Basketball

GAME TWO: DESALES 54; WORTHINGTON CHRISTIAN 49
(at DeSales, December 12, 2008)
Season Record: Overall: 2-0; Central Catholic League: 1-0

SCORE BY QUARTER

	1	2	3	4	Final
Worthington Christian	13	15	10	11	49
DeSales	22	6	11	15	54

BOX SCORE

Worthington Christian	Field Goals		Free Throws		Tot. Pts.	DeSales	Field Goals		Free Throws		Tot. Pts.
	Field Goals		Free Throws				Field Goals		Free Throws
	3s	2s	Md.	Att.			3s	2s	Md.	Att.
Brian Hecker	1	4	6	8	17	Nick Goff	4	3	3	4	21
Brady Beals	3	1	1	3	12	Adam Griffin	1	2	4	4	11
Miles Miller		3			6	Zak Gaborcik	2	1			8
Josh Petrel	1	1	1	1	6	Nick Kellogg	1	1	2	2	7
Matt Kurelic		2			4	Ike Ariguzo	1	1			5
Jacob Rogge		1			2	Seun Adejobi		1			2
Alex Scott		1			2
TOTALS	5	13	8	12	49	TOTALS	9	9	9	10	54
			(66.7%)						(90%)

PLAY-BY-PLAY SCORING

FIRST HALF	DHS	WCH
FIRST QUARTER:
Brian Hecker field goal	0	2
(WCH's largest lead)
Adam Griffin three-point field goal	3	2
(1st lead change)
Alex Scott field goal	3	4
(2nd lead change)
Nick Goff three-point field goal	6	4
(3rd and last lead change)
Nick Goff field goal	8	4
Nick Goff three-point field goal	11	4
Adam Griffin field goal	13	4
Nick Goff three-point field goal	16	4
(Goff's eleven and Griffin's five
were all the points in a 16-2 run
that resulted in DHS's largest
lead)
Brian Hecker three-point field goal	16	7
Brian Hecker two free throws	16	9
Zak Gaborcik three-point field goal	19	9
Miles Miller field goal	19	11
Nick Goff three-point field goal	22	11
(Goff's fourth three-pointer in
this quarter)
Jacob Rogge field goal	22	13
END OF FIRST QUARTER	22	13
SECOND QUARTER:
Adam Griffin two free throws	24	13
Matt Kurelic field goal	24	15
Seun Adejobi field goal	26	15
Brian Hecker field goal	26	17
Zak Gaborcik field goal	28	17
Time-out WCH (3:59 left to play)
Brady Beals three-point field goal	28	20
Brady Beals three-point field goal	28	23
Brian Hecker field goal	28	25
Time-out DHS (1:18 left to play)
Brian Hecker field goal	28	27
Brian Hecker free throw	28	28
(1st tie score)
END OF SECOND QUARTER	28	28
SECOND HALF
THIRD QUARTER:
Ike Ariguzo field goal	30	28
Brian Hecker free throw	30	29
Nick Kellogg field goal	32	29
Brady Beals three-point field goal	32	32
(2nd tie score)
Adam Griffin field goal	34	32
Time-out DHS (5:22 left to play)
Nick Goff field goal	36	32
Time-out WCH (4:36 left to play)
Matt Kurelic field goal	36	34
Brian Hecker two free throws	36	36
(3rd and last tie score)
Ike Ariguzo three-point field goal	39	36
(DHS led for the rest of the
game)
Miles Miller field goal	39	38
Time-out DHS (:01.5 left to play)
END OF THIRD QUARTER	39	38
FOURTH QUARTER:
Nick Goff field goal	41	38
Brady Beals field goal	41	40
Nick Kellogg three-point field goal	44	40
Nick Goff free throw	45	40
Miles Miller field goal	45	42
Nick Kellogg two free throws	47	42
Josh Petrel field goal	47	44
Josh Petrel free throw	47	45
Nick Goff two free throws	49	45
Brady Beals free throw	49	46
(2:28 left to play)
Zak Gaborcik three-point field goal	52	46
Josh Petrel three-point field goal	52	49
Time-out WCH (1:34 left to play)
Time-out DHS (:47.5 left to play)
Time-out DHS (:31.1 left to play)
Adam Griffin two free throws	54	49
(:22.0 left to play)
FINAL SCORE	54	49


From THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

DESALES 54 | WORTHINGTON CHRISTIAN 49
DeSales stays cool at line
Late-game composure helps power Stallions in tight league opener

Saturday, December 13, 2008
By Mark Znidar
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

There were people occupying seemingly every square foot of the sweatbox that is the DeSales gymnasium for a Central Catholic League opener between the Stallions and Worthington Christian last night.

With the minutes winding down in the fourth quarter of a tight game, there was solitude at the free throw line, but a lot of heat in another form.

That's when DeSales forward Nick Goff began talking to himself.

"I was tired -- really gassed," Goff said. "I just had to fight through it. I had my confidence and I had my rhythm tonight, and I was counting one, two, three and four. I count when I dribble at the line. Then you just shoot the ball."

Goff hit three free throws and Adam Griffin and Nick Kellogg two apiece in the final 6:09 as the Stallions held off the Warriors 54-49 in a matchup of teams that tied for the conference championship last season.

There was more to it than free throws. In the end, fundamentals pulled the Stallions through in a physical game pitting athletic teams. They didn't have a turnover in the fourth quarter and held Worthington Christian (2-1) to four points in the final 3 minutes.

"We have a long way to go as a basketball team, but I like the way we played defense in the second half," coach Blair Albright said. "That's what won the game for us. I think we did a good job on (Brady) Beals and (Brian) Hecker, but we also did a good job on their support players."

The Stallions led 22-13 after one quarter as Goff sank four three-pointers and Zak Gaborcik one.

Worthington Christian scored 13 of the final 15 points of the second quarter to make it 28-28 at halftime. Beals hit two three-pointers and Hecker had three baskets and a free throw.

Nineteen turnovers led to the Warriors' downfall.

"It has been a bunch of firsts for our guys," coach Kevin Weakley said. "Tonight, it was the first conference game for most of them. I'm proud of our guys the way they fought back. It was a great experience for our guys."

It also came down to DeSales' poise.

When the Warriors were one point down, Kellogg hit a three-pointer and two free throws to bump the lead to 47-42 with 3:31 remaining.

In the final minutes, the Stallions ran a spread offense to perfection to get to the line.

"It was nothing fancy," Griffin said. "We took care of the ball and we played as a unit. This was a big game."

How big?

"We do play a brutal schedule, but this is a league game and the others don't compare because we want to win the league," Goff said. "We also had to defend our home court."


From THE NORTHLAND NEWS

Stallions hang tough, remain undefeated early on

Monday, December 15, 2008
By SETH SHANER

In a matchup of last year's Central Catholic League boys basketball co-champions, Worthington Christian and DeSales didn't disappoint Friday, Dec. 12.

After losing a big early lead, the host Stallions (3-0) persevered and got it done at the free throw line in a 54-49 win.

Senior Nick Goff tallied a career-high 21 points, including four first-quarter three-pointers, to pace DeSales.

"I feel like Nick Goff is maybe one of the more underrated players in the entire area," DeSales coach Blair Albright said. "People don't realize what he's capable of doing with the basketball."

Goff's sharpshooting sparked a 12-point lead early, but a revamped Christian squad methodically battled back before tying it 28-28, with the last five coming from senior Brian Hecker, going into halftime.

Purchase these or other SNP photos.

SNP photo by Seth Shaner
DeSales junior Nick Kellogg flies to the
basket in the Stallions' 54-49 home win over
over Worthington Christian Friday, Dec. 12..

"I was proud of our kids for fighting back," Christian coach Kevin Weakley said. "It was a new game in the second half. We really hurt ourselves in that, when you look at the stats, we won in every major category except for turnovers.

"We didn't get great pressure, but they did a nice job staying between us and the basket and we had a lot of unforced turnovers in the third quarter that cost us."

The Warriors had 19 turnovers overall, with eight of those coming in the third period.

Albright attributed the slowdown in scoring, and a lack of transition defense, in the second quarter on too much of a reliance on the three-point shot that had fallen so much early.

"We got away from our game in the second quarter," Goff said. "That hurt us a lot, but we came back in the third and fourth quarters, played tough defense on Hecker and (senior Brady) Beals and, I think, kind of tired them down a little bit."

After leading by just one point at the end of the third, the Stallions were a collective 7-of-8 from the free throw line in the final frame.

"I thought the second half was very encouraging from the standpoint that we still struggled somewhat offensively, but we got back to our defensive game plan," Albright said. "We made it difficult on (Hecker and Beals) to score and we forced their role players to play at an uncomfortable pace."

DeSales junior Adam Griffin joined Goff in double figures with 11 points, while senior Zak Gaborcik scored eight and junior Nick Kellogg seven.

The Warriors (2-1) were led by Hecker's 17 points, while Beals added 12.

One aspect of the game which was different was the lower score -- last year's contest at DeSales was won by the Stallions 84-75 -- which could partially be attributed to a solid defensive effort on the Christian side.

"I think we're very good defensively," Weakley explained. "We've come in here and have given up 80 or 90 points the last four or five years. If someone would've said we'd hold them to 54 points, I would've taken that any day."

Beals played a part in that, blanketing Kellogg throughout the night.

"We have one of the best defenders in the state," Weakley said. "Brady absolutely is. He played the entire game, only coming out for 20 seconds, and the thing he understands more than most high school kids is he understands how to stay in front of a good player."

The Stallions went on to win at Lima Central Catholic 50-38 Saturday, Dec. 13.

Goff again paced DeSales, this time with 18 points, while Kellogg (12) and Gaborcik (10) were also in double figures.

The Stallions are to play at Ready Friday, Dec. 19, at 8 p.m. and are to host Jonathan Alder Saturday, Dec. 20, at 7:30 p.m.

The Warriors were to host Whitehall Tuesday, Dec. 16, and are to travel to Watterson Dec. 19, at 8 p.m. before hosting Fisher Catholic Dec. 20, at 7:30 p.m.