Basketball Results: Feb. 15
SOUTH BEND ST. JOE BOYS 63, NORTHWOOD 54
St. Joe star JR Konieczny had another big game to get the Indians past the Panthers at The Pit.
Konieczny poured in 22 points and had 10 rebounds and two steals in a full plate for St. Joe. Jack Futa ended with 17 points, four rebounds, four assists, three blocks and two steals.
Ben Vincent led NorthWood with 17 points on the strength of five three-pointers. Trent Edwards had eight points, five assists and four rebounds and Jamarr Jackson added 11 points and five boards.
WABASH BOYS 59, WARSAW 50
Trenton Daughtry put Wabash on its back to lead the Apaches to a rare win over the Tigers. Daughtry finished with 22 points on 7-14 shooting and made 4-7 free throws. Elijah Vander Velden had 12 points, seven rebounds and five blocks.
Ben Bergen and Judah Simfukwe both had nine points to lead the Tigers, which played 10 men after playing the night before against Plymouth. Luke Adamiec had seven points and 10 rebounds for the Tigers.
Jaxson Gould went off for 31 points and 10 rebounds to lead Warsaw to a 59-50 JV win. Andrew Dinkins had 23 points to pace the Apaches.
MISHAWAKA BOYS 62, WAWASEE 61 (OT)
A night after winning the game at the buzzer, Wawasee wouldn’t pull off more magic in a loss at The Cave.
Austin Miller and Keaton Dukes both had 18 points to lead the Warriors, and Ethan Carey had 10 points and five assists.
Secario Thomas led the Cavemen with 17 points and seven rebounds. Raheem Braiton added 15 points.
Mishawaka won the JV game 49-38. Stats were not provided.
CLINTON CHRISTIAN BOYS 67, TRITON 64
Seth Shelter had a monster game for the Couriers, pouring in 33 points to lead the victory in eastern Goshen.
Shelter was 12-17 from the floor, adding six assists and four steal to his day’s work.
Mike Durr added 13 points, 11 boards, two assists, two steals and two blocks for Clinton.
Tyler Heckaman paced Triton with 14 points and 11 rebounds, Ashton Oviedo had 17 points and Tyson Yates added 15 points.
LCA MIDDLE SCHOOL GIRLS WIN HOME TOURNEY
The Lakeland Christian Academy middle school girls team took first place in the LCA Invitational. LCA beat Clinton Christian 28-6 in the morning session, led by Addisyn Daley and Madi Sell both with 11 points. In the championship game the Cougars beat Elkhart Christian Academy 32-26. Daley led with 14 points followed by Kelsey Cox and Amaya Hoyt who both had six points.
ST. FRANCIS WOMEN 62, GRACE 56
Grace women’s basketball team fell to No. 10 St. Francis 62-56 on Saturday afternoon.
The Lady Lancers (18-10, 9-7 Crossroads League) had a 32-26 lead at the half, but after the intermission were unable to hold the No. 10 Cougars at bay.
The highlight of the afternoon happened just minutes into the second quarter. Vironnica Drake scored to pass Juaneice Jackson (1,893 points) to become the all-time leading scorer in Grace women’s basketball history. The senior scored 15 points, giving her a career total of 1,898 points.
Grace jumped all over the 10th-ranked Cougars (22-5, 13-3 CL) early in the first quarter. The Lady Lancers started the game with a 7-0 run, and by the midway point of quarter had a 12-3 lead.
Brooke Treadway, who had just been implemented into the starting line-up, helped propel the Lady Lancers with a pair of baskets including a tough and-1.
Grace built its largest lead of the game at 20-6 after Hostetler and Stull made back-to-back 3-point baskets.
Grace’s defense was ferocious in the opening quarter. The Lady Lancers forced eight turnovers and capitalized with 16 points.
Grace only surrendered four made baskets in the opening 10 minutes and held a 22-10 lead.
The Cougars had fought within nine of Grace when Drake took her place in Lady Lancer lore.
Drake’s history making shot came in typical fashion as she drove the lane and made a heavily contested two-point lay-in.
The Lady Lancers maintained a double-digit lead until the midway point of the second quarter. USF began playing a more composed game and was able to slowly dig into Grace’s lead.
The Cougars scored the last eight points of the quarter and by halftime had pulled within 32-26.
At the half Drake led all players with 14 points, and she also nabbed four steals. Treadway had five points and five rebounds, and Stull chipped in six points off a pair of 3-point baskets.
Grace struggled from the floor shooting just over 39 percent, but their defense was a huge factor in the halftime lead, forcing 13 turnovers.
The second half was another positive start for the Lady Lancers. Lexi Minix made a 3-point shot, and Stull followed it up with a made basket in the paint to give Grace an eight-point cushion.
The Cougars answered the short burst from Grace with an explosion on offense. USF grabbed its first lead of the game at 39-37 as a part of a 20-2 run. Treadway was the lone Lady Lancer to score during the stretch.
Grace would only manage seven third quarter points, and the Cougars took a five-point lead into the final frame.
Grace tried to battle back in the fourth quarter but was unable to find the firepower. Maddie Ryman hit a 3-point shot in the corner that pulled Grace within four, but it was as close as the Lady Lancers would get.
USF finished the game off, handing Grace the 62-56 loss.
The Lady Lancers struggled to find any open looks in the second half, shooting just 26 percent from the floor. For the game Grace hit at a 32 percent rate.
Grace played a clean game, only turning the ball over nine times compared to 17 turnovers from USF.
Drake stuffed the stat sheet with 15 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, 5 steals and 2 blocks.
Stull contributed 14 points and three assists, and Treadway had nine points and six rebounds.
Grace currently finds itself in a tie for fifth place in the conference with Huntington with just two games remaining.
GRACE MEN 82, ST. FRANCIS 68
Grace’s men’s basketball team notched a statement win over No. 15 St. Francis on Saturday.
The Lancers’ 82-68 victory caps off a season sweep of the Cougars (19-9, 8-8 Crossroads League). Grace also successfully defended its spot in the conference standings, remaining alone in third place.
With just two games left in the regular season, Grace can finish no lower than fourth in the league standings. The win assures that the Lancers (18-10, 10-6 CL) will host a quarterfinal of the CL Tournament on Feb. 26.
Jaret Sons led a hot Lancer offense with a double-double of 18 points and 13 rebounds.
Five Lancers scored in double figures in a balanced attack, and Grace shot a sizzling 55 percent from the field.
The first few minutes were physical. A 3-pointer from Braxton Linville and a layup by Haden Deaton gave Grace a 9-5 edge.
Coming out of the media timeout, the Lancers caught fire.
Stout defense and efficient shooting produced a 10-0 run for Grace, highlighted by buckets from Deaton, Sons and Charlie Warner.
As the Cougars’ offense found a spark, the Lancers consistently responded. Sons drilled a 3-point basket to counter a short spurt from the Cougars.
The Lancers never let their lead drop below eight points, heading into the locker room ahead 39-27.
Deaton led the Lancers with 10 points in the first half on 4-of-6 shooting. Myles Johnson followed closely behind with nine points. Sons was a force on the glass, grabbing eight boards in the first half.
Grace came out firing on all cylinders in the second half, scoring on its first four possessions.
The stretch culminated in back-to-back triples from Sons and Warner, expanding the Lancers’ lead to 19.
The Cougars tried to pick up steam offensively, but the Lancer offense could not be stopped.
Grace’s cushion grew to 61-38 thanks to a 12-5 run. Warner and Johnson connected from deep on back-to-back possessions to put an exclamation point on the 24-point lead.
Offensively, the Lancers refused to let up. Matt Jennings created opportunities, converting a layup and drawing free throws on two straight possessions.
The stiff Lancer defense forced turnovers on each of the next two possessions for the Cougars.
Grace cruised to the final score of 82-68.
Sons stuffed the stat sheet with 18 points, 13 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 1 block.
Deaton scored 18 points on 6-of-11 from the floor and 5-of-5 from the free throw line. Warner chipped in 17 points, shooting 7-of-10 from the floor with two 3-pointers.
Johnson added 14 points with five rebounds and was also a perfect 4-for-4 at the charity stripe. Jennings scored 12 points, eight of which came in the second half.
Grace finished the game shooting 38 percent from downtown and 55 percent from the floor.