Grace Advances To MCC Final
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Anthony [email protected]
Saturday, the Lancers took a step in that direction.[[In-content Ad]]Defeating Huntington University 81-63 at the Orthopaedic Capital Center, the Lancers now find themselves in the MCC championship game at Bethel College Tuesday at 7 p.m. Bethel advanced to the title game by defeating Taylor 67-57 Saturday.
"My scheduling of the season is over," Grace coach Jim Kessler said. "(The players) schedule the rest of the season. Who they play is entirely up to them - or if they play. If they want to pack it in, they can go home."
By the looks of their beating of Huntington, it doesn't look like the Lancers are quite ready to call it a season.
Shooting 58 percent from the field, while holding the Huntington Foresters to 36 percent, the Lancers gradually wore their opposition into submission.
"They're depleted without (MCC Player of the Year Doug) Scheckler, and I thought our inside game could really take advantage," Kessler said of Huntington, who lost Sheckler Feb. 20 to a broken arm. "They were going to have to hit three-pointers to win. They made a run, because they have excellent shooters - no doubt about it. But the inside game was the big factor."
Inside, Grace got 11 points and 10 rebounds from Eric Gaff and 19 points and 10 boards from David Swanson off the bench.
"David Swanson came off the bench and gave a stellar performance," Kessler said. "He's always a good rebounder, but tonight he scored and was really aggressive."
Another instrumental player off the bench was freshman David Henry, out of Brownsburg High School, a school of approximately 950 students. Scoring 14 points, Henry netted three treys within the 7:06 and 2:56 marks of the first half, helping to turn a 22-20 lead into a 33-25 advantage.
"He's a really nice player," Kessler said of Henry. "He was 5 for 8 tonight, scoring 14 points - that's a career-high for him.
"A lot of people don't think small-school kids can play, but they can play," the coach added. "He showed some real character tonight, filling in for Marcus."
Henry's role in the game was magnified after Grace's leading scorer Marcus Moore tweaked his already-injured ankle will driving for a layup with 4:42 remaining in the first half. After hitting Kessler Court hard, Moore writhed on the floor in pain, before eventually being able to walk if with a limp.
"When you have an injury, and then you tweak it again, it's really painful at first," Kessler said of Moore who did not return to the game. "He had it taped up, so I don't think he hurt it any worse than it already was, but it's very painful."
When Moore left the game, Grace already held a 30-22 lead, and it only got larger from there.
"It was a team effort," Kessler said. "Marcus got hurt, and that allowed some other people to step to the plate."
Holding a 39-29 lead at the half, Grace extended the margin to 55-40 midway through the second half following an 8-0 run. That 8-0 run materialized into an 18-6 spurt for the Lancers, who had the Forestors down 65-47 with 8:11 remaining.
"They zoned us in the past, and we looked confused," Kessler said of Grace's previous contests with Huntington. "Today, we had anticipated that, practiced that, so when they went to the zone we weren't befuddled."
The victory was Grace's third of the season over Huntington, having already beaten the Foresters 76-74 at Huntington on Jan. 23 and 73-66 on Feb. 23 at Grace.
"We've gotten trounced by Huntington a few times in the past," Kessler said. "We've tried to play a really strong schedule. Huntington plays the strongest schedule in our conference, we play the second. The poise is a tribute to those upperclassmen who have been there before."
One of the toughest teams on Grace's schedule is Bethel, a team that the Lancers lost to 87-76 on Feb. 20 in Mishawaka.
"Our focus is against Bethel," Kessler said. "We watched the tape against them, and saw the things we didn't do well. We have to make some corrections.
"When you look at the first time we played them, and the games they've played since then, I think they played about as well as they could possibly play," he added. "I do not think that was true of us."
Bethel enters the MCC champoinship game as the 11th-ranked NAIA Division II squad, pretty much locking up their spot in the national tournament. Coming in ranked 19th, Grace could still make the tournament as an at-large, but could secure a spot with a win.
"At this point, it's all for the marbles," Kessler said. "Bethel's already got an automatic berth (to the NAIA tournament) because of where they're ranked. We're ranked at 19th, and we're on the bubble. We need to go and secure a berth by winning the conference. For (Bethel), they have another way, but we don't have another way, really."
GRACE 81, HUNTINGTON 63
(MCC Semifinal)
H 29 34 - 63
G 39 42 - 81
Huntington - Zawadzki 2-5 4-4 9, Shively 4-10 1-2 11, Mock 2-2 0-2 6, Smith 1-9 0-0 3, Kyle 2-8 7-9 11, Scheetz 0-2 0-0 0, Benge 4-10 2-2 11, Nafziger 1-2 0-0 2, Stoffel 0-1 0-0 0, Johnson 0-0 2-2 2, Lash 3-4 2-3 8. Totals 19-53 18-24 63.
Grace - Johnson 3-5 2-2 8, Wienhorst 4-6 0-2 9, Gaff 5-8 1-2 11, S. Moore 2-4 0-0 4, M. Moore 3-6 0-0 7, Kaiser 3-9 2-4 8, Peattie 0-1 1-2 1, Henry 5-8 0-0 14, Swanson 9-12 1-1 19. Totals 34-59 7-13 81.
3-point goals - Huntington 7-23 (Shively 2, Mock 2, Zawadzki, Smith, Benge), Grace 6-14 (Henry 4, Wienhorst, M. Moore). Team Fouls - Huntington 17, Grace 21. Turnovers - Huntington 14, Grace 12. Rebounds - Huntington 26 (Shively 6), Grace 41 (Gaff 10, Swanson 10). Assists - Huntington 11 (Smith 3, Kyle 3), Grace 24 (Johnson 8, Kaiser 6, Henry 4). Blocks - Huntington 1, Grace 4 (Gaff 3). Steals - Huntington 4, Grace 9 (S. Moore 4). Records - Huntington 22-10, Grace 24-8.
Saturday, the Lancers took a step in that direction.[[In-content Ad]]Defeating Huntington University 81-63 at the Orthopaedic Capital Center, the Lancers now find themselves in the MCC championship game at Bethel College Tuesday at 7 p.m. Bethel advanced to the title game by defeating Taylor 67-57 Saturday.
"My scheduling of the season is over," Grace coach Jim Kessler said. "(The players) schedule the rest of the season. Who they play is entirely up to them - or if they play. If they want to pack it in, they can go home."
By the looks of their beating of Huntington, it doesn't look like the Lancers are quite ready to call it a season.
Shooting 58 percent from the field, while holding the Huntington Foresters to 36 percent, the Lancers gradually wore their opposition into submission.
"They're depleted without (MCC Player of the Year Doug) Scheckler, and I thought our inside game could really take advantage," Kessler said of Huntington, who lost Sheckler Feb. 20 to a broken arm. "They were going to have to hit three-pointers to win. They made a run, because they have excellent shooters - no doubt about it. But the inside game was the big factor."
Inside, Grace got 11 points and 10 rebounds from Eric Gaff and 19 points and 10 boards from David Swanson off the bench.
"David Swanson came off the bench and gave a stellar performance," Kessler said. "He's always a good rebounder, but tonight he scored and was really aggressive."
Another instrumental player off the bench was freshman David Henry, out of Brownsburg High School, a school of approximately 950 students. Scoring 14 points, Henry netted three treys within the 7:06 and 2:56 marks of the first half, helping to turn a 22-20 lead into a 33-25 advantage.
"He's a really nice player," Kessler said of Henry. "He was 5 for 8 tonight, scoring 14 points - that's a career-high for him.
"A lot of people don't think small-school kids can play, but they can play," the coach added. "He showed some real character tonight, filling in for Marcus."
Henry's role in the game was magnified after Grace's leading scorer Marcus Moore tweaked his already-injured ankle will driving for a layup with 4:42 remaining in the first half. After hitting Kessler Court hard, Moore writhed on the floor in pain, before eventually being able to walk if with a limp.
"When you have an injury, and then you tweak it again, it's really painful at first," Kessler said of Moore who did not return to the game. "He had it taped up, so I don't think he hurt it any worse than it already was, but it's very painful."
When Moore left the game, Grace already held a 30-22 lead, and it only got larger from there.
"It was a team effort," Kessler said. "Marcus got hurt, and that allowed some other people to step to the plate."
Holding a 39-29 lead at the half, Grace extended the margin to 55-40 midway through the second half following an 8-0 run. That 8-0 run materialized into an 18-6 spurt for the Lancers, who had the Forestors down 65-47 with 8:11 remaining.
"They zoned us in the past, and we looked confused," Kessler said of Grace's previous contests with Huntington. "Today, we had anticipated that, practiced that, so when they went to the zone we weren't befuddled."
The victory was Grace's third of the season over Huntington, having already beaten the Foresters 76-74 at Huntington on Jan. 23 and 73-66 on Feb. 23 at Grace.
"We've gotten trounced by Huntington a few times in the past," Kessler said. "We've tried to play a really strong schedule. Huntington plays the strongest schedule in our conference, we play the second. The poise is a tribute to those upperclassmen who have been there before."
One of the toughest teams on Grace's schedule is Bethel, a team that the Lancers lost to 87-76 on Feb. 20 in Mishawaka.
"Our focus is against Bethel," Kessler said. "We watched the tape against them, and saw the things we didn't do well. We have to make some corrections.
"When you look at the first time we played them, and the games they've played since then, I think they played about as well as they could possibly play," he added. "I do not think that was true of us."
Bethel enters the MCC champoinship game as the 11th-ranked NAIA Division II squad, pretty much locking up their spot in the national tournament. Coming in ranked 19th, Grace could still make the tournament as an at-large, but could secure a spot with a win.
"At this point, it's all for the marbles," Kessler said. "Bethel's already got an automatic berth (to the NAIA tournament) because of where they're ranked. We're ranked at 19th, and we're on the bubble. We need to go and secure a berth by winning the conference. For (Bethel), they have another way, but we don't have another way, really."
GRACE 81, HUNTINGTON 63
(MCC Semifinal)
H 29 34 - 63
G 39 42 - 81
Huntington - Zawadzki 2-5 4-4 9, Shively 4-10 1-2 11, Mock 2-2 0-2 6, Smith 1-9 0-0 3, Kyle 2-8 7-9 11, Scheetz 0-2 0-0 0, Benge 4-10 2-2 11, Nafziger 1-2 0-0 2, Stoffel 0-1 0-0 0, Johnson 0-0 2-2 2, Lash 3-4 2-3 8. Totals 19-53 18-24 63.
Grace - Johnson 3-5 2-2 8, Wienhorst 4-6 0-2 9, Gaff 5-8 1-2 11, S. Moore 2-4 0-0 4, M. Moore 3-6 0-0 7, Kaiser 3-9 2-4 8, Peattie 0-1 1-2 1, Henry 5-8 0-0 14, Swanson 9-12 1-1 19. Totals 34-59 7-13 81.
3-point goals - Huntington 7-23 (Shively 2, Mock 2, Zawadzki, Smith, Benge), Grace 6-14 (Henry 4, Wienhorst, M. Moore). Team Fouls - Huntington 17, Grace 21. Turnovers - Huntington 14, Grace 12. Rebounds - Huntington 26 (Shively 6), Grace 41 (Gaff 10, Swanson 10). Assists - Huntington 11 (Smith 3, Kyle 3), Grace 24 (Johnson 8, Kaiser 6, Henry 4). Blocks - Huntington 1, Grace 4 (Gaff 3). Steals - Huntington 4, Grace 9 (S. Moore 4). Records - Huntington 22-10, Grace 24-8.
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