Cameron Tucker attempts to lay it in for two points.
Coming out of the Holiday Tournament with last place, the Miners were out to prove that they are better than the talk of the town. Heading into a loud and gruesome playing field Tuesday evening, the Miners faced off against nearby rival and Prairie State Conference opponent: Staunton. The Bulldogs entered the bout with a decent record of 8-5 while the Miners’ 3-11 record does not represent their talent nor performance.
The Miners came out of the gates hard and went on an early 4-0 scoring run in the first quarter and went on to score 5 more points, but Staunton was able to score a minimal 5 points in the quarter as they trailed by 4 points after the first eight minutes. With an early lead, the boys were somewhat clueless how to hold this lead the rest of the game and attempted to force too many questionable shots and difficult passes in the second quarter.
The boys sputtered in the second quarter and Staunton outscored them by double amount of points while the Miners scored just 7 points and the Bulldogs scored 18. Trailing by 7 points at halftime, the Miners spent the second half of the game trying to overcome the deficit and regain the lead. Efforts came short in the third quarter as Holloway from Staunton continued to walk over the Miners as he scored 9 of their 21 points in the quarter while the boys in the away uniforms could only gather 14 points while Bussmann scored half of them.
With only 8 minutes set on the clock and the scoreboard reading 44-30, the Miners not only had 14 points to score to tie the game, but they also had to hold the Bulldogs to overtake them. Easier done than said as the Miners performed in the fourth quarter and had their best quarter in the entire season, some would say. Michael Bussmann led the boys in the final quarter as he and the Miners outscored the Bulldogs by 18 points. The Miners combined for 25 points and were able to hold Staunton to just merely 7 points to take their third victory on the season: 55-51.
The first quarter did anything but set the tone for the Miners. They came out strong and outscored the Bulldogs by 4 points at the end of the quarter. Led by senior pointguard Cameron Tucker, scoring 5 of the 9 points, the boys jumped out with a quick lead as they were able to force Staunton to shoot the perimeter shot rather than the easy lay-up. The Miners broke out in a man-to-man pressure defense and as it should have been unfamiliar to the Staunton Bulldogs, they sure acted like they have never seen such a thing before.
Derrick Tiburzi pulls up for a two point jumper.
The Bulldogs from Staunton forced multiple passes that landed in the hands of Michael Bussmann or Cort Hellmann as Staunton recorded almost 6 turnovers in the quarter. There were no complaints from the boys in the orange uniforms Tuesday evening because the team strives on steals, according to coach Terry Allan. The boys were no longer trading basket for basket as they took the steals to the opposite end of the court. Although, all the points were not “gimmes” either and the Miners did slow the offense down and work the ball around to find the open shot. The game plan worked and the Miners led by 4 points entering the second quarter.
With the lead, a small lead nonetheless, the Miners simple strategy for the second quarter was to hold the lead until halftime. The plan did not hold up as strong as it did in the first quarter as all five starters from the Staunton side of the court had at lead 3 points to their name in the scorebook. The Bulldogs, totaling 18 points, not only tied the game, but also took over the lead on the scoreboard while both teams were in the bonus by the end of the quarter.
The Miners sent Staunton into double bonus by the end of the second quarter while they were able to gather just 4 points from the free throw line, but the Miners on the other end were not able to score any points from the line as they were in single bonus for almost the entire quarter. Scoring just 7 points in the quarter, the Miners set theirselves up for a long second half as they now trailed by 7 points at halftime: 23-16.
“Seven points is nothing,” the boys talked coming out of the locker room at halftime. The boys were right, seven points was nothing. Not only did the Miners score 7 points, but they doubled that to score 14. Led by Michael Bussmann while he scored 7 of the 14 points, he dominated the paint over a pair of 6’2″ standing forwards on the offensive end. It was the same awful taste going back into the Miners mouths as they tried to stop the Bulldogs on the defensive end.
As the Miners scored 14, the Bulldogs outscored them by another 7 points while they teamed up to score 21 points in the third quarter. Led by Holloway and Finnigan from the Staunton who scored 9 points and 6 points respectively, the Bulldogs had no trouble scoring in the third quarter. Both of Finnigan’s three pointers went uncontested as the Miners overlooked his 5’8″ height and Holloway too was able to grab 4 points without a hand in his face as the Miners played, or what looked like, a zone defense. The defense is what makes or breaks a team and the Miners had one quarter left to prove it as they trailed by 14 points now, 44-30.
The defense made the Miners in the fourth quarter and was the major force of the win Tuesday evening as the team returned to their man-to-man defense. The team did let up 7 points in the quarter, but all the scoring came from just one individual while the other four players from Staunton struggled to even get a shot off. Even as the boys were in foul trouble and Staunton was able to shoot bonus free throws if they got fouled, the Miners continued to play strong and play smart as Staunton was able to shoot just 2 bonus shoots throughout the entire quarter.
Michael Bussmann shoots over the defender as he led the team with 26 points.
As the Bulldogs scored 7, the Miners scored a monstrous 25. Led by Michael Bussmann again in the quarter with his 15 points, the Miners did rely on a few others to boost the guest score on the scoreboard above the home side. Jessie Smith pitched in as he scored 3 points before he fouled out and sophomores Derrick Tiburzi and Blake Peterson did the rest of the scoring for the away side of the court as they scored 4 points and 3 points respectively. All four players combined for 25 points and the Miners not only tied the game and took the lead, but they also made their largest comeback of the season as they defeated the Bulldogs in front of their home audience by a score of 55-51.
The Miners played as a team and won as a team in Tuesday evenings game. Without the strong performance by all five players on the defensive end, the game could have been a different story. The boys played just as well on the offensive end as they passed the ball around to always find the open player for the easiest shot. According to coach Terry Allan, this is just the beginning of the fine tuning the Miners have.
The boys take the floor next when they travel to Hillsboro (who support a record of 5-6 as of today) next Tuesday, January 10. JV action is set to begin at 6:0o o’clock pm while varsity action will follow directly after the JV game.
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