Fourth quarter woes loom large in loss for Wolves

The Harris-Lake Park boys basketball team proved it could compete with the only unbeaten team left in the West Division of the Cornbelt Conference, taking a 47-45 lead over Clay Central-Everly late in the fourth quarter before giving up a late surge in a 63-52 setback Friday, Feb. 2 in Lake Park.

"I was proud of our guys. We kept battling and plugging away," said Harris-Lake Park coach Jeff Sohn. "I talked to (CC-E coach) Gordy (Jorgenson) after the game and we both thought that both teams were really wore out in the end because they used up so much energy. It was a battle all night. We had eight to 10 baskets that rimmed out and that was the difference."

The Wolves took a 47-45 lead on a basket by Eli Ihnen with 3:30 left in the fourth quarter, but Nick Roghair quickly turned the tide into the Mavericks favor with a long range bomb and transition hoop off a steal. H-LP pulled back to within 50-49 on a bank shot by Tanner Hiveley, however, CC-E used a five-point possession to move ahead 55-49 with 2:56 left. The Mavs tallied eight of the final 11 points after the five-point swing.

"They started a nine-game win streak after our game the first time and have kind of rolled with it since than," said Sohn. "They competed better down the stretch. We've been in too many close games to say that it was our youth that hurt us. We have to find a way to compete and end up on top. It's frustrating, but we just need to continue to get better these last few weeks."

The Mavericks maintained a slim margin throughout the first half, but Eli Ihnen and Justin Murphy kept the game within two points with jumpers midway through the opening quarter. After Ihnen took a charge on Caleb Mackey, Murphy rattled in a basket to knot the game at 13. CC-E regained the lead with less than a minute to go on a three-pointer by Caleb Batschelet.

Mychal Sheridan and Ihnen converted back-to-back triples to power H-LP back to tie the game at 23 with 4:48 left in the second quarter. Although the Mavericks had an answer and ended the half with a 12-5 spurt after Aaron Berberich scored on an offensive putback at the buzzer.

A late three-ball by Brady Nissen closed the gap down to 45-42 at the end of the third quarter.

Nissen knotted the contest at 45 with another trey on the first possession of the fourth quarter. Both teams remained stuck on 45 points until Ihnen rebounded his own miss and scored with three and a half minutes left on the clock.

Roghair fired in a three-ball to answer for the Mavs, and then turned a steal into a fast-break basket. Hiveley used a spin move to score on a bank shot on the next play for the Wolves, but Berberich took control with a hoop in the paint with 2:56 remaining. Nate Drees rebounded the missed free throw by Berberich and ended up converting a three-point play on the same possession to deflate H-LP.

Austin Klett and Berberich added two late baskets to push the lead to 61-49 before Sheridan knocked in a three-pointer with just under 25 seconds to go.

Nissen led the Wolves with 16 points, nailing two shots from beyond the arc. Ihnen had 13 points, 10 rebounds (four offensive), five assists and two steals. Sheridan also tossed in nine points and grabbed six rebounds, followed by Murphy with eight points and four assists.

The Wolves were 21-of-63 overall for 33 percent, but did connect on 6-of-17 three-pointers for 35 percent. They were 6-of-11 from the free throw line, committed 12 turnovers and came away with 35 rebounds (nine offensive).

"We matched them rebound for rebound," said Sohn. "I thought we did a lot better job on the boards than we have in our last two games."

Mackey finished with no points after entering the game averaging double figures, but Drees led all scorers with 21. Berberich tossed in 18 while Klett had 11 and Roghair fended up with eight.

"We had a hard time containing Drees," said Sohn. "We were there to contest his shots, but he did a good job of exploding over the defenders."

Harris-Lake Park slides to 7-9 overall and 4-4 in the conference while Clay Central-Everly is now 5-0 in league play and 11-2 on the year. The Mavs are 5-0 against West Division foes compared to a 1-7 mark for the Wolves.