The shot for the record…Delphos St. John’s Cam Elwer scored 45 points to eclipse the previous MAC career scoring mark of Versailles’ Justin Ahrens. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
Delphos St. John’s Cameron Elwer ignited to score 45 points to break the MAC scoring mark…and single-handedly thwarted Minster’s second half comeback bid in a 64-44 Blue Jays win.
Delphos, OH – Cameron Elwer needed 30 points Friday against Minster to tie Justin Ahrens’ eight-year-old record of 2,046 points…the Midwest Athletic Conference’s previous mark for career points.
And by game’s end Friday he left no doubts about there being a new sheriff in town.
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Elwer scored 20 points in the first half, alone, connecting on 4 of 7 three-point attempts. But that was merely the overture to the opera.
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In the second half he scored 25 more, 19 in the fourth quarter, while connecting on 7 of 12 three-point attempts, for a game-high, and career-high 45 points…and a new MAC mark of 2,061 points with 19 regular season games left to play. When the smoke cleared and the excitement was diminished to a dull roar, he had led the 3-0 Delphos St. John Blue Jays to a 64-44 win over Minster (1-2), single-handedly outscoring the Wildcats by a point.
“He (Elwer) was great,” said Minster coach Mike McClurg. “And I thought we did a pretty good job defensively on him in the first half. But what you saw tonight was someone who works incredibly hard at his craft. No one works harder and deserves it more than Cam. And I can personally assure you that no one works harder because I’ve coached him in AAU and witnessed it first-hand. And when he goes off like he did tonight there’s not a selfish thing about him as a basketball player. He’s just that good and capable of doing what you saw tonight. He deserves the record.”
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The threat of his breaking the MAC scoring mark overshadowed the game, itself, a matchup between what’s projected to be two of the MAC’s top-seeded teams by season’s end. Elwer, who over the summer committed to play at Division I Furman University next fall, had established himself over three varsity seasons as one of the most determined scorers in the history of the league. And at Minster last year, almost a year to the day, Elwer had exploded for 16 points in the first half to establish a 21-point Delphos lead by halftime.
Elwers everywhere, and they can all shoot…Andrew Elwer (above) rises for three of his 10 points in Friday’s win.
Friday night he hit four of his first five attempts from three-point range to reach 16 by the end of the first quarter. St. John led 22-11 with eight more minutes left to play before halftime, with a threat of reprising last year’s outcome.
But Minster would have something to say about that. At the start of the second quarter the Wildcats tightened down on Elwer defensively, doubling him whenever possible, and held him to just four points for the quarter. Cole McClurg would can a couple of long threes from the top of the circle; and center Cole Albers became active around the rim, using his 6’7″ frame to score six unanswered points…helping fuel a 12-2 Minster run that cut the deficit to a manageable 28-23 by halftime.
But coming out of the halftime locker room Elwer would find his touch again, hitting a pair of shots from behind the arc. And more, he began to get help he didn’t have in the first half. His brother, Andrew canned a long three from the wing. His cousin, Easton, hit another. And Tyce McClain, who would end up making just one shot for the night, added a third three-pointer. Minster could not answer, with just three field goals and a pair of free throws, and by quarter’s end trailed again by double figures, 45-32.
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Elwer had 26 points by the start of the fourth quarter and immediately went to work with a three-pointer that brought him within a point of the mark, a minute into the quarter. Then, at just over the 6:00 mark, he hit a fall-away two-pointer from outside the foul line to put him at 31 for the game, and a point ahead of Ahrens. The crowd rose to its feet in excitement and in appreciation for history. But Elwer was hardly finished. In the next four-plus minutes be would connect on four more threes from the top of the key, and from the wing, to reach 45. And to give the crowd what it desperately wanted as an encore, he launched a final attempt from at least thirty feet that missed. His father, the coach, subbed in his reserves with a couple of minutes left, and the matter was settled by clock’s end, 64-44.
They didn’t all go in…Minster’s Andrew Wiss blocks the shot attempt of Cam Elwer in Friday’s loss to the Blue Jays.
Elwer led all scorers, of course, with 45…shooting 11 of 19 from three-point range (57%), and 16 of 29 from the field (55%), unofficially. Teammates Easton Elwer added 8, Andrew Elwer had 6, Tyce McClain had 3, and Jackson Wiechart finished with 2.
For Minster, lost in the record and the scoring frenzy was the play of center Cole Albers, who finished the game with 18 points. Beckhem Stephey and Cole McClurg each had 10 points, Parker Kerrigan had 4, and Andrew Ketner concluded the scoring with 2 points. It was a disappointing outcome in the spotlight of history, but as well…something upon which to build. “It’s only game three of the season,” McClurg reminded.
Literally, whether he was motivated by the moment, by the record, or a place in history, Cam Elwer put the Blue Jays on his back and willed them to a win Friday, something he’s done with regularity over the course of his 77 games as a varsity player.
Minster’s Cole Albers scores over St. John’s Jackson Wiechart for two of his team-high 18 points.
“He didn’t say a word about the record this week…didn’t mention it,” added father and coach, Aaron Elwer, speaking after the game. “What you saw tonight was the kind of competitiveness he’s played with since grade school. He played for the win tonight, not the record, and as a parent it was an emotional thing to witness. He’s the kind of player that’s capable of doing whatever it takes to win.”
Former OHSAA Director of Operations Jerry Snodgrass was on hand to present a framed memento to Elwer, commemorating the occasion. “Somewhere, the man whose picture is on the wall up there (former coach Bob Arnzen) is smiling tonight,” said Snodgrass, framing the moment perfectly with words. And then he added: “And you’ve represented your school, your community, and yourself with class.”
For his own part, Elwer had little to add, only to say that the moment, the night, and the record meant a lot to him and his team.
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“I just appreciate the opportunity,” he smiled. “Justin (Ahrens) called me earlier this week to congratulate me and wish me luck. But I never dreamed of being in the position to break the record, because I remember watching him play when I was a ball boy for the team. Minster’s a good team, the atmosphere was great, the fans were great, and I appreciate being here in the moment.”
Former OHSAA Executive Director Jerry Snodgrass was on hand to present a memento to history.
And as a footnote, if you’ve never been in the tiny St. John gymnasium they call ‘The Vatican’ it barely seats 1,500 people. And it’s a cinch that Cam Elwer will go on in his senior year to add at least another 600 points to what’s now his conference scoring record.
But twenty years from now, the memory of the night he broke the conference scoring record will be such that at least 20,000 will say, “I was there to see it.” Such is small-town basketball in places like Delphos…and Hickory.
And it won’t matter to the man whose picture is up there on the wall of the gym. Bob Arnzen will be smiling all the same.
A small price to pay for a moment in history.
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