Boys win at Pretty Prairie
A Justin Fensky shot hit nothing but net as the buzzer sounded on Thursday in a basketball game at home against Pretty Prairie. The last basket broke a 62-62 tie to give the Bluebirds their second Heart of America League win of the season.
"Believe it or not," head coach Justin Coup said. "That last inbounds play was exactly like we planned it in the huddle."
Goessel trailed 7-8 in the middle of the first quarter and then went on a tear as they outscored Pretty Prairie, 17-0.
The 16-point lead would not hold up as the Bulldogs got within three points by half-time, 32-29.
Pretty Prairie finally tied the game 60-60 with 1:30 to play in the game.
Josh Schmidt gave the Bluebirds a two-point lead with his 16 points, but the Bulldogs tied again with a basket of their own.
Goessel ran the clock down and called time out with 15.7 seconds. A pass under the basket was deflected out of bounds, and the Bluebirds had the ball with 1.3 seconds to play.
Because of the success of Goessel's big men during the game, a faked pass under the bucket left Fensky wide open from the left side of the court. The buzzer sounded as his shot descended, and the Bluebirds won by three.
Leading the scoring for the Bluebirds were four players in double figures: Ryan Janzen with 20 points, Josh Schmidt with 16, Aaron Stehman with 11, Justin Fensky with 10, Garrett Hiebert with four, Jordan Voth with three, and Nicholas Peters with one.
The Trinity Celtics came to Goessel on Tuesday and left town with another victory. Goessel trailed by five at the end of the first quarter and took a three-point lead at half-time.
The Bluebirds trailed by two after three quarters, but a 24-point burst for Trinity in the fourth quarter was too much for Goessel to overcome, as the Bluebirds lost their fourth game in row, 57-51.
Trinity converted 14 of 22 free-throws, but the Bluebirds hit six three pointers to stay close.
Janzen led the Bluebirds with 19 points. Peters scored 11, Stehman, seven; Voth, six; Fensky, four; and Hiebert and Schmidt, two each.
