The annual Gene Wein Boys Basketball Holiday Tournament got started Tuesday evening at Drury High School; the first
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game was played between Wahconah and Monument Mountain and the second between Drury and St.Joe.
Wahconah and Monument Mountain
Wahconah defeated Monument, 55-44, holding the lead throughout all four quarters.
Wahconah's offensive game clearly played a huge role in its win. Defensively it struggled, giving Monument second opportunities.
“We knocked down some shots and shot the ball better than we did in our opener,” Wahconah coach Dustin Belcher said. “The end of the second quarter, we struggled on the boards, we were a little bit out-sized, but we have to get back to the fundamentally blocking out and get better position to get those rebounds.”
Wahconah went into the second half with a 32-21 lead.
It came out in the third quarter and pushed the ball. Defensively, it was better on the boards than in the second, creating a lot of opportunities. It held a 15-point lead going into the fourth.
“I thought we did a better job in that third quarter,” Belcher said. “We had a chance to put them away, but they kept coming back and that made a game of it for sure.”
The Spartans did not let up and continued to play throughout the final minutes, but Wahconah was able to hold the lead.
“We have to come back here tomorrow night and be ready to go; it’s getting better every single day,” Belcher said. “Obviously we got a late start, we didn’t get our football guys until a week after, so we’re still trying to figure it all out, but I’m proud of where we’re at.”
Marco Anastasio and Collin Parrott each had a team high of 10 points in the win. Monument’s Sam Jones finished with 17 points, and Juri Kinn had 13.
Drury and St. Joe
The Blue Devils defeated St. Joseph, 50-23, in the second game of the evening.
Although Drury walked away with a pretty hefty win scoring wise, coach Jack Racette believes it could have been better, and there are things that need to be worked on.
“We made a lot of mental mistakes and I think we’re a little emotional high coming off that first win,” Racette said. “We didn’t play well tonight, but we got a win and we move onto the next game, but I think we just have to stay mentally tough, we made a lot of mistakes early.”
The first quarter, Drury held the lead by one point, 9-8. The Devils were rushing their offense and weren’t taking quality shots. Defensively, St. Joe was able to beat their press and get those eight points on the board.
Drury led 26-13 at half.
In the third quarter, Drury ran the lead up, putting in 11 points to St. Joe’s 1; the credit lay with Drury’s defense that pushed St. Joe to turn the ball over.
“We need to take better shots and finish at the line,” St. Joe coach Mike DiCicco said. “We played defense great, but we didn’t finish our shots.”
St. Joe’s Dave Lewis finished with a team high of 14 points. Drury’s Hayden Bird had 18, while Justin Girard, Doug Sigsbury, and Ryan Harrington all finished with seven.
Wahconah and Drury advanced to the finals with their wins and will play Wednesday evening at 7:30 p.m., Monument Mountain and St. Joe will play at 6:00 p.m.
