The Ste. Genevieve boys team collected two wins last week, getting a road win against West County and then a home victory on Senior Night against Potosi.
In the team’s game against West County, Ste. Genevieve used strong second and third quarters to get ahead of West County.
After looking at a 21-15 deficit heading into the second quarter, both teams struggled offensively, and went into halftime with a 29-18 score in favor of West County.
“We played pretty well I thought. Struggled in the first half to hit some shots and West County shot the ball really well in the first quarter,” explained head coach Rob Coleman. “Was proud of our defense though, especially after the first quarter. We also did a better job of picking up some easy buckets in transition and hitting the offensive glass.”
Things took a turn in the third quarter for Ste. Genevieve; while their defense held strong against West County’s offense, the Dragons offense exploded behind an eight-point quarter from Blake Morganthaler. Ste. Genevieve was able to catch up to WC and take the 39-34 lead heading into the final eight minutes.
It was all Ste. Genevieve in the fourth quarter. Eight Dragons scored in the final quarter to help them secure the 60-43 win.
“I would say hitting shots late helped but most of all I would say the energy helped us turn things around,” said Landon Rose, who scored nine points.
Ricky Hunter and Blake Morganthaler led the way for Ste. Genevieve with 12 points each while Aiden Boyer added in eight points.
“We had good bench energy that kept us going,” said Ricky Hunter. “We communicated very well and pushed the ball. The keys for us were to keep our energy high throughout the whole game. We moved the ball well on offense which gave us good looks. The win meant a lot to us since it’s the seniors last year.”
The Ste. Genevieve boys got an even bigger win against Potosi on Senior Night.
Ricky Hunter went off in the game, scoring a game-high 29 points, 15 of them coming in the fourth quarter.
It was back and forth all night between the two teams with Potosi opening up the game with an 18-15 lead after the first quarter.
The Dragons did all they could in the second quarter, matching Potosi shot for shot and looking at a 33-31 deficit heading into the half.
Ste. Genevieve was able to tie the game in the third quarter behind four three-pointers from Ricky Hunter, Blake Morganthaler, and Thomas O’Brien.
It was a different story in the fourth quarter; Hunter led the way for the Dragons with 15 points in the final eight minutes to led Ste. Genevieve to the 62-60 win.
Along with Hunter’s 29 points, Logan Trollinger, Thomas O’Brien, and Rudy Fleig added in seven points each.
“The guys played really well and tough,” said head coach Rob Coleman. “It was a back and forth game, we didn’t shoot the ball well, but our defense was able to force some turnovers, we attacked the basket off the dribble a little more and was aggressive on the boards. Very proud of our effort and ability to make plays when we needed to. Was very happy for our seniors, Logan Trollinger, Anthony Nash, Chaytin Lea and Landon Rose, on senior night to be able to get a win. All of them played well and brought a lot of energy. We have four very fine young seniors that continue to lead us.”
“We just played as a team we started off a little rocky but after that we got it together and did what we needed to do to get the job done and at the end of the day that’s what matters to us. It was a big win and everyone wanted to see us win so I’m happy we were able to pull it off,” said Anthony Nash.
“Rebounding was our strong suit we were very aggressive on the offensive boards and we had some huge stops,” said Chaytin Lea. “This win meant a lot to the team because this is a big conference win.”
Ste. Genevieve brought down an astounding 43 rebounds, 23 of them being offensive.
