COMEBACK WIN … Wauseon’s Connor Keefer launches a triple in the first half of the Indians NWOAL tilt with Evergreen. Keefer had three triples and finished with 15 points as Wauseon rallied to beat the Vikings 51-44. (PHOTO BY JACOB KESSLER / THE VILLAGE REPORTER)
By: Joe Blystone
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
publisher@thevillagereporter.com
WAUSEON (January 26, 2024) – For 24 minutes Wauseon’s Connor Keefer kept his Indians in contact with Evergreen.
When the Vikings went stone cold in the fourth quarter, missing 10 straight shots, the senior forward got plenty of help, as the Indians rallied from an eight-point deficit to take a 51-44 win to vault them into first place in the NWOAL race.
Wauseon veteran coach Chad Burt said that Keefer was a massive key in the Indians victory. “He got hurt earlier in the season in the Napoleon game, but he has been really good for us, knocking down shots, and he shoots with a lot of confidence and tonight that was really huge for us.”
Keefer hit a pair of first quarter triples under heavy pressure and Wauseon’s Braden Vajen had another to offset Eli Keifer’s triple and pull up jumper along with field goals from Tyson Woodring and Drew Gillen for an 11-11 deadlock after one.
Keefer’s turnaround jumper gave the Indians a 15-13 lead with 6:35 left in the half. Gillen scored back-to-back hoops to put the Vikings up 17-15 but Keefer struck again with a foul line jumper and Vajen hit his second triple to make it 20-19 with 4:10 on the clock.
Troy Manz’s three-ball regained a Viking lead, then Woodring’s bank and Keifer’s long ball gave Evergreen their biggest lead of the half at 27-22 heading into the half.
Wauseon rallied back in the third as Vajen dished to Trey Parsons for a bucket and scored inside to chop the Viking lead to one in the first minute of the third.
Woodring and Blade Walker found Riley Dunbar inside on consecutive possessions to regain a five-point lead with 5:30 left, then Keifer drilled a triple with Vajen all over him to put Evergreen up 34-28.
Woodring’s basket off a steal and Gillen’s putback at the buzzer pushed the margin to 40-32 but the last eight minutes the Vikings went frigid.
Keefer bagged a bomb at the 6:15 mark to get Wauseon back to 40-36 and Parsons’ basket a minute later got the Indians within a deuce.
Keifer’s floater and a Manz basket off another steal got the Vikings back to six up with 4:32 left but Evergreen would not mark the board the rest of the night.
Parsons scored with 3:52 to go to get Wauseon (8- 5, 3-0 NWOAL) back to 44-42 and Tyson Rodriguez hit a long triple with 3:04 left to regain the first Wauseon led since the second quarter.
“We made some big shots,” Burt said of the fourth quarter rally. “We finally got some rebounds and got a couple stops and that was huge for us.”
While the Vikings misfired five more times from the floor, a Parsons hoop and 3/4 from the foul line helped put the game in the win column.
Keefer led all scorers with 15 points, Parsons added 11, and Vajen had 10.
Keifer had 13 for Evergreen (11-3, 2-1 NWOAL) while Gillen recorded a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds for the Vikings.
EVERGREEN (44) – Manz 5; Keifer 13; Woodring 8; Vaculik 0; Walker 2; Dunbar 6; Gillen 10; Totals: 14-4-4 – 44
WAUSEON (51) – Parsons 10; Rodriguez 8; Vajen 10; Keefer 15; Ni. Stinner 8; Gype 0; Totals: 13-6-7 – 51
EVERGREEN 11 16 13 4 – 44
WAUSEON 11 11 10 19 – 51
JUNIOR VARSITY: Evergreen 41, Wauseon 35
