MUDECAS Boys Basketball Tournament
January 12 & 16, 2009

Sterling goes 1-1 at MUDECAS Conference Tournament

            The Sterling Boys basketball team split a pair of games at the 81^st annual MUDECAS Boys Conference basketball tournament this past week. 

            The second seeded Jets were upended in the first round, losing to Pawnee City 45-39.  Sterling bounced back in the Saturday consolation game to beat Exeter-Milligan 53-29.  After the week, the Jets moved their record to 8-3 on the season.

            Head coach Jimmy Motz saw some positives from the week and liked the way his team approached Saturday’s game.

            “Sometimes the best thing to happen to a team is to get refocused and get back to the basics” said Motz.  “We didn’t compete in the Pawnee City game and they came out and popped us.  I thought the three days of practice and getting back to doing the simple things was the difference Saturday.  Our effort and enthusiasm was much better.  It looked like we cared.”

            Zach Lempka and Jake Wirthele were named honorable mention all-tournament after their efforts this past week.  Lempka scored 27 points in two games while Wirthele scored 31 points.

PAWNEE CITY

            Pawnee City jumped out to an 8-0 lead early on in the game, but Sterling managed to regain the lead 19-17 on Zach Lempka’s basket late in the first half.

            The Indians hit a three pointer at the end of the first half to retake the lead and never looked back.  The Jets offense struggled in the game, only scoring four points in the third quarter, but managed to use a 10-0 run late to cut the game to 43-39.

            Sterling was led by Zach Lempka’s 14 points and 8 rebounds, while Jake Wirthele added 13 points.  Klay Heusman chipped in 8 points. 

            “We came out slow and our effort wasn’t very good” said Motz.  “I was more disappointed in our effort more than anything.  We just didn’t compete.”

            The Jets shooting troubled them all day, shooting the ball 35 percent from the field on 15 of 43 shooting.  The Jets were outrebounded 30-18 in the game.

EXETER-MILLIGAN

            Defense was the key in the Jets victory over the Timberwolves.  The Jets only allowed two free throws in the second quarter and held Exeter-Milligan without a field goal.

            Sterling held a 26-13 lead at halftime and started the second half on an 8-2 run, fueled by Jake Wirthele.  Wirthele scored eight of his game high 18 points in the third quarter.  Lempka scored all 13 of his points in the first half.

            “I thought our effort and attention to detail was much better” said Motz.  “We were more focused and played with some passion, which we haven’t done I felt all year.  We kept it simple.”

            Connor Malone scored 8 points and added 10 rebounds.  Sterling only allowed 18 points the last three quarters of the game.