Jets VS Meridian & Pawnee City
December 15 & 18, 2009
By Jimmy Motz
December 21, 2009
Jets win two, move to 4-1
The Sterling boys basketball team won a pair of home games last week, defeating Meridian 55-29 and Pawnee City 44-35. The two wins move the Jets’ record to 4-1 on the young season with one remaining game left at Dorchester before the moratorium.
Head Coach Jimmy Motz was pleased with the effort his team played with over the week, but says there is still room for improvement.
“I thought we got better in some areas of the game, but we have some things that we just have to get better in” said Motz. “We haven’t been as sharp offensively as I’d like to be, but part of that is some guys identifying new roles. We just have to keep taking strides.”
MERIDIAN Tuesday, Dec. 15
The Mustangs hung around for a quarter and a half, but the Jets used a 12-0 run in the final 3 ½ minutes of the first half to jump out to a 27-9 halftime lead. After a 9-7 first quarter, the Jets outscored Meridian 18-2 the next frame to put the game in doubt.
“We started slow out of the game, but finally got some energy going in the last 3-4 minutes of the first half” said Motz. “Our press created some easy baskets for us.”
The Jets were led by Jake Wirthele’s 14 points and six rebounds and Zach Lempka recorded another double-double, with 11 points and 15 rebounds. Sterling in the contest outrebounded Meridian 48-20, 25 of those which were offensive rebounds.
“Our rebounding was so much better than the game before at Hanover” said Motz. “That is one area we must improve in and we made some strides.”
1 2 3 4 F
Meridian 7 2 9 11 29
Sterling 9 18 17 11 55
S- Salberg 2, Wirthele 14, Magill 4, Heusman 6, Vangroningen 3, Malone 9, Lempka 11, J. Parrish 4, Wenzl 2
PAWNEE CITY, Friday, Dec. 18
Pawnee City controlled the tempo the first half, but it was Sterling’s defense which took over the second half, holding the Indians to 11 points.
The Jets trailed 24-22 at halftime, but outscored Pawnee City 22-11 the second half to hold on to the win.
“I felt we controlled the second half” Motz said. “They dictated everything the first half, but we made some adjustments and did a tremendous job defensively.”
The Indians only managed made field goals the second half.
“You will win games all the time holding the opposition to that number” said Motz.
Wirthele led all scorers with a season high 20 points. Wirthele played on two sprained ankles, one in which he sprained against Meridian.
Lempka had another double-double with 14 points, 10 rebounds and added four assists.
“Zach and Jake had good weeks” Motz said. “Jake played through some injuries and Zach has been steady all year. We do need to get him more touches and I haven’t done a very good job of addressing that.”
1 2 3 4 F
Pawnee City 12 12 4 7 35
Sterling 11 11 11 11 44
S- Salberg 2, Wirthele 20, Vangroningen 2, Malone 6, Lempka 14
