Hartsburg-Emden boys fall in home opener to Deer Creek-Mackinaw
61-52
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[December 14, 2016]
A great crowd braved the frigid temperatures Tuesday night to show
up for the Hartsburg-Emden boys basketball home opener.
The Stags put together a very good first half against a Dee-Mack
squad that started four players all over 6’0 tall.
The smaller Stags just ran out of gas somewhere along that second
half and the tall guys prevailed in the end, 61-52 the final.
Still the Stags put together a phenomenal effort and by the cheers
of the hometown crowd, no one was disappointed in their heart and
hustle.
Brody Baker put the first points on the board for the Stags with his
bucket at 7:15 and the orange and black crowd erupted. Then Alex
Vetter connected for a three and while on the other end Dee-Mack was
tossing up shots, but they were just bouncing in and out. Hartem
took advantage and it was Baker again with nice layup to give the
home team an early 7-0 lead.
Dee-Mack finally got on the board thanks to a free throw from 6’4
guard Nick DeBolt with 5:59 showing on the clock and this was just
the start for DeBolt, who would go on to lead the Chiefs with 22
points in the game.
Antonio Coit-Kirk got his name in the scorebook next when he
connected for two and the Stags lead was 9-3. Kirk would also record
a couple blocks in the quarter that brought a roar out of the crowd.
But the Dee-Mack crowd was just as boisterous as 6’5 forward Dawson
Jones poured in six consecutive points and the Chiefs were edging
their way back, 9-7 the score in favor of Hartem after Jones got one
to bounce through at the 3:55 mark.
Finally, Stags big man, 6’5 Alec Hayes, was spotted camping out in
the corner and his teammate found him and just like that he popped a
three pointer.
DeBolt answered back for Dee-Mack with a three, too, and just like
that it’s a very exciting 12-10 ballgame.
The game was indeed physical and the blocks alone were aplenty in
that first quarter. Christian Smith, a 6’3 guard for Dee-Mack, kept
Baker from scoring again in the first quarter with his block that
had the red and black crowd fired up.
To close out the first quarter Levi Scheuermann, a 6’1 guard for
Dee-Mack, took the inbounds pass for the Chiefs and ran all the way
to the bucket on the other end with it and just laid it in for two
points.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2016/Dec/14/images/ads/current/peasleymemorials_lda100213.png)
Seconds
later the first quarter buzzer sounded and the ball game was brand
new again, 12-12 the score.
Hayes got in on the blocking action in the second quarter, too, but
unfortunately no one got in the way of Neal Scheuermann when he
stood at the top of the key and decided to launch one. His three
gave the Chiefs their first lead of the game, 15-12. That was it,
the Chiefs got on a roll and ran off seven unanswered points to jump
out to a 19-12 lead before the Stags finally hit a basket.
Hayes’ free throws at the 2:39 mark would break the Stags scoring
drought. Now it was the Stags turn to keep scoring.
Hayes finally got an offensive rebound he could put back up for two
points. Then a steal by Wolpert and a pass to Hayes allowed the 6’5
senior to go strong to the basket and pour in another two points.
Then with the ball in the hands of Coit-Kirk again, he was fouled
and proceeded to make his free throws which brought the Stags back
to within a point, trailing 21-20.
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Hartem then forced a Dee-Mack turnover and with Vetter waiting in
the wings for the Stags, he nailed the three pointer that made the
orange and black crew erupt as the lead was back in favor of the
home town team, 23-21. The lead was short-lived and with four
seconds showing on the clock, DeBolt got one to bounce in and the
score was tied 23-23 as both teams headed for the locker rooms. A
great half of aggressive basketball, despite maybe a few too many
turnovers by both teams, but when you play that physical without a
whistle blowing, that’s bound to happen.
In the third quarter, Hayes quickly broke the tie with another three
point shot and then he dominated a Chiefs player with another block
in the game. Nice.
The Chiefs kept their composure and their scoring going, too,
though. A couple early lead changes in the third quarter would be
the story until Dee-Mack took advantage of several missed shots by
Hartem and quickly the Chiefs lead was 34-28. That lead grew to
37-30 and then that familiar name, DeBolt, hit a three to make the
game 40-30 and the Stags were struggling.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2016/Aug/26/images/ads/current/ldn_medical_directory_small_2016.png)
Zach
Phillips did make two free throws for Hartem with 1:02 showing on
the clock but DeBolt answered back by banking one in under the
basket and the Chiefs maintained a ten point lead on the Stags to
close out the quarter, 42-32 would have to be the deficit to
overcome in the final eight minutes.
![](../images/121416pics/IMG_1076_small.jpeg)
Early in the
fourth quarter the Chiefs took to scoring quickly and often. They
eventually extended the lead to fifteen points, 53-38, with around
four minutes left to play. This is when Brady Wolpert, who had been
missing from the scoreboard points column all night, finally got
some baskets to fall. Wolpert got hot and scored seven points near
the end of the game.
[to top of second column] |
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Baker also
had spark ignite in his game late and his steal and layup with 1:34
left had the crowd fired up.
The score was now 55-46 and time was running short for the Stags,
but this is a team who has showed they will fight until the very
end. And they did.
![](../images/121416pics/IMG_1085_small.jpeg)
When Hayes got a basket to fall and took advantage of the and 'one
at the line,' the Stags had new life in their tired bodies, as the
score was 55-49 with right around a minute left to play. Then it was
Wolpert’s three with 38.3 seconds remaining that edged the Stags
closer, 57-52.
![](../images/121416pics/IMG_1086_small.jpeg)
Things really could have went either way at this point, and as what
happens often the free throws make a difference. Hartem was forced
to foul and the Chiefs just knocked them down from the charity
stripe.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2016/Dec/14/images/ads/current/christian_village_sda_031616.png)
Four
straight free throws and a couple misses by Hartem determined the
final score and Dee-Mack prevailed, 61-52. A valiant effort by the
Stags against a much taller group of Chiefs.
Alec Hayes did lead the way for Hartem with 16 points. But the
Chiefs countered with three of their players in double figures. Nick
DeBolt led everyone with 22 points, while Dawson Jones had 16 points
and Neal Scheuermann had 12 points.
Stags Head Coach Jason Garber said of Dee-Mack following the game,
"They were big and physical. We were used to that. We’ve seen
Olympia play and El Paso, they were big and physical, too. Their
length hurt us a little bit but I thought we just missed out on too
many opportunities in the third and fourth quarter to score. We just
missed some shots.”
Garber continued, "They kind of wore us down. We were getting tired
and we missed a couple shots short.” About the Chiefs shutting down
Wolpert for three quarters, Garber noted, "They saw us play before
and they knew he was our go-to guy, ball handling wise. They really
put a lot of pressure on him. He couldn’t get anything going
offensively and he’s the key to a lot of stuff that we do.”
Still without a doubt the team effort was there and Garber knew
that. "They don’t quit. These guys are all in it,” he said of his
team. "They’ve been around for many years and started for three
years now. They don’t quit for 32 minutes. They give it all that
they've got.”
And speaking of giving it all they got, the Stags JV did just that
before falling to Dee-Mack 42-39. Austin Hayes and Wyatt Hopkins
each scored 11 points for the Stags in the loss.
The Stags will be back on the court Saturday at Delavan with the
game scheduled for 5 p.m.
Hartem Varsity scoring
Alec Hayes 16
Coit-Kirk 8
Baker 8
Phillips 7
Wolpert 7
Vetter 6
Dee-Mack Varsity scoring
DeBolt 22
Jones 16
Neal Scheuermann 12
Levi Scheuermann 5
Smith 4
Craig 2
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2016/Dec/14/images/ads/current/Symphony_lda_091814.png)
Hartem JV
scoring
Austin Hayes 11
Hopkins 11
Thompson 7
Buck 6
Watt 4
Dee-Mack JV scoring
Slack 12
Wheat 8
Kilby 8
Camick 5
Scott 4
Taylor 3
Barnewolt 2
[Teena Lowery] |