Messer gets first Hersey victory
Missed shots. Careless turnovers. Defensive breakdowns.
This one won't go down in his scrapbook as the prettiest game he's ever coached -- by a long shot -- but it will always hold a special meaning for him.
After 140 victories at Elk Grove during the past nine seasons, Hersey coach Steve Messer earned win No. 1 at his alma mater as the Huskies defeated Clark 58-50 on Monday night at York's Turkey Tournament.
"It sunk in after the game -- it felt good," Messer said. "I've said the whole time it's not extra special, and it's a lie. It is special."
A different, less favorable description would be needed for the Huskies' play for certain stretches of their season-opener. Faced with a 2-3 zone until the Eagles scrambled for turnovers in the final, frantic minutes, Hersey struggled as Clark packed in its defense and forced the Huskies to shoot from outside. Even the Dayton-bound sharpshooter Luke Fabrizius looked far from midseason form.
"We definitely weren't ready for a whole game of zone, but we have been practicing and getting our shots down," said the 6-foot-9 senior, who hit two 3-pointers en route to game-highs of 23 points and 14 rebounds. "We had a little trouble hitting shots, but once we got out on the break we started scoring."
Yet each time the Huskies extended their lead -- they gained a 7-point edge four times in the first half -- they struggled keeping the Eagles' lightning-quick senior duo of Marvelas Hare (20 points) and Andre Smith (21 points) from attacking the rim.
"Defensively, we made a lot of mistakes, but got better at what we were trying to do," Messer said.
Senior forward Michael Mueller (8 points) played a stellar defensive game for the Huskies, guarding everyone from the Eagles' post men to shadowing Hare in the fourth quarter. He also received postgame stitches on his left elbow after colliding with an opponent's mouth in the third quarter.
Hersey junior Demitriy Velikov came up big with 9 points and senior Griffin Dwyer chipped in 3 of his 6 points as the Huskies pulled away with a 9-4 run in the final 1:18.
"To start off the season with a win, that's the thing you ask for, no matter how you get it and how ugly it is," Fabrizius said. "It's definitely good for (coach Messer) to get that win under his belt."
Marmion 58, Leyden 54: Thirty-two minutes of a season is never proof of much, but it this case it at least suggests that you ought to stay through the final seconds of Marmion games.
That's how it proved in Monday's season opener, where Marmion led nearly wire to wire and held a 10-point lead with 1:25 to play -- yet still had to sweat a 58-54 victory over Leyden.
Despite some jitters, including 6 missed free throws in the fourth quarter, the Cadets still found a way to keep Leyden from tying the game down the stretch.
Deron Guyton hit five 3s -- including four in the fourth quarter -- for his 15 points.