Standing, leaning, or falling backwards…St. John’s Cam Elwer hit this leaning three-pointer between a pair of defenders to close the first half Friday in the Blue Jays’ 67-42 win. (Press Pros Feature Photos by Sonny Fulks)
Delphos St. John super-shooting soph Cam Elwer dropped in another casual 40, leading the Blue Jays to their 15th win of the season…over Minster!
Minster, OH – In just a season and a half Delphos St. John sophomore Cam Elwer has all but quieted the assertion of many, along with this writer, that high school basketball players just don’t shoot the ball that well anymore.
Exceptions?
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Sure, and Elwer is one of the notable ones, and he proved it again Friday night by dropping in 40 points for the second weekend in a row to lead the Blue Jays to their 15th win of the season, and a 6-0 mark in the MAC Conference, 67-42 over Minster.
Impressively, it snapped Minsters seven-game winning streak…Minster a team that over the past month has improved and impressed to the point of causing real concern as being a team that you don’t want to meet in the post-season tournament.
Exceptions? Sure, and try to appreciate this. In just a season and a half Elwer has already scored 1,000-plus points, the benchmark for what most people would consider a record-book career…if you can do it over four seasons.
He didn’t get ’em all…Minster’s Kole Richard blocks this shot attempt of Cam Elwer during the first half of Friday night’s game in Minster.
Friday he scored 8 in the first quarter, finished the second quarter with 13 – including a fall-away three point at the buzzer to punctuate a 17-7 run – then picked up the pace again in the third with ten more points, and another three-pointer at the buzzer, before quietly hitting the 40-mark in the fourth and going to the bench with three minutes left in the game.
Asked about his individual impact in the game, afterwards, Minster coach Mike McClurg drew a deep breath, measured his words, and said, “He’s as good as any I’ve coached against.”
And he’s just a sophomore.
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At 6’1″ and about 185 pounds, he doesn’t check all the boxes of prototypical Division I prospect at the next level. But on the other hand, the University of Dayton has run out to an 18-3 record in the Atlantic 10 Conference with a point guard (Javon Bennett) that’s 5’10” and 155 pounds, and doesn’t score with the confidence that Elwer has.
And he doesn’t get all those points by shooting layups. Friday he finished 16 of 27 from the floor (59%), 4 of 8 from three-point range, and hit ’em standing, leaning, and falling backwards. He was, in a word, impossible to guard for a team that’s good enough to win seven in a row.
Minster’s Brogan Stephey kept the ‘Cats within range for a while, hitting a three-pointer (above) before the half.
Minster’s own shooting guard, Brogan Stephey never got untracked, finishing with just 10 points in the game. But along with the other four on the court, Stephey spent a considerable amount of time trying to get in Elwer’s way. In fact, everyone did. Delphos led 13-9 after the first quarter, and after a 17-7 spurt to start the second quarter, went to the halftime locker room with Elwer’s three-pointer at the buzzer ringing in their ears and a 35-19 lead.
But to illustrate their own quality, Minster started the third quarter with a 5-0 run, thanks to the shooting of Kole Richard (12 points), who quickly reeled the Blue Jays back to within range, at 38-28.
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“We’ve made a lot of improvement over the last month,” said McClurg afterwards. “But we’re not to the level where our motor runs high enough yet. We couldn’t sustain the kind of effort we needed tonight. When he’s playing like that he (Elwer) makes you look silly, and then they’ve got other shooters to go around him. You can’t ignore them, because other coaches have tried. It’s a matter of picking your poison.”
Thanks to the shooting of Richard, Minster enjoyed its best quarter of the game in the third, but after the first three minutes Elwer and company put the pedal down to maintain their halftime margin, 50-35. Elwer hit a two, then a pair of threes, and then continued his onslaught to start the fourth.
In succession, he hit a mid-range jumper, a three from the wing, a baseline drive, and a pair of free throws to reach 40 points…before going to the bench with three minutes left in the game.
With both teams subbing freely over the final four minutes, Minster managed to score just seven points in the final quarter, including a highlight three-pointer from the corner by sophomore Andrew Ketner.
Elwer led all scorers with 40, but Aaron Moenter joined him in double figures with 13. Ty McClain had 5, Austin Moenter had 3, and Collin Feathers and Joel Schrader each had 2 points for Delphos.
St. John’s defense was aggressive, Austin Moenter swiping the ball away from Minster’s Kole Richard (above).
Minster was led by Kole Richard’s 12, Stephey had 10, Cole McClurg added 7, Cole Albers had 8, Ketner had 3, and James Niemeyer finished with 2 points.
“I had a lot or concerns going into the game, because I think Minster’s a really good basketball team,” said Delphos coach Aaron Elwer. “They’d won seven in a row, and they’re really good. They’re top-of-our-league good, and there are no seniors on that team.
“They’ve been successful in other sports, they know how to win, and I could go on and on as to why I think Minster’s a good basketball team. So I’m really proud of our guys, because I just told them that what we’ve done for the past month, and against good teams, is as good as anything I’ve ever been a part of.”
And speaking of his featured scorer, and son Cam, he added: “That’s what he’s done since the third grade. He’s seen it all, he understands what’s coming, and I think his best attribute is his mental toughness. People plan to stop him every night by being physical with him, and at some point he just says…I’ve had enough and I’m going to do what I do. I know it’s a team sport, but for the sake of his efficiency at all three levels, he’s as locked in as any player I’ve ever had.”
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He’s matter of fact if you ask about his game, his approach, and the confidence with which he plays. At 16 Cam Elwer plays like someone a decade older. And his ability to process the game, aside from his toughness, approaches veteran grade. Minster took turns guarding him Friday night, and he bested them all.
“Credit to them,” he said of Minster. “They had a great game plan. They made it tough, but my teammates stepped up, made plays, and we got the win. I like the challenge…I live for it. I know what I can do, I’ve put the work in, and it’s paying off.
You have to account for everyone…DSJ’s Ty McLain drives to the rim during Friday’s 67-42 win over Minster.
“I’m a competitive person,” he added, with a grin. “I try to just keep my cool, go do what I do, and enjoy it.”
Afterwards Mike McClurg smiled over the frustration of trying to find a defense that could slow him down.
“You think about a triangle and two, or something, trying to guard him that way…but then other guys are going to beat you. I thought maybe we could keep him in the 20s, keep the other guys at bay, and have a chance to win. But I needed to do something different.
“We turned it over too much, they got a lead, and once they responded to our punch to start the third quarter we just weren’t able to respond again. We just didn’t have enough fight in us tonight.”
But excellent coaches know, deep down, when you try everything you’ve practiced, and it still isn’t enough, the biggest opponent out there becomes frustration. And Cam Elwer was frustration personified Friday – a sophomore with a thousand points, already.
As good as most have coached against!
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