Hartsburg-Emden boys fall in home opener to Deer Creek-Mackinaw
61-52

[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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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]