TABOR: Tabor men crush St. Mary
BY RYAN RICHTER
Sports writer
Something about the Bluejays Saturday night seemed backwards.
How many times as of late have we seen the Bluejays get a quick start and build a lead by halftime only to end up relinquishing it down the stretch?
More times than the Bluejays would care to remember.
Finally, it was vice versa.
For the first time in what has seemed like a long time, Tabor actually had enough to put a team down for the count.
And once the visiting St. Mary Spires went down, there was no getting back up.
Tabor got a game-high 26 points from Micah Ratzlaff and 18 from Brad Gattis to drub the Spires 83-57.
Tabor improves to 15-10 on the year, and the team is in a two-way tie for third place in the KCAC with the Sterling Warriors at 10-6.
Bluejay coach Don Brubacher admitted he was worried.
With the way his team came out at the start.
Somebody forgot to the tell the Bluejays the game had started as the Spires opened up with a 9-0 run leading to a Brubacher timeout.
"The start had me very, very concerned," Brubacher said. "We were terribly flat when we walked out on the basketball court. We were obviously not ready to begin play when the game started."
Gattis finally broke up the shutout nearly 2:30 into the game, but Tabor was climbing uphill for better than 8:00.
Tabor tied the game twice, once off a Scott Brubacher- three and a Colby Bettles- field goal, but it didn't have enough push to reach the summit.
Only until Gattis drained a triple with 6:55 left in the half, that is, triggering nine unanswered points for the Bluejays.
Gattis was on fire from downtown, hitting 80 percent on four of five for the night.
After his three, it was smooth sailing the rest of the way with St. Mary slowly drifting out to sea.
Four straight points from Micah Ratzlaff and Tabor had taken command 26-21.
The Spires' main weapons were Jess Arter's driving to the basket and Bryan Shelley's shooting.
Shelley's six points, along with Eric Thompson's 12, all coming from threes, were a few of the reasons St. Mary was staying in the neighborhood at halftime, down 38-27.
The biggest one was hitting 56 percent from outside the arc on five of nine.
Tabor shut Thompson down in the second half, holding him to one for two, cooling the Spires' long-distance shooting down to two for eight.
"The three point shots just weren't as much of a factor," Brubacher said. "They didn't get as many as they did early against us, and they didn't get clean looks when they did get them."
St. Mary had one last gasp left, using a 5-0 run to start the second to pull to 38-32 with 18:30 left, all coming via Shelley.
That was as close as the Bluejays permitted them to get.
Don Brubacher's urge to use his big lineup of Bettles, Chris Myers and Derek Karber again paid dividends with the Bluejays pulling down 45 rebounds to St. Mary's 30.
The trio accounted for 18 points and 13 rebounds with Meyers scoring a season-high eight points.
With the Bluejays in front 53-41 with 14:03 to go, a pair of baskets by Meyers broke the game open for Tabor.
"I'm really pleased with their effort," Brubacher said of his big trio. "They're still learning, but their attitude has been really good, and they're eager to play and do what they can to help the team.
"They are making a real positive difference for us and they have for the last number of games since we've given them a chance to step in and play."
Using improved ball movement, the Bluejays got a number of uncontested baskets the second half, which made for a scalding 58 percent from the floor.
For the game, Tabor hit 51 percent while its defense limited the Spires to 36.
Playing unselfish basketball with Tabor picking up 22 assists, Micah and Tyson Ratzlaff combined for a game-high 12 with six a piece.
"Micah was able to take the men who were guarding him off the dribble tonight," Brubacher said. "One of the reasons he could is because we moved the ball better.
"When people double and triple him, when he put the ball on the floor, he found the open man. When the help came, we got real real high percentage offense. He (Micah) did that the second half; Tyson did some the second half."
The Bluejays close out the home stand of the season tonight against the Friends Falcons in a 8 p.m. tip-off.
Tabor ends the regular season Saturday in Salina when it takes on the dangerous Kansas Wesleyan Coyotes. Saturday's game is slated for 7 p.m.
Tabor 83, Saint Mary 57
Total points: S. Brubacher 3, G. Brubacher 2, Shaffer 2, T Ratzlaff 4, Kopper 2, Randall 7, Gattis 18, Schafer 1, M. Ratzlaff 26, Bettles 4, Karber 6, Myers 8.
Rebounds: S. Brubacher 4, G. Brubacher 3, Shaffer 2, T. Ratzlaff 3, Randall 4, Gattis 2, Schafer 1, M. Ratzlaff 6, Bettles 5, Nelson 1, Reece 2, Karber 6, Myers 2.
Assists: S. Brubacher 4, Shaffer 2, T. Ratzlaff 6, Kopper 1, Gattis 1, Schafer 1, M. Ratzlaff 6, Reece 1.
Steals: S. Brubacher 1, G. Brubacher 1, T. Ratzlaff 2, Kopper 2, Randall 1, Gattis 1, M. Ratzlaff 2, Karber 1.
