Landon Schwartz throws up two of his 8 points in the first quarter Friday during the Redskins’ 76-48 Division VI tourney win over Lima Perry. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
Loose and confident, #2 seed St. Henry enjoyed a stress-free tournament debut with a 30-point win over Lima Perry in the their Division VI ‘home game’…and shot a lot of layups doing it.
St. Henry, OH – St. Henry coach Eric Rosenbeck was all smiles…and yet, conflicted as he opened with his post-game remarks Friday following the Redskins’ 76-48 tournament win over #7 seed Lima Perry.
The Mr. Shoppe proudly sponsors the best in area high school sports on Press Pros Magazine.com.
“Yeah, it was nice, and I’m really happy for Jack Huelsman…because we weren’t hitting the glass there in the first half,” Rosenbeck began. “They had us by something like six boards to three in the first half, and Jack came out in the third quarter, got the first two (offensive boards), we get five points out of it, and it was pretty much over at that point.
“We had talked about it during halftime, Jack took things to heart, and I thought he had a great game. It allowed us to play a little more loose, a little more free, than we’ll probably be able to play for the rest of the tournament.”
Publisher Sonny Fulks writes OHSAA and Ohio State sports for Press Pros Magazine.com.
Then catching himself, he added, “But first and foremost, congratulations to the bowling team for winning the state championship. Wow, that’s aweseome.”
And indeed, earlier in the evening St. Henry’s bowling team had outlasted Coldwater, in Columbus, to win their first-ever title in Division II bowling.
“You know, it’s something special because they were tied with Coldwater, and I told ’em in the locker room, ‘They’ll win it. I know they will. You guys all lift together…you’re all built the same way. You guys have it. You do everything together, and they’ll come through and win it. And sure enough they did. And that’s just awesome. Congratulations to Coach Stammen and all those boys.”
As to the moment at hand, Lima Perry was quick and athletic. And the Commodores had obvious talent.
St. Henry’s Austin Zimmerman gets to the rim for two of his co-team-high 14 points in the win over Perry.
But they were no match for the size and the physicality of St. Henry. Credit some of that to weight room time with the bowlers, no doubt. And despite some first quarter rebounding and deficiencies off missed three-point attempts, when St. Henry had its opportunities to blow through Perry and get to the rim they did it – like one big layup. Austin Zimmerman and Landon Schwartz combined for 14 of the Redskins’ 20 points by quarter’s end…20-14.
Zimmerman stayed active in the second, while Tate Boeckman heated up for five points, including a thunderous dunk on a possession via one of Perry’s nine first half turnovers. And as the turnovers began to mount, more Redskins – Charlie Werling, Keith Siefring, Huelsman – began crashing the rim, one layup after another. By halftime St. Henry led 38-26, and you could detect their confidence rising. A tournament game that was actually fun…stress-free. And the question became…would there be a running clock, or just Perry’s buses running in the second half?
Athletes In Action is proud to be a presenting sponsor of area basketball on Press Pros Magazine.com. Call now for camp opportunities for your team in summer, 2026.
Rosenbeck’s sermon about hitting the boards hit home as the ‘Skins came out in the third quarter and scored 13 of their 23 points in the quarter off offensive rebounds. In addition, Huelsman canned a three-pointer. Boeckman nailed one from the high wing for three of his co-team-high 14 points…his best offensive showing of the season. And before quarter’s end, he would collect his second dunk of the game – off, of course, an offensive rebound.
Tate Boeckman narrowly missed connections on this alley oop dunk attempt in the second half…but finished with 14 points for the game.
“Yeah, tonight was awesome,” the 6’5″ junior said, post-game. “We started out slow, but we picked it up, got a couple of dunks down…just ran with it and had some fun.”
An understatement.
The pace of the game picked up as Perry did its best to outrun the ‘Skins and put up as many shots as possible. Sophomore Amir Warner had a couple of long casts go in, just for optimism’s sake.
But by the end of the quarter Boeckman, Huelsman (9 pts), Brayden Heath, Zimmerman…they all scored and extended the lead to 61-36. Still no running clock, but there was plenty of reason to start the buses.
Max Delzeith canned his second three-pointer to start the fourth quarter, Boeckman collected his final four points of the game…while Warner scored for Perry, and teammate Alden Wireman put the finishing touches on his 21-point night. The subs came in for the final three minutes and it ended…76-48.
Ouch, that stings…Perry’s Dakari Boroff takes the brunt of the contact trying to stop baseline drive to the rim.
Tate Boeckman and Austin Zimmerman both finished with 14 points for St. Henry, while Huelsman had 13, Delzeith reached 10, Landon Schwartz finished with 8, Keith Siefring had 6, Charling Werling had 4, Tyson Rosenbeck and Owen Zimmerman each had 2 – in all, ten different Redskins accounted for the winning 76 points.
The Redskins feasted off 20 Lima Perry turnovers, and shot 46% from the field.
Alden Wireman led all scorers for Perry with 21, and Amir Walden wrapped up his excellent evening with 17. Perry finished shooting 38% from the field.
“We had a lot of opportunities in the open floor tonight,” Rosenbeck smiled, summing up the evening. “I’ve been coaching a long time and tonight was probably the most missed dunks I’ve been a part of. But it was great to see Tate at the front of the rim doing what he was doing. And again, Jack Huelsman was outstanding tonight in every way.”
Keith Siefring reaches back to block the shot attempt of Perry’s Zyan Dukes-Tisdale.
The next step will be different, the home court advantage is put away for the year, and St. Henry prepares for a date with Spencerville next week in Wapakoneta.
Earlier in the evening, Spencerville knocked out Lima Central Catholic in a thriller, 52-51.
The Redskins improved to 17-6 for the year, but one of their six losses was a 64-50 encounter with the (Spencerville) Bearcats, at home, back on December 20.
Spencerville, 16-7, is the #4 seed on the bracket, while St. Henry is second, but seeding really means nothing when two teams have the particular talents, and competitive pride of these two. The game is scheduled for Tuesday, March 3, at 7:30.
But first, and foremost, Rosenbeck and the ‘Skins will enjoy this one…and celebrate the first state championship by the bowling team.
“Awesome.”
Technical Roofing proudly sponsors the Midwest Athletic Conference on Press Pros Magazine.com.