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Versailles
freshman Kyle Aherns completes a two handed slam dunk
against Minster Friday in Midwest
Athletic Conference play. The Tigers
hammered the Wildcats, 69-50. CNO Photo by Dylan Knoop
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Versailles turns up
the heat on Minster
By George Starks
See below for Friday night roundup
VERSAILLES- When it was time to get the party started, Versailles got
it started hot. Ranked eighth in the state, the Tigers used a near
perfect first half to blow open a lead over Midwest Athletic Conference
foe Minster. Up 42-17 at the half, the Tigers had little problem with
the Wildcats, posting a 69-50 MAC victory.
It didn’t take long for the Tigers to get the gas on and get the fire
started, getting off to an 8-0 lead. At the end of the first frame,
Versailles was up by a 16-7 count and the game was still within reach
of the Wildcats.
Versailles started the second quarter with a Kyle Ahrens display of
scoring. The Tiger freshman netted just four first quarter points but
had the first five for Versailles in the second quarter, including a
two handed thunder dunk. The Tigers scored 19 unanswered points by the
3:08 mark of the stanza before Minster got on the board with a three
pointer.
At that point, Versailles held a commanding 35-10 lead and a 42-17 lead
at the break.
At game’s end, Ahrens and Mitchell Campbell had both netted 19 for the
Tigers to lead all in scoring while Chad Winner tallied 17 of his own
including four buckets from three point land.
“I was really happy with the first half and how unselfish the kids were
with the ball,” said Tiger coach Scott McEldowney. “We had some great
kick-outs for some wide open looks as well as feeding the post and
getting some easy ones inside.”
Even though the Versailles scoring machine was in full force, it was
the Tigers defense that set the tone for the quarter as The Tigers
mixed things up with a zone and a man-to-man.
“We’ve been making so many shots and it’s been our scheme to get into
our zone press that we want to play,” McEldowney said. “We’ve tried to
work on falling back into our man-to-man. Sometimes we scramble but we
like to try to mix it up to see which one we like better.”
With Versailles holding a huge lead at the intermission, the Cats were
able to get back into their offensive flow as Versailles got sloppy
with the ball, committing nine turnovers. By then, it was all over but
the crying as Versailles had put the game well out of reach.
“I’ve been around for so long that I know it’s hard to stay focused
with such a large lead,” McEldowney pointed out. “To come out with that
same type of intensity, I mean you tend to relax a little. They don’t
realize how hard they worked, how well they moved the ball to get what
they got in the first half. Give Minster credit. Yes, we got a little
sloppy but Minster picked it up a little in the third quarter.”
Despite a 17 point performance from Jacob Wenning, the Tigers fell a
point short in the junior varsity game, losing 40-39.
Versailles will be at New Bremen next Friday
Other Friday night
scores:
Ansonia 51, Newton 43
Miami East 80, Bradford 33,
Arcanum 70, National Trail 28
Bethel 52, Mississinawa Valley 27
Franklin Monroe 36, Covington 35
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