run on its way to a 73-23 victory over a short-handed Essex team in Corner Conference Boys Basketball Tournament quarterfinal action last Tuesday in Malvern.

The Trojans played without leading scorer and rebounder Isaiah Sholes, who sat out the game with a sprained ankle.

Both teams started slow offensively with fouls and turnovers clogging up much of the first quarter. But the Vikings seem to settle into the flow of the game in the second quarter and solve the Trojan zone with good old-fashioned patience.

Stanton coach Donnie Weis said it wasn’t always pretty, but he’ll take the win.

“We started the game moving way too fast and turning the ball over,” Weis said. “We made some adjustments and then we opened the second half with that run. We also stepped it up defensively. Offensively, the theme for us all year has been getting sped up. We’re young and we’re learning.”     

The Vikings led 35-17 at the break. Their pressure, forcing turnovers on four straight Essex possessions, led straight to buckets on the offensive end.

“We talked at halftime about knowing who we’re guarding and forcing guys to their off hand and we got some turnovers,” he said. “Transition was huge for us. I think all of those points (in the run) were probably layups, but they’re might have been a three in there. But that was big for us. Our defense allowed us to blow it open.”

Brodee Sowers led four Vikings in double-figures with 17 points. Wyatt Roberts added 15, Cooper Dreyer 13 and Rylan Grebin 10.

Ashlon Kline, Ben King and Damien Aradanas scored five points each for Essex.

Bedford 81,

Griswold 14 

Four players reached double-figures for Bedford in an 81-14 win over Griswold in the Corner Conference boys tournament quarterfinals last Tuesday in Bedford.

 Camden Powell scored 25 points, Quentin Dalton added 16, Hayden Riedel 14 and John Deemer 13 to lead the No. 2 seeded Bulldogs.

 Wyatt Silk and Dain Laverty scored five points each to lead Griswold. 

Fremont-Mills 68,

Sidney 17 

A fully healthy Fremont-Mills rolled to a 68-17 win over a short-handed Sidney squad in the Corner Conference Tournament quarterfinals last Tuesday.

The game saw the return of Knight forwards Rowen Howe and Mason Reed from pre-Christmas injuries. Sidney, due to injuries and attrition saw their roster down to four players late in the game.

“Getting used to our rotation again was the biggest concern,” said Fremont-Mills coach Justin Ewalt. “Sidney was very short-handed, so it wasn’t a true test of where we’re at. Big challenge Thursday.”