Goessel boys capture regional crown
By DELBERT PETERS
Contributing writer
Scoring in streaks and hitting 59 percent of their field goals helped the Bluebird boys win the 1A regional tournament championship. Goessel defeated Hope 74-48 in the regional final game. They will play at 6 p.m. Friday in Clay Center against Pike Valley for the first round game at sub-state.
The lead changed five times in the first quarter with Goessel leading 14-13 at the end of the quarter. Hope tied the game 16-16, but that would be as close as the Lions would get as the Bluebirds steadily built a lead they would never relinquish.
Clinton Plenert scored 10 points in the second quarter, and the Bluebird defense stifled the Lions' attack. Goessel had a surprising 33-20 halftime lead.
The Bluebirds began the fourth quarter with six straight points, but the Lions countered with a 10-2 run making the Bluebirds nervous with their 42-30 lead. Goessel finished the quarter with a 9-2 run and settled into a comfortable lead at the end of three quarters.
Hope would never get closer than 17 points during the fourth quarter as Plenert and Jeremy Voth connected inside, and Kent Peters, Jesse Goertzen and Aaron Stehman connected from long range.
Coach Justin Coup cleared the bench for the last two minutes with the game firmly in hand, and Goessel built the lead to a final 26-point margin.
Coup, a graduate of Hope High School 10 years ago and now Goessel head coach, was very satisfied with the outcome of the game.
"That was not what I expected," he said as he looked at the scoreboard. "We played very well to win by this margin."
Scoring for the Bluebirds were Plenert who had 23 points and eight rebounds and Voth who had 15 points and seven rebounds. Peters had 13 points; Goertzen, 10; Josh Schmidt, five; Ben Schmidt, four; Stehman, three; and Ryan Janzen, one.
On Tuesday, in the semi-final game, Goessel defeated Randolph-Blue Valley 62-44 with the Bluebirds testing the ability of the Rams to stop Goessel's inside game.
Peters scored 10 points in the first quarter as the Bluebirds never trailed and led at the break 18-6.
The inside game gave the Bluebirds a 33-15 lead at halftime. What worked in the first half also worked in the second half, as Voth exploded for 12 of Goessel's 14 third-quarter points for a 47-30 lead.
Goessel surged to a 55-32 lead on two three-pointers by Goertzen, and the bench was cleared with 1:40 to play as the Bluebirds coasted to 62-44 win.
The win in semi-finals assured the Bluebirds a spot at the sub-state tournament.
Scoring for Goessel against Blue Valley were Voth with 26, Peters with 17, Goertzen and Plenert with eight each, J. Schmidt with two and Nick Peters one.
