Wide open looks from three-point range…spelled doom from Andrew Elwer in the second half. Elwer complemented the 37-point effort of his older brother with 19 points and shot 4 of 8 from three point range. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
Their consistency continues through the gauntlet that coach Aaron Elwer spoke about three weeks ago. Delphos St. John outscored St. Henry 52-32 over the final three quarters Friday to win, convincingly, in front of a packed house.
St. Henry, OH – Delphos St. John coach Aaron Elwer said it prior to boarding the bus two weeks ago, an hour after taking down Lima Central Catholic in overtime.
“If we can get through the gauntlet of the next three weeks – Marion Local, St. Henry, and Versailles – we’ll know how good a basketball team we really are.”
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Well, part of the challenge he spoke of was that of playing Marion Local and St. Henry on the road, in front of raucous home crowds…as big an environment as you can find in Division VI and VII high school basketball
Last week they stunned Marion Local by shooting well, defending well, and playing with composure when it mattered most.
And Friday night they almost exactly reprised the Marion Local effort against St. Henry with a 73-50 win…by shooting well, defending well, and playing with that same composure in front of an even more raucous St. Henry environment.
And Cam Elwer, of course, got his customary 37 points with the dogs nipping at his heels – with the customary opposing crowd willing him to fail.
But at some point now through fifteen games there must be a point, short of going undefeated for the year, where the reality sets in. That this Delphos St. John is a very good basketball team for its size; and Cam Elwer is simply the best basketball player in the gym on any given night, any given size, regardless of how hard you root against him.
Amped up to play…St. Henry’s defense came out with energy in the first quarter, catching St. John’s Maddox Kroeger in a spot from which it’s hard to score.
In matters of size it didn’t seem to matter Friday. St. Henry was bigger…every man on the court. That was the reality. But St. John was quicker, their ball movement fast and accurate to the point that by the second reversal in their halfcourt offense someone was bound to be open besides Cam Elwer. And when that man was open, 49% of time (DSJ’s shooting percentage from the field), they made St. Henry pay.
Elwer got his points, in the usual manner, scoring 15 points in the first quarter on a trio of three-pointers and six consecutive free throws. He added 9 in the second with another three and a pair of free throws. He added 7 in the third and 6 in the fourth, and not because St. Henry suddenly boxed him up. The Redskins’ backcourt guarded Elwer hard all night long, but when they became too obsessive in the second half he simply flipped the ball to his younger brother, Andrew. Elwer 2.0 obliged by hitting three three-pointers – all wide open – four for the game, and finished the game with a complementary 19 points. Cam Elwer finished with 6 assists in addition to his 37 points.
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“It’s so frustrating to try and defend them because they can all shoot,” said St. Clairsville coach Ryan Clifford after playing Delphos in December. “You do a good job on Cam and he throws it to someone else who hits a three-pointer.”
Exactly. For the game Delphos hit 12 of 25 attempts from behind the line (48%), with three different Elwers (Cam, Andrew, and Easton) accounting for 10 of the 12. Guard Tyce McClain hit the other two.
St. Henry’s Austin Zimmerman leans for the rim during the second half of Friday’s game with Delphos St. John.
Almost exactly the way they beat St. Clairsville, LCC, Marion Local, and now St. Henry.
“We can be a load to handle,” said Aaron Elwer, afterward. “And as the game wears on we just keep doing what we do. Our guys trust the system, offense and defense, and they stay true to that for 32 minutes. It’s about executing and handling your emotions. It’s not an eight-minute deal and they understand that. Every coach talks about the last two minutes in the first half and the first two minutes in the second half. We came out with great defense in the third quarter, we kinda wore them down, and we had some guys make shots to extend our lead.”
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They led 21-18 after the first quarter, when St. Henry’s energy and confidence was at its peak. To their credit Jack Huelsman, Charlie Werling and Brayden Heath combined for 14 of their 18 points, while Cam Elwer was putting up his 15. Find a way to stop Elwer in the second quarter and things should be fine, one would have thought.
St. Henry’s Landon Schwartz and DSJ’s Jackson Wiechart fight for possession during Friday’s Blue Jays win.
But the second quarter turned out to be a sinkhole for the the Redskins, as they went nearly four minutes without scoring, at all, while Delphos was building a 29-18 lead. When they did score, it was Werling providing the lone spark, scoring 7 of their eventual 10 points in the quarter, compared to DSJ’s 18. The Blue Jays went to the halftime locker room leading 39-28.
“We had that long lull in the second quarter where it felt like we were on 18 forever,” said St Henry coach Eric Rosenbeck. “We had too many turnovers and that’s why we were down at the half, and in the second half we were in a situation of having to match them and we didn’t hit threes like we’re capable of, and we didn’t hit free throws like we’re capable of.”
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And it doesn’t help when you’re focused on shutting down one Elwer and another springs a leak. Andrew Elwer hit a pair of threes in the third quarter, and Easton Elwer added a third to account for 12 of the Blue Jays 18 points, while the defense was holding St. Henry to 7.
“For whatever reason basketball is a make or miss game,” added Rosenbeck. “And our first three looks in the third quarter were great – a layup, a pair of free throws and a wide-open three – but they just didn’t go down. And they were able to convert. Eleven goes to seventeen (points). And playing chase with those guys is a hard job.”
And for those who’ve overlooked the second and third Elwer for too long, another reality has come to fruition…that you can’t.
“Obviously Cam is a great player and he’s going to make the right play,” his brother Andrew said, post-game. “And he trusts us to make those shots. He expects me to make those shots. Because every team is going to give us their best shot. Their crowd is going to be into it. And we’ve been through it. Just stay poised and play your best basketball.”
The Delphos lead grew to as many as thirty in the second half with Cam Elwer distributing the ball for easier buckets as the fourth quarter wore on. Cam and Andrew would end up accounting for 56 of their 73 points, between them shooting 60% from the field. And as a team, the Blue Jays (14-0) shot 49% from the field and finished hitting 15 of 16 from the foul line. Tyce McClain finished with 6 and Easton Elwer had 3 points.
St. Henry’s Charlie Werling shoots around the Blue Jays’ defense for a first half bucket.
For St. Henry, Werling, Heath, and Huelsman each scored 11 points, while Landon Schwartz and Austin Zimmerman finished with 6 each. The Redskins shot 38% from the field, hit 5 from three-point range, and just 5 of 16 from the foul line. The Redskins’ record falls to 8-3.
“I love this town, I love the community and the support that we receive,” said a disappointed Rosenbeck. “I wish we could have put out a better product tonight in the second and third quarter.”
And that’s the final reality. Another week of the gauntlet has distinguished this Delphos St. John team through fourteen games, garnering them the #1 rank in Division VII, state-wide.
“We’re extremely blessed to play in these kinds of opportunities,” Cam Elwer said before getting on the bus for home. “I think we’ve earned this. People come to see us play, and I think that’s a testament to how we play.
“The last two weeks we knew that those teams would come out fighting hard, amped up, and we just had to take that first punch and bounce back. Basketball is a game of four quarters and runs. You have to withstand their run and answer with one of your own. We were consistent tonight, we stuck with our game plan, we executed for four quarters just like we did last week. And we’re excited for next week and another challenge from Versailles.”
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