What a way to start the new year! A last second shot at the buzzer by Winner’s Elijah Pederson gave the Warriors a 58-56 victory over Lennox in the Sacred Hoops Classic in Mitchell on Saturday.
Brady Fritz was named the MVP of this game. In the dramatic finish, Winner was trailing by 2 with less than a minute to play. Slade Cournoyer took a nice mid range shot that just missed the rim and Brady Fritz came from the backside for a tip to tie the game at 56-all.“We then had to get a stop on the defensive end. Lennox was very patient before shooting a 3 pointer with about 25 seconds to go and that short fell short,” said Winner coach Brett Gardner.
Lennox called a time out to set their defense. “We told our guys we are going to the rim with under 6 seconds to play so Lennox cannot get the ball back,” said Gardner. Lennox fouled twice to stop the clock. With 8 seconds to go, Blake Volmer drove to the elbow and faked a hand off to Cournoyer and then swung a pass to Peterson in the corner. Peterson took one dribble and pulled up for a 15 footer as time expired. As the ball fell through the hoop the Winner team and bench erupted in joy as Winner captured in the victory. “It was a big shot for Elijah and the Winner Warriors,” said the coach.
Fritz scored 25 points in this game. Volmer and Cournoyer each had 11, Peterson, 6 and Ethan Bartels, 5.Fritz pulled down 7 rebounds, Volmer, 6 and Peterson, 5. The Warriors shot 41 percent from the field and 80 percent from the free throw line.
“We are very happy with the toughness we showed in a physical, fun game at the Corn Palace,” said Gardner. “The feel of that game was much like a SoDak 16 game and we were able to make some key stops down the stretch.
We are proud of our guys for handling themselves and making big plays when needed,” said Gardner. He said Peterson’s shot was huge and was a fun ending to a great game. “His teammates were so happy for him and it was awesome to see the guys celebrating on the court together,” he explained.
Winner vs. Bon Homme On Thursday, Winner defeated Bon Homme 71-42. Fritz scored 20 points, Volmer and Bartels, 14 each. The Warriors shot 38 percent from the field and made 9 of 20 free throws. Volmer and Peterson each pulled down 10 rebounds, Bartels, 8 and Fritz, 6.
Volmer had 4 assists and Bartels had 8 steals. “We felt the game didn’t have much flow but our guys rebounded the basketball very well and that was the biggest difference. On nights that you don’t shoot very well you seem to do other things such as force turnovers and grad rebounds. We were able to do that and the outcome was in our favor because it,” said the coach. The Warriors outrebounded Bon Homme by 25 and that is big to gain extra possession.
Winner won the junior varsity game 48-17. Leading scorers were Kolbie Osborn, 13, Finn Bartels and Kylar Meek, 9 each; Michael Olson and Shawn Hammerbeck, 6 each. Bartels had 5 assists. Winner has games on Thursday and Saturday. On Thursday, Winner will play Colome with the JV game starting at 6:30 p.m.
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