Bluejays fall to Sterling in double OT
BY RYAN RICHTER
Sports writer
You had to figure it would catch up with the Bluejays' basketball team sooner or later: their inability to get off to a quick start.
"We've had trouble starting most of our games this year," said Bluejay coach Don Brubacher after Saturday night's 82-60 win over visiting Bethany.
That proved true on Saturday, as the Bluejays' shooting put themselves in a hole they were never able to get completely out of as they fell 87-80.
Tabor still stays in first place in the KCAC at 10-3 and 12-11 overall.
The Bluejays couldn't seem to heat up in the first half soon enough after they fell behind at intermission, 31-16, shooting a sour 24 percent from the floor.
It took a furious 45 point rally in the second half for the Bluejays to force overtime, knotting the game at 61-all.
Tabor had to cope with several key players saddled with foul trouble.
Three-fifths of its starting lineup finished with four fouls or more.
Their leading scorer Ernest Nortey, who finished with a team-high 20 points and seven rebounds, fouled out.
So did Scott Brubacher, Tabor's main three point threat the last three games, with 13 points, nine coming off threes.
Tyson Ratzlaff, who tied Scott Brubacher as the Bluejays' second leading scorer and Nortey as the leading rebounder, finished with four fouls.
Same with Grant Brubacher, who had nine points.
Only Jeremiah Randall, one of Tabor's four in double figures with 10, finished with less than two fouls.
That played a factor in the two extra sessions with the Warriors pulling away with an 18-11 run in the final overtime.
Tabor committed 17 turnovers, but the Warriors outscored the Bluejays a huge 22-5 in points off mistakes.
Coming off a huge win at McPherson Jan. 26 where the Bluejays's perimeter shooting came up big, the Warriors threw a bucket of ice-cold water on Tabor's long distance game.
Going a ragged one for 11 in the first half, the Bluejays finished shooting a scant 6 for 29 from downtown.
Bethany
The Feb. 1 game against the visiting Bethany Swedes was one of the Bluejays' cases of being able to overcome a rocky start and questionable calls.
It took Tabor nearly 14:00 to knock out the Swedes after Brandon Hendrix's three at the 6:27 mark in the first half put Tabor ahead for good, 20-17.
An 8-0 run in the closing 2:26 of the first half gave Tabor a commanding 37-23 lead heading into the locker-room.
Despite knocking down five field goals in the closing 9:50 of the game, the Bluejays still burned the Swedes, shooting 60 percent from the floor. Tabor got a balanced scoring attack, paced by a career-high 16 from Grant Brubacher, including two triples.
