Area Sports
West All-Stars win in OT
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- Published on 18 June 2012
- Written by B.J. Fictum
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BEATRICE – Fans at the 2012 Southeast Nebraska All-Star Boys Basketball Classic got their money’s worth Saturday night as West All-Stars head coach Josh Nash got his mojo going and the team refused to give up against a quick East defense to pull off a 77-71 victory in overtime.
The team included Crete product Will Dittmer, Wilber-Clatonia’s Michael Pflanz and Tri County big man Samuel Hahn.
“It was fun to have an all-star game with teams so evenly matched that we needed an overtime to determine the winner,” Nash said. “At Deshler, we’ve played so many overtime games this season that it must be some kind of OT mojo we have….”
In actuality, one key to success, according to Nash, was having great athletes.
“They did a great job of sharing the ball, they are very experienced kids…the best players on their respective teams so they know what it takes in situations like overtime. Instead of having to coach that out of 3 or 4 kids who didn’t have the experience, they knew.”
The game ended in a 66-all deadlock as the West gave the East a few too many opportunities in the final regulation quarter.
“We took some shots they normally wouldn’t take, but some kids hadn’t touched a ball since the first of March so they were a little out of shape and they were rushed,” Nash noted. “At the end of regulation we challenged them to stand up and shoot with pride. We have such great kids — the best in the area — and I just reminded them they needed to get the rebounds.
Leaping out to a quick 69-66 lead in overtime, the West never looked back, blocking four East shot attempts in the last two minutes of the game to create a stranglehold.
Hahn sealed the win with two more free throws 11 seconds later.
Hahn led all scorers with a game-high 16 points, Pflanz scored 12 and Dittmer added 7. The TC product also had 5 blocked shots while Pflanz and Dittmer each had 1 assist.
For more on this story, see the June 20 print or e-editions of The Crete News.