(PHOTOS BY JACOB KESSLER / THEVILLAGE REPORTER)
RISE AND FIRE … Wauseon’s Carter Gype elevates for a jumper in the lane last Friday. VIEW ALL PHOTOS OF THIS CONTEST FOR FREE AT WWW.THEVILLAGEREPORTER.COM
REBOUND … Quinten Eisel grabs a rebound for the Vikings during last week’s NWOAL game with Wauseon.
By: Joe Blystone
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
publisher@thevillagereporter.com
METAMORA (January 17, 2025) – What Wauseon does well, they did very well and what Evergreen does well, they flat out didn’t.
Wauseon’s literally twin forces inside, Nick and Nate Stinner combined for 35 points and Evergreen missed 16 of their last 18 three-pointers, as the Indians held off the Vikings 57-53, in a very heated contest before a very large throng at Evergreen.
“I thought defensively we did a really good job defending the arc,” longtime Indian coach Chad Burt said postgame.
“At the same time, I thought we defended the rim pretty well too. We did a good job defending the drive and made them take tough shots.”
“They have guys that are so dang athletic and can make those shots and again they got us out of whack with some transition situations.”
“This was honestly just a great high school basketball game with two good teams going at it. The ebbs and flows of this game were pretty wild and again we are very, very fortunate to get out of here with a win.”
George Allendorf canned two from deep and Wil Ruetz added the third at the 4:25 mark of the first as Evergreen took an early 9-7 lead.
However, after that, the Vikings were as frigid as the early week forecast the rest of the night from behind the arc.
In the meantime, the 6’5 twin Stinners took over inside, combining for the last nine points of the quarter to give the Indians a 16-15 lead.
Back-to-back triples from Ryan Neff and Carter Gype gave the Indians their biggest lead at 26-18 with 3:41 left in the half.
For the rest of the half, Evergreen did what Evergreen does, by forcing four Indian turnovers that fueled a 10-0 burst to give the Vikes a 28-26 halftime lead.
Quinn Eisel, playing his first game since suffering a stroke nearly a month ago, was the main contributor as he began the rally with a steal and score.
Colton Robertson’s steal and dish to Allendorf, Ruetz’ back-to-back buckets, then Eisel’s stick back at the buzzer sent the Vikes into the locker room up a deuce.
“That’s how they play and that’s what they do,” Burt said of the Vikings burst to end the half. “We said all week at practice it’s going to feel like they have six or seven guys out there, and it really does, they are so athletic.”
Nick Stinner’s pair from the line with 5:36 left in the third knotted the game at 32-32, then Nate Stinner got inside and Gype hit a baseline jumper to make it 36-32.
That’s when the night that had the officiating drawing the ire of both sides boiled over. Ruetz was sent to the floor with a blow to the head scoring a reverse layup, and when Viking coach Kyle Bostater argued the non-call, he was assessed a “T”, then a quick second.
Gype hit 3/4 from the line and Seth Richer scored on the ensuing inbounds to push the Indians up 41-34.
The Stinner twin brothers scored the first seven Indian points of the fourth, but Allendorf and Eisel ignited a Viking charge that brought Evergreen from seven down to even at 50-50 on Allendorf’s swipe and score with 2:15 left.
Again, it was a Stinner, this time Nick, who got 2/2 from the line and a putback with just over a minute left to give Wauseon a 54-50 advantage.
“Both of those guys were very solid,” Burt expressed of his twin bigs. “They were really active at the rim.”
“Man, I thought they made some plays late and to their credit they are good free throw shooters, and they knocked some down that were big.”
Richer’s 2/2 with 23 ticks left sent the lead to six, but Allendorf stuck the Vikings only second-half triple with 7.2 to go to slice the deficit to one possession.
Gype went to the line with 5.4 left and missed the first before lacing the second to put the Indians up a much needed two possessions to close it.
Evergreen was guilty of just seven turnovers on the night but shot just 42 percent from the field.
Wauseon had 16 turnovers but overcame that with 6/7 from the foul stripe in the last stretch of the fourth.
Nick Stinner had 19 and Nate Stinner 16 for Wauseon. Allendorf had 23 to lead Evergreen, Ruetz had 14, and Eisel added 10.
WAUSEON (57) – Neff 3; Richer 6; Riegsecker 4; Na. Stinner 16; Ni. Stinner 19; Gype 9; King 0; Totals: 18-2-15 – 57
EVERGREEN (53) – Manz 1; Ruetz 14; Herdman 3; Robertson 0; Allendorf 23; Eisel 10; Fritsch 0; Rafferty 0; Johnson 2; Totals: 16-5-6 – 53
WHS 16 10 17 14 – 57
EHS 15 13 10 15 – 53
Junior Varsity: Evergreen, 41-38