Defenders overtake Raiders, 79-75
Comments (...)BAXTER — If there’s one sure thing about the Collins-Maxwell-Baxter boys basketball team, it’s that its offense has no trouble scoring.
If there’s two sure things, the second is that its defense has just as much trouble stopping opposing offenses.
Both factors were on display Tuesday night in Baxter as the Raiders came out on the wrong end of a 79-75 shootout in which they saw a 4-point fourth quarter lead slip away in the final 31⁄2 minutes.
As a result, CMB (2-16, 2-15 Heart of Iowa) dropped its eighth-straight game, while the Defenders moved to 10-8 (8-8).
Down by six entering the fourth quarter, GPB was unstoppable in the last eight minutes, outscoring the Raiders 28-18. Defenders’ senior Rodney Richardson, junior Jon Luke Talton ad senior Colin Westbrook had seven, six and six points in the fourth, including a big 3-pointer by Richardson that put GPB ahead by five with 1:35 left. CMB wouldn’t get closer than two the rest of the way.
“There’s not much you can do when a team’s on a role like that,” said Raiders’ senior Josh Zeiser, who played his last home game. “They were on fire and we couldn’t stop them. They weren’t missing.”
“They caught fire,” added CMB coach Gary Plunkett. “I don’t think it was anything we did to lose the game. For a young team, I was proud of us. We didn’t lose the game ourselves.”
The Raiders lost despite shooting nearly 50 percent from the floor at 24-of-49 on field goals and made 15-of-21 free throws. But the Defenders made 12-of-14 free throws in the fourth quarter alone, including 11 straight.
A fast-paced first quarter set the tone for the game as both offenses pushed the tempo and neither defense could find answers. A late 3-pointer from junior Zach Hartgers gave CMB a 21-20 lead after one quarter, in which Zeiser scored eight points.
The Raiders’ defense was better in the second quarter, holding GPB to 12 points while CMB freshman Bryce Kemp went on a personal 7-0 run to put his team in control with a 32-24 lead. The final two points of that run came on a dunk that drew a huge ovation from the home crowd. The teams traded baskets the rest of the quarter and the Raiders led 39-32 at halftime.
“Bryce was just phenomenal tonight,” Plunkett said. “He was almost unstoppable from the first quarter to the end. He’s going to be a fun kid to watch.”
Plunkett said Kemp wasn’t playing at 100 percent, having missed school on Monday with the flu. He finished with 23 points Tuesday night.
“He did awesome down there inside,” Zeiser added about Kemp. “To see him get a big game like this was great and I hope he keeps it going.”
The third quarter was a basket-for-basket slugfest, but CMB was able to maintain at least a four-point lead throughout and led 57-51 entering the fourth.
But the Defenders opened the fourth on a 5-0 run to pull within one, and then a crucial CMB technical foul resulted in essentially a five-point play for GPB as it hit two free throws and then a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession. That gave the Defenders their first lead since the first quarter, going ahead 65-64 with 3:25 left.
Richardson’s big 3-pointer put GPB up 74-69 with 1:35 left, but he also picked up a technical foul celebrating it. A Hartgers’ free throw and a Kemp basket pulled CMB within 74-72, but that was as close as the Raiders would get. The Defenders hit four free throws before CMB junior Aaron Haupert hit a 3 to make it 78-75 with 40 seconds left, and then a game-tying 3 from junior Austin Mooreman rimmed out with 16 seconds left before GPB hit a free throw to effectively end the game up 79-75 with six seconds to go.
Grandview Park Baptist 79,
CMB 75
Score by quarter
GPB - 20 12 19 28 — 79
CMB - 21 18 18 18 — 75
Individual scoring — CMB: Bryce Kemp 23, Josh Zeiser 16, Austin Mooreman 11, Tommy Galloway 7, Zach Hartgers 6, Seth Balke 4, Aaron Haupert 3, Zach Samson 3, Jason Huntrods 2. GPB: Rodney Richardson 26, Jon Luke Talton 18, Connor Arrasmith 12, Colin Westbrook 10, Brennan Drea 8, Tyvin Riley 5.
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