The Gehlen Catholic and Remsen St. Mary’s basketball teams met up one final time during the regular season in Remsen on Tuesday night.
The action began with the fourth-ranked St. Mary’s girls taking down the Gehlen girls by a final of 61-26.
From the opening tip, Remsen St. Mary’s defense was too much for Gehlen Catholic to handle with pressure brought and turnovers forced throughout the first half. Gehlen Catholic scored just 11 points in the first half thanks to many turnovers forced by the Hawks. Gehlen Catholic head coach Brandon Schaecher says the Jays played too tense early in the game.
That Remsen St. Mary’s defense would not let up the rest of the game holding the Jays to their lowest point total of the season. Coach Schaecher says their athleticism makes things difficult.
Gehlen Catholic fell to 3-9 with the loss to the Hawks with Miyah Whitehead scoring 10 points for the Jays. Remsen St. Mary’s was a good model for Gehlen Catholic’s focus the next few days. The Hawks never lacked confidence in their effort all night against the Jays. Coach Schaecher says he wants his team to play with some of that confidence on Saturday at Harris-Lake Park.
The Hawks improved to 9-1 with the win led by Whitney Jensen offensively with 20 points.
The premier matchup of the night was the matchup on the boys side with upset-minded Jays pulling through with a 57-51 victory over the fifth-ranked Hawks.
The Gehlen Catholic and Remsen St. Mary’s boys basketball rivalry has had some tremendous matchups over the years. After four straight losses to the Hawks, Gehlen Catholic head coach Mike Langel says this one felt extra special.
It was not easy for the Jays to pull off the upset win. Gehlen Catholic got up 21-13 after one quarter, but Remsen St. Mary’s kept methodically working on coming back. The Hawks would get in front in the fourth quarter by taking a 49-48 lead. The Jays never quit and hit some timely free throws late to seal the win. Coach Langel says the mental toughness showed for the Jays late in the game.
Defensively, the Jays had to adjust to the dominant post presence of Collin Homan. The sophomore had 13 points in the first half and was poised for more in the second half. That is when the Jays started doubling and bringing help defense to take care of him. Coach Langel says that shows it takes a team effort to be successful on defense.
The offensive success for the Jays came from their guard play on the perimeter. Keaten Bonderon, Keaton Logan, and Drake DeRocher all scored in double figures on the night. The Jays also got to the free throw line 25 times in the win. Coach Langel says the guys are taking advantage of their driving lanes and use that to get to the free throw line.
This was just the second of four games in this week for Gehlen Catholic. The Jays take on Unity Christian in Orange City on Thursday and are at Harris-Lake Park on Saturday. Coach Langel say his team has earned some rest and hopes they have the same intensity for their next games as they had for this one.
The Jays improve to 9-1 on the year with the win. Keaten Bonderson had 24 for the Jays to lead all scorers. Remsen St. Mary’s snaps a 29-game regular season winning streak to fall to 6-1. Collin Homan had 20 points for the Hawks. The loss marked the first time in 566 days that Remsen St. Mary’s has lost a regular season football, boys basketball, or baseball game.
