Cadet boy cagers trounce Pirates, Kee

CRESCO - The Crestwood varsity boys’ basketball team made the Postville Pirates walk the plank on Dec. 16 at home as the Cadets routed the Pirates, 94-29.

Facing Lansing Kee on the road on Dec. 19, the Cadets grounded the Kee Hawks, 77-40, to improve to 6-1 overall.

CW 94, Postville 29

After taking a 24-13 first period lead, the Cadets went on a 25-6 run in the second period on their way to a convincing 94-29 rout over Postville at home on Dec. 16.

“We played hard for most of the night and got out and did what we needed to do on both sides of the floor,” Cadet Head Coach Chris Sullivan said. “Offensively we got the ball moving side to side and found advantages and took advantage of them. Our defense initiated our offense after the first minute and a half where we were a step slow and we talked to the boys about the importance of being ready from the get go. 

“We thought we had the we/me factor going most of the night and guys are continuing to understand their roles and buy into their roles. We have a lot of depth and we are going to use that to our advantage and we want the games to be a track meet with a basketball in our hands. 

“There are a lot of things we can learn from this game as our footwork allowed a few too many straight line drives but we will get that cleaned up moving forward. Luke and Drake led us in scoring with 21 points each and they both let the game come to them. Zander scored 14 off the bench and was active around the basket all night. We had 26 assists, so anytime that happens, you're making that unselfish play. It was a great team victory,” Sullivan said.

 Drake Sir tallied 21 points, including five three-pointers, had four assists, three rebound and one steal for the Cadets. Luke Drtina had 21 points, four rebounds, four steals and four assists. Zander Mehmert had 14 points, six rebounds and one steal.

Cody Sobolik had eight points, four rebounds, two steals and one block. Keagen Gaul had eight points, including two three-pointers, two assists and one rebound. Alex Berg had seven points, including one three-pointer, six rebounds, four assists and two steals.

Richie McKusker had five points, including one three-pointer, five assists, three rebounds and three steals. Tate Cummings had four points, five assists, three steals and two rebounds. Marcus Kammerer had two points and two steals. Nathan Mahr had two rebounds.

The Cadets made 41 of 61 total field goals (67 percent), including nine three pointers.

Score by quarters

Pst   13  06  08  02 - 29

CW  24  25  25  20 - 94

 

CW 77, Kee 40

The Cadets raced to a commanding 43-26 halftime lead on their way to a 77-40 rout of the Kee Hawks on Dec. 19.

“We knew going into this game that Kee was going to be scrappy,” Sullivan said. “We needed to get out and run and we did that in the first quarter with 26 points scored. Although we got out and ran, our defensive intensity was not where we needed it to be, but we switched up our defense early and it got us going. 

“We tell the kids all the time that nobody needs to save themselves for one end of the floor as we need all five guys playing with on heartbeat on both ends of the floor. Once we sped Kee up, they had a hard time adjusting and we won. 

“Although we won, everybody in the locker room agreed that we were sloppy at things we were looking to clean up but we will always celebrate victories. Drake led us in scoring with 18 points and connected on six threes. The guys did a good job of making the extra pass. 

“Dane Curtin was a man out there tonight on the boards and finished well around the hoop and continues to turn up the temperature on a nightly basis. Luke continues to cause teams fits with his length and athleticism (14 points and six steals) and overall it was a great team win. 

“We will be battle tested a lot in the second half of the season and we are excited about this opportunity. We are 6-1 on the year and 5-0 in conference and we are looking forward to a little down time before getting back at it," Sullivan said.