Gehlen Catholic and Remsen St. Mary’s met up for a much-anticipated War Eagle Conference basketball doubleheader on Tuesday night.
The fourth-ranked St. Mary’s girls got the first win of the night in commanding fashion over the Jays by a 64-29 final score.
It was evident right from the jump that the Hawks meant business. Remsen St. Mary’s went on a 9-0 run early in the game to start building to a lead that would balloon to 22-7 after the first quarter. Remsen St. Mary’s head coach Scott Willman says the fast start was good to see considering their last couple of games.
The Jays tried to hang with the Hawks throughout the game, but many mistakes ended up hurting them in the end. Gehlen Catholic head coach Brandon Schaecher says, when the Jays took their time, they were able to do some good things.
The Hawks continued their trend of multiple players impacting the game on offense. Remsen St. Mary’s finished with both Mya Bunkers and Whitney Jensen scoring 19 points in the victory. Coach Willman says it is not a matter of if they will be clicking on offense, it is a matter of who it will be.
The Hawks now sit at 7-0 following the win and are in a good spot to be set up for postseason success. The week after break will be really challenging with matchups against Kingsley-Pierson and Unity Christian. Coach Willman says, once they rest through break, it will be all hands on deck for the first few matchups of January.
Gehlen Catholic, meanwhile, finds themselves in a tough 2-7 hole heading into the holiday season. That is taking its toll on the Jays’ confidence at this point in the season. Coach Schaecher says he wants his team to regroup mentally before returning to play on January third.
The Hawks up their War Eagle Conference record to 3-0 remaining in a tie for first place. Gehlen Catholic fell to 1-3 in the War Eagle Conference.
The seventh-ranked Hawk boys made it a road sweep on the night beating the previously unbeaten Jays by a final of 62-50.
A lot of time, focus is placed on the offense when evaluating a basketball game. The Gehlen Catholic offense had been averaging over 70 points per game which was good for sixth in Class 1A heading into the night. Remsen St. Mary’s co-head coach Justin Ruden says he was proud that his defense kept the Jays at 50.
On the offensive end, Collin Homan usually has his way in the post for the Hawks. That did not reveal itself until the second half when he scored 16 points in the final 16 minutes. Coach Ruden says the Hawks had to make some adjustments to get him the ball.
Alex Schroeder proved to be another bright spot for the Hawks on offense. He scored 18 points while being tasked with bringing the ball up the floor against a stout Gehlen defense. Coach Ruden says he was very pleased with Schroeder’s play.
The Hawks are now 4-0 following the win and remain ranked by the IHSAA. Coach Ruden says January will be long with the weather postponements. He hopes the Hawks use the time to build some maturity for the big games in February and March.
The Jays fell to 6-1 overall and 3-1 in the War Eagle Conference with the loss. Keaten Bonderson scored 23 to lead the Jays.
