Goessel boys head for 1A sub-state tournament
By DELBERT PETERS
Contributing writer
Victories on Tuesday and Friday night assured the Bluebird boys of an appearance at the 1A sub-state tournament. The loss on Saturday, against Olpe, forced the Bluebirds into the bracket with Lebo as their first opponent. The game will be at Butler County Community College on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
At Elyria on Tuesday night, Goessel played the #3 seeded team in Regionals. The Bluebirds came away with a victory 48-45.
Goessel hosted the regional tournament but were the visitors on the scoreboard against the #2 seeded Madison Bulldogs. The game appeared to be well matched as the first quarter started but the Bluebirds capitalized on Madison's missed shots and took a 15-6 lead late in the first quarter. The Bulldogs got the deficit down to five with about three minutes to play in the first half, but Garrett Hiebert put a missed shot back in the basket at the buzzer to put Goessel ahead 23-15 at half time.
In the third period, Goessel's lead slipped to six points at the five minute mark, but then Justin Fensky found himself on the offensive surge scoring 11 of Goessel's next 13 points, helping the Bluebirds to a 38-25 lead at the end of the third quarter.
Ryan Janzen scored a traditional three-point play to start the fourth quarter, stretching the Bluebird lead to 16 points, but the Bulldogs began to strike back. Madison went on a 17-5 run and with 2:55 to play in the game Goessel led by a score of 48-44.
From that point of the game, 29 free throws were shot with Goessel hitting 13 of 20 and Madison hitting 7 of 9. Madison trailed 55-60 with 19 seconds remaining, but Goessel held on for the victory by a final score of 61-56.
Scoring for the Bluebirds were Justin Fensky 20 points and 9 of 10 free throws; Travis Buller, 15 points; Tyler Schroeder, 10 points; Garrett Hiebert, six points and 10 rebounds; Ryan Janzen, six points; and Jordan Voth, four.
On Saturday, Goessel was again the visitor on the scoreboard, hosting the #1 seeded Olpe Eagles. Goessel showed good poise in the first half getting a 15-7 lead in the second quarter, only to see Olpe come back to tie the game 17-17.
The Eagles pulled ahead 26-21, but two three pointers by Travis Buller gave the Bluebirds a 27-26 lead as the buzzer ended the third quarter. Olpe got ahead by six in the final quarter, but twice the Bluebirds were able to pull within two points.
With 1:06 to play, Goessel trailed 35-37 and was unable to convert several open shots at the basket. The Eagles hit 4 of 5 free throws to secure the win by a final score of 41-37.
No Bluebirds were able to get to double figures. Travis Buller hit nine points; Tyler Schroeder, eight; Garrett Hiebert, seven; Justin Fensky, five; Jordan Voth, four; and Ryan Janzen, four points and 10 rebounds.
Goessel suffered a stretch during the season where they lost 12 out of 13 games. How are they able to play so well at the end of this season?
"These kids never stopped believing they could win," said Coach Justin Coup. "This is a group of kids that never quit."
Goessel boys move on to sub-state with an overall record of 8-15.
