By: Joe Blystone
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
publisher@thevillagereporter.com
PIONEER (January 6, 2024) – Sometimes Evergreen doesn’t shoot the ball well…and on this night they sure didn’t.
Sometimes the Vikings turn the ball over too much…and according to longtime Viking coach Jerry Keifer, 13 in this game is too many.
But the one thing Evergreen does that cures all woes and demons is harass and confound an opponent into coughing up the ball and getting “pick 6’s”, and on this night they did just that over and over in the second half to blow open a tight game and beat North Central 53-41.
“We have done a very nice job against a 1-3-1 zone the last few games and we just didn’t move tonight,” Keifer said of the Vikings off shooting game.
“It took them a little kick in the butt (at halftime) and I thought we really came out with a lot of defensive intensity in the third quarter and turned a pretty close game into a reasonable lead.”
Drew Gillen and Joey Burt matched five points each in the first six minutes of the contest as the teams were even at 9-9 with 1:12 left in the first.
In the next 72 seconds, Eli Keifer knocked down a triple, Tyson Woodring went coast to coast off an Eagle miss and Troy Manz stuck a three-ball at the horn for a 17-9 Viking lead.
However, in the next six minutes Evergreen went ice cold, missing eight straight from the floor. The Eagles countered with nine straight to take an 18-17 advantage.
Johnny Hicks started the run with a left wing triple, Burt scored from in close, Gage Kidston split two from the stripe and hit a layup, then Ethan Beard’s 1-2 from the line put the Eagles ahead with 2:17 left.
Hunter Vaculik regained a Viking lead when he muscled in one from in close that turned into a three-point play to give Evergreen the lead for good.
Manz scored off a Keifer steal before Kidston answered with two free throws to keep the Vikes on top 22-20 at the break.
Hicks’ baseline jumper 21 seconds into the second half brought the Eagles within 23-22 but that was as close as they would get as the Vikings began their rage of thievery.
As frigid as Evergreen was in the second, the Vikings heated up in the third. Woodring ripped cord on a right wing bomb then Blade Walker three steals led to two Keifer layups, another by Riley Dunbar, and a Woodring to Dunbar hoop off another steal expanded the Evergreen lead to 41-30 by quarter’s end.
Gillen’s basket inside then three more swipe and scores in the first 80 seconds of the fourth blew the game open. Dunbar’s steal and break leading pass to Woodring was the first of the trifecta.
Walker for a third time got a pick and passed to Keifer for a layup and Dunbar then went the distance on a pick to make it 49-30 before the Vikings freely subbed the rest of the night.
“Anytime you get pick 6’s it’s great,” Keifer said. “And I think that had a lot to do with the defensive intensity we had up front with Eli and Tyson and our five man (Dunbar) is getting steals and dribbling and beating North Central down the floor and distributing passes I’ve never seen him make before.”
Kidston was the only answer for the Eagles as he scored 10 straight North Central (4-5) points in the second half out of his game high 19.
Keifer had 16 for Evergreen (7-2) while Dunbar was a point shy of a double-double as he had 10 rebounds to go with his nine points.
Evergreen forced 23 turnovers, five of which were Woodring steals and four more by Walker.
EVERGREEN (53) – Manz 5; Keifer 16; Woodring 9; Robertson 2; Vaculik 5; Gillen 7; Walker 0; Dunbar 9; Mounts 0; Roesti 0; Totals: 17-4-7 – 53
N.CENTRAL (41) – Burt 9; Douglass 3; Turner 0; Hegler 4; Kidston 19; Whitley 0; Beard 1; Hicks 5; Pettit 0; Clark 0; Totals: 12-2-11 – 41
EVERGREEN 17 5 19 12 – 53
N. CENTRAL 9 11 10 11 – 41
JUNIOR VARSITY: Evergreen, 47-34