Versailles junior Reed Raterman lines up the first of his six made three-pointers Saturday in what would become a 67-47 win over Brookville. Raterman would finish 6 of 11 from three-point range and with a game-high 23 points. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
Relying on their depth with a pair of key starters out, Versailles’ Reed Raterman answered the call Saturday night, connecting on 6 of 11 three-point shots to ignite a twenty-point win over Brookville.
Versailles, OH – Every high school basketball coach wants to test the depth of his roster – wants to know what he has if and when the inevitable happens. Someone is going to get hurt, and worst case scenario…it’s always a starter.
For Versailles’ Travis Swank it happened two weeks ago when guard Blake Monnin went down with a stress reaction in his foot, Timetable for his return…three to four weeks.
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Then last week in the Tigers blowout win over Indian Lake Kade Schwartz went down with an ankle injury. Suddenly, 40% of his starting five is missing and Swank was beginning to sweat, despite wins over CCPA, Miami East, and Indian Lake while playing short.
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But the biggest test was to come on Saturday night when the 6-1 Brookville Blue Devils came to town, whose lone loss was a five-point affair with Valley View in mid-December. And if Swank had any concerns over where the extra contribution was to come from, junior Reed Raterman stepped up and answered those in the first eight minutes of play.
Raterman hit his first two shots, a pair of threes, and then followed that with a trio of three-pointers in the second quarter on his way to a 16-point first half…and a 23-point game high-scorer performance as the Tigers blasted past Brookville, 67-47 for their eighth win of the season.
Drake Ahrens blows past a Brookville defender for two of his 17 points in Saturday’s 67-47 win.
Morevoer, if shooting really is contagious, as ‘coach-speak’ dictates, then the Tigers’ 6’2″ junior relieved the stress on the rest of the lineup. Versailles would shoot 48% from from the floor, 10 of 21 from three-point range (47.5%) and lead the Blue Devils at one point in the second half by 29 points.
The Tigers led 15-11 at the end of the first…41-22 at the end of the first half…56-34 at the end of the third period…and with both team subbing liberally, finished the game with a 67-47 margin.
Raterman led all scorers with 23 (6 of 11 from three-point). Teammate Drake Ahrens added 17. Maddox Stonebraker had 9. Cam Ahrens finished with 8 points, and Ethan Wilker would finish with 6.
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For Brookville, featured scorer Branson King finished with 14 points and teammate Braeden Smart had 19 points, the only two Blue Devils to finish in double figures…or with more than 7 points.
Wait for it…Maddox Stonebraker waits out the impatience of Brookville defenders before making his move to the rim.
Raterman is not known for his scoring, averaging just over 5 points for the season. And while regarded as a serviceable shooter, he’s not in the Cam Elwer category in regards to those you think of when firing at howitzer range. But Saturday night he shot the ball with perfect confidence, largely because of the unselfish play of his teammates.
“It’s nice to hit a couple of shots like I did,” he said, afterwards. “Really, it felt like everyone else around me was playing well, too, so that made me feel better about taking those shots. We’re pretty good about sharing the basketball and looking for the open man, and that really helps out the team.
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“And this was a really good team (Brookville) tonight,” he added, referring to the Blue Devils. “We knew we had to play well, and we knew we had won against two good teams before this one. So we knew we had to come out, share the ball, play defense, and be physical. And it’s really fun when you shoot the ball well.”
After scoring 16 in the first half, he added just 7 in the second, including his only three-pointer of the half, as the Tigers added to their scoreboard total with backdoor cuts to the hoop and points in transitions off 14 Brookville turnovers…in part as a result of Versailles’ constant commitment to defense. The Blue Devils were never closer than 19 points over the final sixteen minutes of the game.
“Really pleased with how we played,” Travis Swank added. “The three-point shots…we thought they were really good looks. They weren’t forced, they were within the offense, so we were OK with them. We have some good shooters and Reed is one of them, along with Maddox, and Drake, and Blake, and when they’re open we want them to take those shots with confidence. You know, Reed only averages about 5 points a game, so tonight was special. The last three games he’s really shot the ball well and that’s opened things up for the other shooters. He hasn’t played that much varsity time prior to this year, but he’s getting his feet wet, he continues to get better, and he’s really doing a good job.”
“Tonight we had to rely on our depth and they came through. Blake’s been out now for four games and we talk about it in the locker room…other people are going to have to step up. We’ve played a lot of guys early in the year so they have that experience and it’s helped us through this injury bug that we’re going through. Hopefully, we get those guys back and healthy, and that’s going to make us better at the end of the day.”
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Long-time assistant coach Chet Brewster had this to add over the Tigers’ eighth win, and the manner in which they did it…Reed Raterman front and center.
“You know, this is my feel-good story for the season,” said Brewster. “The unselfish way these guys are playing. You can’t be 8-1 with two starters missing without sharing the ball and trusting each other. And in this day of selfish basketball, it’s great to see this team play the way it has in order to be successful.”
Saturday they trusted in Reed Raterman…wet feet and all. And he didn’t let them down!
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