Ark Valley News - Injuries hamper Hornets in two losses

Zach White and Caleb Claussen battle for a rebound against Goddard Feb. 10.

Injuries hamper Hornets in two losses
By Randy Fisher
Last Updated: February 12, 2015

With three players out with injuries, the Valley Center High School boys' basketball team continued to struggle in two losses during the past week.

The Hornets fell apart in the fourth quarter of a 56-46 loss Feb. 10 at home to Goddard. Prior to that, the injuries revealed weak post play in a 53-46 loss Feb. 6 at Salina South. With five straight losses, the Hornets are now 3-12 overall and 2-5 in AVCTL Division II play.

Valley Center hosted Goddard in its second straight game without starters Nate Brown and Blake Crager, and reserve Dustin Johnston. All three suffered injuries in the Feb. 3 loss to Maize South.

Their absence was noticeable, as the Hornets relinquished a fourth-quarter lead in losing 56-46. Coach John Wetig attributed the loss to a combination of no offensive efficiency and problems with bench play.

"We shot the ball absolutely horribly tonight. We're settling too much for a perimeter shot when we should have been looking to go inside-out and try to get better looks," Wetig said. "We'd bring guys in off the bench who really broke down, did not do their job. … They weren't ready to play. That hurt us tonight, big time. That's what made the difference in the fourth quarter."

The inside-out game was definitely working in the first quarter for Valley Center. With Caleb Claussen scoring eight inside and Tyler Brown five outside, the Hornets roared to a 13-3 lead. Goddard pulled to within 13-6 at quarter's end.

After opening the second quarter with a baseline drive, things went south for Valley. Goddard scored 10 straight points to eke in front 16-15. The Hornets got a bucket off the fast break when Brown grabbed an errant layup and put it in at the buzzer for a 24-20 lead at halftime.

The third quarter saw Valley stretch its lead to seven, 39-32. Goddard crept back to within four, 39-35, by the end of the quarter.

The Lions — more accurately, Tate Vang and Bryant Mocaby — took control of the game in the fourth quarter. Each of them tallied nine points in the quarter, as Goddard outscored the Hornets 21-7. They combined for 14 points as the Lions broke a 40-all tie and put the game out of reach at 54-40. For the game, Mocaby scored 20 and Vang added 17.

Valley's only points in the quarter were from the line, as the Hornets misfired on all 10 field goal attempts.

Brown led all scorers with 24 points, and Claussen finished with 12.

Soft at South

With Crager and Johnston out, the Hornets do not have a strong inside presence. That hurt at both ends of the court, as Salina South controlled the paint to post a 53-46 victory.

"The one thing that Dustin and Blake both bring is physical play and aggressiveness that make other people fight for position," Wetig said. "I just felt like we were giving them position down in the post today. We made it as easy as possible for them to score inside."

Paced by treys from Jason Barbour and Tyler Brown, along with four points from Claussen, the Hornets managed an 11-10 lead at the end of the first quarter. It was a different story in the second quarter, however, as the Cougars took the ball inside.

Jacob Yarochowicz scored eight of his 11 points in that quarter. After tying the game at 18, the Cougars went on to lead 27-19 at halftime.

After Brown connected twice from the lane to make it 29-23 in the third quarter, South countered with three straight baskets down low for a 12-point advantage. With Barbour and Carson Lee each hitting from behind the arc, and Brown swishing a pair from the line, the Hornets got to within seven, 38-31, at quarter's end.

Another 3-pointer from Barbour and a floater by Brown pulled the Hornets to 42-36. Then 6-foot-7 Trace Kochevar took over inside for South. He scored seven straight, finishing with 17, for a 49-36 lead with two minutes to play.

The Hornets had one more run in them. Led by Brown (six points) and Barbour (four), they scored Valley's last 10 points of the game. Brown made it 50-46 with 25 seconds left, but the Cougars hit three of four from the line for the final score.

With little inside presence, Valley's offense was guard-oriented. Brown led everyone with 20, and Barbour added 16. They combined for 78 percent of the Hornets' points and 68 percent of their shots.

JV loses close games — Close the entire game, Goddard prevailed in the end, 44-39. Nathan Postlethwait scored 13 points for the Hornets, who have lost their last three games and are 4-8 on the season.

Trailing by nine to start the fourth quarter, Valley Center's rally fell short as the Hornets dropped a 47-42 decision at Salina South. Parker Owens scored 17 points for the Hornets.

Freshmen win two — Valley Center won its second straight nail-biter, this time a 52-47 victory over Goddard. Aaron Coash scored 19 points for the Hornets, including two free throws with 3.3 seconds left to ice the win. They are now 2-11 on the year.

Against Salina South, a free throw by Cason Berschauer with nine seconds left gave Valley a 53-49 lead. The Cougars hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer for the final score, 53-52. Wyatt Lange and Aaron Coash each scored 10 for the Hornets.

Goddard 56, Valley Center 46

Goddard

T. Vang 1-1 7-9 0-1 17, Patterson 0-3 1-2 2-2 4, L. Vang 0-0 0-5 3-4 3, Mocaby 1-2 5-6 7-8 20, Wetiba 0-0 1-2 1-2 3, McSwain 0-2 2-7 1-2 5, Johnson 0-0 0-0 0-0 0, Okeowo 0-0 0-0 0-0 0, Pitcher 0-0 1-4 2-4 4. Totals 2-8 17-35 16-22 56.

Valley Center

Barbour 0-2 0-2 0-0 0, T. Brown 3-8 4-7 7-9 24, Claussen 0-0 6-11 0-0 12, White 0-0 1-4 1-2 3, Garcia 1-5 0-2 2-2 5, Wetig 0-0 0-2 0-0 0, Lee 0-2 0-0 1-2 1, B. Shockley 0-0 0-1 1-2 1, Haden 0-1 0-0 0-0 0.4-18 11-29 12-17 46.

Goddard 14 15 21 — 56

Valley Center 13 11 15 7 — 46

Salina South 53, Valley Center 46

Valley Center

Barbour 4-8 2-4 0-0 16, T. Brown 1-5 5-11 6-6 19, Claussen 0-0 1-5 2-2 4, White 0-0 1-2 1-2 3, Haden 0-1 0-1 0-0 0, Wetig 0-0 0-0 0-0 0, Lee 1-2 0-0 0-0 3, Garcia 0-0 0-0 1-2 1, B. Shockley 0-0 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 6-16 9-23 10-12 46.

Salina South

Marcotte 0-0 1-6 3-4 5, Hilt 0-0 3-4 0-0 6, Foster 1-5 0-1 1-2 4, Yarochowicz 0-1 5-7 1-3 11, Kochevar 0-0 7-9 3-4 17, Johnson 0-0 0-0 0-0 0, Seay 0-0 0-0 1-2 1, Becker 1-1 1-3 0-0 5, Baird 0-0 1-1 0-0 2, Berneking 0-0 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 2-7 19-33 9-15 53.

Valley Center 11 8 12 15 — 46

Salina South 10 17 11 15 — 53

Junior varsity

Goddard 44, Valley Center 39

VC scoring — Postlethwait 13, H. Shockley 8, Garcia 6, Lange 5, B. Shockley 4, Owens 3.

Salina South 47,

Valley Center 42

VC scoring — Owners 17, Garcia 7, Coash 6, B. Shockley 4, H. Shockley 4, Postlethwait 2.

Freshmen

Valley Center 52, Goddard 47

VC scoring — Coash 19, Pearson 13, Hager 5, Lange 5, Lentz 4, Skocny 4, Petrakis 2.

Valley Center 53,

Salina South 52

VC scoring — Lange 10, Coash 10, Hager 9, Gillig 7, Lentz 6, Pearson 6, Berschauer 3, Burns 2.