Pleased with the defense…Coldwater center Owen Kunk smothers the shot attempt of Parkway’s Brayden Bruns during Friday’s 62-42 Cavaliers win. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
Behind 26 points and the mercurial play of Baylen Blockberger, Coldwater makes a statement with its first tournament appearance with a convincing win over Parkway.
Coldwater, OH – Coldwater coach Nick Fisher shook his head over the irony of it…winning a sectional tournament title when you only play one game to do it.
“That’s the way things are now,” he joked Friday. “And I’d rather not play a home game in the tournament. You look forward to the tournament atmosphere of playing on the road. It’s tournament time. But it is what it is.”
Understood.
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But when you only get one chance you want to make the most of it and Baylen Blockberger and the Cavaliers did just that Friday. Blockberger shot 6 of 11 from three point range, on his way to a game-hight 26 points to help Coldwater blow out an overwhelmed Parkway team, 62-42. Coldwater improves to 15-7 and will now face Spencerville in a district contest next week.
But for this week, there is no story better to tell than that of Blockberger who took the opening tip and promptly drained a three-pointer from the top of the key.
On their next possession he drained another three from the wing.
Moments later he buried a third three-pointer from the foul line, extended, and suddenly Coldwater was up 12-0. Nick Fisher would laud his defense, post-game, and indeed Parkway did not score (a free throw) until the 3:57 point of the first quarter.
But in the meantime Blockberger hit another three on his way to 16 points for the quarter, and the Cavaliers led after one, 20-3.
He took on all comers…Coldwater’s Baylen Blockberger shot 6 for 11 from three-point range on his way to 26 points.
“It’s just hard to come back from a start like that,” said Parkway coach Doug Hughes. “They came out hot, played very aggressively, and Blockberger was very focused. He’s special, and aside from his scoring the thing that makes him unique is the way he rebounds the basketball. From that position he’s a very difficult matchup.”
Hughes is a veteran coach, has seen a lot of great scorers over his career, and he mixed and matched his defense as best he could to slow Blockberger down…with some success. He only scored 2 points in the second quarter, but teammates Miles Pottkotter, Brady Lefeld, Cody Depweg and Owen Kunk picked up the slack enough to account for 14 points in the quarter and lead 34-15 at the break.
Blockberger would conclude with a pair of three-pointers in the second half, finish with 26 points, and came out of the game at the 3:00 mark. Coldwater would increase its lead by as much as 25 points; and Parkway would scrap its way back to a more respectable margin, as little as 16 points. But Coldwater’s reserves finished with a flourish to win by twenty, 62-42.
Trevor Stearns and Wyatt Carpenter led the Panthers in scoring with 13 and 11 points, respectively.
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“Tonight was kind of like two weeks ago when we played Upper Scioto Valley,” said Blockberger. “I hit a couple of threes to start the game and the defense was phenomenal. When the defense plays like it did tonight it makes the game a lot easier.”
And while other teams have a flashier record than 15-7, no area team in Division VI may be playing better at the present, given the slow start that Coldwater perennially gets because of football.
Coldwater’s Miles Pottkotter drives past Parkway defender Xavier Samples during Friday sectional tournament win over the Panthers.
“Yeah, it took us a while to get our chemistry back and our basketball legs,” he added. “But we’re into it now and playing good basketball at the right time. We’re playing with all the confidence in the world and hopefully teams won’t think much of us because of our record and we’ll come out with a win.”
Nick Fisher, of course, is the patient orchestrater of all this and, like Blockberger, was pleased not only with the ease with which the points came, but the commitment with which his defense played.
“I thought we defended them (Parkway) better tonight than when we played them the first time,” he said. “We challenged them this week and we had a good week of practice. We came out and put our foot down in the first quarter and obviously ‘Bay’ hit everything he shot and we just fed off of that.”
And when you get the impact of shutout defense and 60% shooting to start the game…it’s hard to lose.
“It’s hard to come back from a start like that. They came out very aggressively and Blockberger was very focused. He’s a very difficult matchup.” – Parkway coach Doug Hughes (above)
“It is, and I can’t imagine being on the other end, defensively, because what do you do?” Fisher added. “And I feel Doug’s pain because I see him (Blockberger) practice a lot. He’s so versatile and when you try to throw some different things at him he’s such a heady player. He takes care of the ball and he can score on all three levels. I’m just glad he’s on our team.”
They’ll meet Spencerville next in the District round on Wednesday, the 26th, at Wapakoneta, another team that’s playing its best basketball at the right time.
“That’ll be a good game,” said Fisher. “Spencerville’s having a great season.
“But these seniors have been through a lot with football, basketball and baseball. And nothing they see now is going to scare or intimidate them. It’s just not in their DNA.”
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