Wildcats rout Mustangs in season opener 78-34

Published:  Thursday, December 10, 2009 (3 months, 1 week ago)
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By TRENTON GAUSE
The Delphos Herald
trentjen.gause@ymail.com

KALIDA — The Allen East Mustangs traveled to Kalida to face the Wildcats in boys varsity basketball action Tuesday night.
The Wildcats pounced early with good ball movement and firm control of the boards as they defeated the Mustangs with seemingly little effort by the score of 78-34.
“I was hoping with our kids this year, we could get off to a good start, a winning start this year,” Kalida mentor Dick Kortokrax said.
Check that one off the list. Kalida came out strong in the first quarter. Everything they shot seemed to fall and everything the Mustangs shot, Kalida rebounded when they weren’t stealing it from them. The Wildcats opened things up with a 12-2 lead. Kalida outrebounded the Mustangs 7-3 in the first quarter (31-16 overall, 11-9 offensively), which paved the way for junior Kristopher Osterhage (17 points, 6/9 from the field) to put up a 10-point first quarter, including 3/3 from the line and a shot from behind the arc. Allen East junior Casey Rex (15 points, 7/7 from the line) did all he could by scoring five of the Mustangs’ six first-quarter points. The Wildcats didn’t let up as they tore off another run of 13-4 with the help of senior Mike Bockrath (14 points) who went 2/3 from the field in the canto, including one from behind the arc. The one-sided affair would leave the Mustangs trailing 25-6 at the end of the first period.
Things went from bad to worse offensively for the Mustangs in the second. Still unable to hit shots, all three of the their second-quarter points came from the foul line. Kalida took full advantage of the off-target shooting, outrebounding the Mustangs 8-3 in the period. That created an 11-3 Wildcat run due to offensive efforts by junior Tyler Kortokrax (5 points, 3/3 from the line in the quarter) and sophomore Drew Stechschulte (12 counters, 3/3 from the line), who also hit from behind the arc. Osterhage added four to the effort as Kalida used a 6-0 run to take them into halftime leading the Mustangs 42-9.
The Mustangs were still losing the battle under the hoop but were able to get some things going around the perimeter. One of those was a 3-point shot by junior Blake Truex (5 markers). Senior J.J. Hollar (4) and Casey Rex also helped boost the Mustangs in the third. Even with the Mustangs scoring more, Kalida didn’t score much less. Senior Jordan Basinger (15 points, 10 rebounds) and junior Jeremy Kahle (6 markers) kept things moving for the Wildcats in the third to keep them comfortably ahead at the end of the period, leading 59-22.
The sign of a good team is how they finish and the Wildcats were no exception. They outrebounded the Mustangs 12-6 in the fourth, which helped them put up 19 in the period. Allen East junior Levi Creeger (6 points) was able to hit a couple from behind the arc in the fourth but that was about it as Kalida cruised to an easy opener.
Coach Kortokrax did have some concerns coming into the game: “I was concerned about the fact that our kids, based upon a new season — we lost five great seniors off a great team — would concern themselves with the jitters and the pregame stuff and we wouldn’t play our game but it didn’t happen that way.”
He was pleased with his players: “They came out and played the game the way a coach hopes that they’ll play it.”
Kalida shot 27-of-50 from the floor (5-of-13 downtown) for 54 percent and 19-of-30 free throws (63.3%). They added 23 turnovers.
Allen East was a cold 9-of-37 shooting (3-of-15 long range) for 24 percent and 13-of-20 at the line (65%). They turned it over 28 times.
Kalida visits Archbold 6 p.m. Saturday.

VARSITY
ALLEN EAST (34)
Levi Creeger 2-0-6, Taylor Schick 0-0-0, Sean Anderson 0-1-1, Aaron Swaney 0-3-3, Blake Truex 2-0-5, J.J. Hollar 1-2-4, Levi Hoy 0-0-0, Evan Miller 0-0-0, Chase Hughes 0-0-0, Casey Rex 4-7-15, Demetrius Williams 0-0-0. Totals 9-13-34.
KALIDA (78)
Paul Utendorf 1-0-2, Tyler Kortokrax 1-3-5, Mike Bockrath 4-4-14, Kevan Unverferth 0-0-0, Cody Schnipke 1-0-2, Jeremy Kahle 3-0-6, Kristopher Osterhage 6-3-17, Logan Recker 0-0-0, Drew Stechschulte 3-3-10, Austin Roebke 0-3-3, Ben Schroeder 2-0-4, Nathan Jorry 0-0-0, Jordan Basinger 6-3-15. Totals 27-19-78.
Score by Quarters:
Allen East     6      3    13      12 - 34
Kalida    25    17    17      19 - 78
Three-point goals:  Allen East, Creeger 2, Truex; Kalida, Bockrath 2, Osterhage 2, Stechschulte.
JV score: 48-16 (Kalida).