December 04, 2024
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Prep Sports

Serena stages comeback, falls just short

Manteno takes title at Coal City Turkey Tournament

By Jamie Newell

COAL CITY — The Serena Huskers staged another furious fourth-quarter comeback in their title-game matchup against Manteno at the Coal City Turkey Tournament on Saturday night.

The Huskers trailed by 12 points, 55-43, heading into the final quarter of play and cut the Panther lead to five, 61-56, but couldn’t get any closer as Manteno (4-0) claimed the title with a 68-63 win here at Coaler Gym.

“We have to quit spotting good teams leads like that where we have to fight so hard to get back,” said SHS coach Dain Twait. “I guess I have to find a way to get them motivated defensively. We can’t give up 68 points to anyone and win consistently, I don’t think.”

Another twist in the subplot of the fourth quarter was that Serena (2-2) was forced to play the final 8:54 of the game without leading scorer and all-tournament selection, senior Jakob Setchell, who suffered an apparent injury in the latter stages of the third quarter that forced him to the Huskers bench.

Setchell ended the night with a game-high 26 points on 10-of-19 shooting, also 4-for-4 from the charity stripe.

SHS was able to turn to two other players to lead the offense in the final frame, as senior Brandon Schaefer (10 points) and junior Tony Pusateri (11 points) stepped up their offensive games to help the Huskers outscore Manteno 20-13 in the fourth quarter. The duo each connected on 2-of-3 3-point attempts to spearhead the club’s rally.

Schaefer entered the final quarter with just one field-goal attempt and scored five points in first 1:34 of the fourth to force Manteno to call a timeout with its lead cut to 55-48 with 6:26 left.

“I’m proud of the guys,” Twait said. “We could have easily got blown out of this thing. I’ve been waiting for him (Schaefer) to make his appearance. Coming back, I knew he was going to be a big part of this team going forward. Hopefully, this gives him a little more confidence going forward and we get Jakob healthy and go from there.”

Manteno didn’t help its own cause, as the Panthers went to the free-throw line 12 times in the fourth but only converted six of them, missing two front ends of 1-and-1s.

A Connor Baker layup at exactly the 2:00 mark pulled the Huskers to within five at 61-56, but each team scored seven points the rest of the way to help Manteo preserve the five-point win and claim the title.

Another all-tournament selection, Manteno’s Trevor Moisant (21 points), scored five of his team’s 13 fourth-quarter points, including a trey to extend the Panther lead to 59-48 with 5:17 left.

Serena jumped out to an 18-16 lead after one quarter of play, with the Huskers getting that slim two-point advantage on a shot from behind the arc by Brennan Marker right before the buzzer. Manteno then went to work, outscoring Serena 39-25 in the middle two frames to take a 12-point lead into the fourth.

Robbie Wesselhoff was the other Panther in double figures, as the junior added 16 points.

MHS shot 56 percent from the floor (24-of-43) and committed nine turnovers, while Serena shot 45 percent (24-of-53) and had 12 miscues. Each team made eight 3-point baskets.

Serena looks to get back on the winning track when it travels to Newark to open Little Ten play against the Norsemen on Friday.

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At Coaler Gym, Coal City

Manteno 68, Serena 63

(Key FGM-FGA FT-FTA TP)

MANTENO (68) — Moisant 8-13 3-6 21, Wesselhoff 6-12 1-2 16, Lopez 2-4 3-5 8, Gilliam 2-2 3-6 7, Irvin 4-7 0-2 9, Mazeika 1-3 2-2 5. Schindler 1-1 0-0 2, Monk 0-1 0-0 0, Mendez 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-43 12-23 68.

SERENA (63) — Schafer 4-7 0-0 10, Marker 2-7 0-0 5, Setchell 10-19 4-4 26, Baker 3-4 2-2 8, Pusateri 4-8 0-0 11, Kuhn 1-2 0-0 2, Rogers 0-1 0-0 0, Espinal 0-0 0-0 0, Faivre 0-0 0-0 0, McNelis 0-1 0-0 0, Stafford 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-53 7-8 63.

Manteno (4-0) 16 21 18 13 — 68

Serena (2-2) 18 11 14 20 — 63

3-point goals – Manteno 8-17 (Wesselhoff 3-5, Moisant 2-4, Mazeika 1-3, Lopez 1-2, Irvin 1-2, Monk 0-1); Serena 8-19 (Pusatari 3-4, Setchell 2-8, Schaefer 2-3, Marker 1-3, Faivre 0-1). Turnovers – Manteno 8; Serena 12. Fouls (none fouled out) – Manteno 12; Serena 22.