TABOR: Bluejays' regular season ends on high note
Tabor men upend Coyotes 81-67
BY RYAN RICHTER
Sports writer
Knowing how the Bluejays' luck protecting a lead has been lately, there was good reason to feel uneasy all throughout the regular season finale Saturday night in Salina against the Kansas Wesleyan Coyotes.
Ten minutes in a basketball game is an eternity, which is why Bluejay coach Don Brubacher looked antsy until the final horn sounded.
Fortunately for the Bluejays, 10:00 wasn't enough time for the Coyotes as the Bluejays topped them 81-67.
"For 30 of the 40 minutes I was extremely pleased on how we played the game," Brubacher said. "We looked extremely team-oriented, completely unselfish, we passed the ball and ran well off the ball and we guarded hard and intelligently.
"We executed our defensive game the way we practice it. Those other 10:00 scare me. You get into tournament play, those 10:00 can cost you the game and the season is over."
With the postseason starting last night, that might be an ideal thing for the Bluejays to keep in mind.
Tabor closes out the regular season at 17-10 overall winning seven of their last eight.
The Bluejays are still in a three-way logjam for second place with the Bethany Swedes and the Sterling Warriors at 12-6.
Micah Ratzlaff scored a team-high 20 points, including three for seven from downtown.
After Derek Karber scored the Bluejays' first four points, Micah Ratzlaff's triple just under 18:00 to go in the game gave Tabor the lead for good.
With Brubacher using his larger lineup of Colby Bettles, Chris Meyers and Karber more, both the scoring and rebounding has paid dividends as the Bluejays again won the rebounding battle, 45-34, paced by Micah Ratzlaff snagging a team-high 10.
Karber managed to score in double figures with 10 points while pulling down four rebounds.
The Coyotes whittled the lead down to three, 14-11, on a Matt-Crist trey, but that was as close as they could ever get again.
A pair of threes by Scott Brubacher fueled a 10-0 run for Tabor that stretched its lead out to 24-11 with 13:47 remaining in the half. Scott Brubacher and Brad Gattis rounded out the Bluejays scoring in double figures with 10 and 17, respectively.
Down 41-32 at halftime and shooting 35 percent from the floor, the Coyotes always seemed like they were in the Bluejays' rear-view mirror.
Karber pushed the lead back to 13 just under 2:30 into the second half.
But the Coyotes took the ball inside more, using a 12-3 to pull to within 54-50 with 14:24 left.
"There were stretches of the game where our defense really seemed to be effective," said Don Brubacher. "Our man-to-man worked very well for a considerable portion of the game.
"But then we started having trouble down low in the man-to-man and we were giving up just a boat-load of offense."
The Bluejays then switched to a zone defense to extinguish the Coyotes' fire.
Grant Brubacher sparked an 8-0 Tabor run with a follow with 9:06 to go which seemed to finally do in the Coyotes.
Back-to-back baskets by Gattis helped the Bluejays enjoy their largest lead of 19, 75-56 with 3:38 left.
Hitting an improved 19 for 24 on the night at the foul line, Tabor could mail it in with 57 seconds left as Grant Brubacher made it a four-possession game for the Coyotes with a free throw.
The fourth-seeded Bluejays opened the first round of the KCAC Tournament last night at home against the fifth-seeded Southwestern Moundbuilders.
Results of Wednesday's action were unavailable at press time.
With a victory Wednesday night, Tabor could travel to top-seeded KCAC champion Bethel pending a Thresher win over the Coyotes.
Should the Coyotes happen to upset the Threshers in the quarterfinals, KWU would visit Hillsboro Saturday in a 2 p.m. start.
Friends
Appearing in his final regular season game in Hillsboro Feb. 20, Micah Ratzlaff teamed up with brother Tyson to drop 30 points on the struggling visitors from Wichita, the Friends Falcons.
Micah ended the game with the first of two consecutive double-doubles with 15 points and a game-high 11 rebounds to help the Bluejays win the battle for the boards, 41-35.
Hitting 48 percent from the field the first half, Tabor raced to a 38-23 halftime lead to eventually demolish the Falcons, 77-48.
Two of Gattis' 12 points gave the Bluejays their largest lead of the first half, 34-14 on a pair of free throws.
The Falcons shaved the lead to 45-33 with 13:55 to go, but a 10-0 run, ignited by one of Micah's two threes, broke the game wide open, 60-36 with 8:13 left.
Tabor went the final 2:55 absent with a field goal, making six of its last seven points at the free throw line for another 19 for 24 night at the stripe.
In another good defensive effort by the Bluejays, the Falcons were limited to a chilly 19 of 61 from the floor and three for 15 from downtown, committing 18 turnovers that led to 20 points for Tabor.
Tabor countered hitting a cooler 46 percent overall and 35 percent from outside, paced by Tyson's three for five.
TAbor 81, Kansas Wesleyan 67
Total points: S. Brubacher 10, G. Brubacher 4, T. Ratzlaff 2, Kopper 3, Randall 2, Gattis 17, Schafer 3, M. Ratzlaff 21, Bettles 9, Karber 10.
Rebounds: S. Brubacher 4, G. Brubacher 1, S. Shaffer 1, Fast 1, T. Ratzlaff 4, Gattis 8, Schafer 4, M. Ratzlaff 10, Bettles 4, Karber 3, Myers 2.
Assists: S. Brubacher 3, G. Brubacher 1, T. Ratzlaff 6, Gattis 2, M. Ratzlaff 3.
Steals: S. Brubacher 1, T. Ratzlaff 3, Gattis 2, M. Ratzlaff 2.
