Lima Senior 89 Wapakoneta 36
By WILLIAM LANEY
WDN Managing Editor
LIMA — Execution can neutralize athletic talent, but the winless Wapakoneta Redskins could not maintain a level of execution to match the talent of the undefeated Lima Senior Spartans.
The 0-9 Redskins could not slow the 7-0 Spartans, who utilized a full-court press and pushed the ball up the court offensively every chance they could get. The Redskins looked up at the scoreboard after one period staring at a 24-9 deficit and watched as the lead grew each period in a 89-36 loss.
“When you play a team that is more athletic than you, you have to have the fundamentals of shooting, dribbling and passing to overcome their athleticism,” Redskin varsity boys basketball coach Scott Minnig said after the 53-point loss. “We don’t have the fundamentals in order to be competitive with the talent level of a team like Lima Senior this year and that comes from working on their game on their own.”
Minnig does not question the heart of or the intensity the members on his team brings to the court.
“We continue to play hard, but everything is very difficult for us to do so we have to expend a lot of energy just doing the fundamentals,” Minnig said. “By the second half we are so fatigued because we do have to concentrate on the basics of dribbling, shooting and passing and not making mistakes.”
With inexperience in the post, Lima Senior varsity coach Shawn Allen’s game plan is to take advantage of the skill and athleticism of his guards, who are quick and fast.
“Our goal is to throw it ahead and get some easy baskets, and our goal is to put as much pressure on you that when you get off the bus you are thinking about our pressure and what you have to do to beat our pressure,” Allen said. “I thought we did a pretty good job of that and we have done a pretty good job all year.”
The Spartan coach said he plays 10 or 11 players every game to maintain that intensity and quick pace.
“When you catch the ball and you have somebody in your face all the time, you can get into the sets you want to get in it wears on you,” Allen said. “We try to do that with everybody. We tried to do that last year against the Redskins senior-laden group and they just picked us apart.”
Last season, the Redskins won 71-55 behind graduates Zach Brown, who scored 20 points, and Kyle Maus, who hit for 13 points. In the game played Dec. 28, 2007, senior Jake Lambert hit for 15, while junior Mike Bogan hit for 8.
On Saturday, Lambert scored 5 first-half points before being taken out midway through the third period. He also grabbed three rebounds. Bogan scored 2 points, with a bucket in the second period. He gathered two caroms.
Hayzlett led Wapakoneta in scoring, reaching double figures with 10 points.
Defensively, the Redskins limited 6-foot-4 junior wing Anton Hutchins to 17 points, 3 points below his average. Junior 6-foot-1 guard Jermonte Healey matched Hutchins’ output scoring 14 points. They combined for 25 points in the first half. Each grabbed 3 rebounds.
The Spartans got double-digit production from 6-foot-5 senior post Marlon Hutchins, who scored 12 points and grabbed 3 boards and 6-foot-7 senior post Jarrod Pughsley, who hit for 11 points and grabbed 3 boards.
Six-foot-6 senior post Angelo Wiggins and 6-foot-5 junior post Tyrone Perry led the Spartans with 6 rebounds apiece.
The Redskins grabbed a 1-0 lead to start the game, before the Spartans went on a 13-0 run. Minnig’s squad played even for the next 2:19 seconds, trailing 21-9, before Healey hit a 3-pointer to close out the period.
The Redskins hit on 50 percent of their shots, 3-of-6 from the field, and 2-of-3 from beyond the arc. The Spartans kept pace hitting 10-of-22, or 45.4 percent, and 3-of-4 from 3-point land.
The Spartans went on a 24-0 run bridging the second period at the 4:16 mark to 4:29 mark in the third period as Lima stretched a 33-16 lead to a 57-16 lead before Kohler hit a 3-pointer.
In the second and third period, the Redskins hit 6-of-27, or 22 percent, from the field, and 3-of-11 from beyond the arc, while the Spartans hit on 21-of-34, or 61.7 percent, and 4-of-6 from beyond the arc.
For the game, the Redskins continued to hit on a 30 percent clip, knocking down 14-of-46, while the Spartans hit on 31-of-56, or 55.3 percent. The Redskins hit 5-of-16 from beyond the arc, while the Spartans hit 7-of-10.


Wapakoneta: Jackson Hayzlett 3-1-10, Mike Bogan 1-0-2, Shane Helmstetter 1-0-3, Zane Oen 1-1-3, Kody Kohler 1-0-3, Jacob Lambert 2-1-5, Jacob Ruppert 1-0-2, Justin Steveley 1-0-2, Tommy Georg 1-0-2, Jacob Heinl 2-0-4. Totals: 14-3-36.

Lima Senior: Anton Hutchins 8-0-17, Adrian Nichols 3-0-6, Jermonte Healey 6-0-14, Zachary Rumbaugh 1-0-3, Robert Thompson Jr. 1-0-2, Cortey Edwards 3-0-7, Danyel Walton 0-0-0, Jarrod Pughsley 5-0-11, Marlon Hutchins 5-1-12, Angelo Wiggins 1-1-3, Tyrone Perry 4-0-8, Jonathan Washington 2-0-6. Totals: 39-2-89.


3-pointers: Wapakoneta - 5 (Hayzlett 3, Kohler 1, Helmstetter 1) Lima Senior 9 (Healey 2, Washington 2, A. Hutchins 1, Rumbaugh 1, Edwards 1, Pughsley 1, M. Hutchins 1)
Fouled out: None
Half-time score: 44-16