The Guardian Angels Central Catholic Boys Basketball Team is 1-3 in their last four games, falling 64-24 at home to David City Aquinas on Friday, December 22nd, 54-34 to BRLD last Friday night at the BRLD Holiday Tournament, beating Homer 50-47 in the 3rd place game last Saturday, and losing 72-39 at Lutheran High Northeast Tuesday night.
GACC led the Monarchs 5-0 early on before Aquinas went on a 13-0 run and eventually led 18-7 at the end of the 1st quarter.
GACC Head Coach Alex Stieren. "We started off great. That's exactly what we wanted. But then we kind of went flat. We got a couple of quick fouls. Started missing some easy shots. And when you only make 4 shots at half it's going to be rough, but the kids powered through it. And there were times that I thought they were going to give up, but they didn't, they powered through it."
The Monarchs outscored the Bluejays 17-7 in the 2nd quarter to take a 35-14 lead into the locker room.
Aquinas won the 3rd quarter 18-5 to extend their lead to 53-19 at the end of three.
The Monarchs put up 11 points in the 4th quarter compared to 5 for GACC.
Landon Stalp had 7 points to pace the Bluejays. Casey Doernemann added 10 rebounds.
Aquinas stopped dribble penetration and forced GACC to settle for jumpers.
"Yeah when you're shooting that bad from the field it's going to be a rough night, and you just have to hold on and keep everybody together to make sure they still play as a team. You still have to play fundamentals, and it's a lot that they have to adapt to when shots aren't falling," Stieren said."
The Bluejays went 4-8 at the free throw line while the Monarchs went 4-11.
BRLD went up 14-4 on the Bluejays at the end of one before doubling up GACC 12-6 in the 2nd quarter to take a 26-10 lead into the locker room.
The Bluejays won the 3rd quarter 17-16 to make it a 42-27 game at the end of three.
The Wolverines outscored GACC 12-7 in the 4th quarter.
Bryant Rief had 10 points while Stalp added 8 points and 7 rebounds.
The Bluejays jumped on the Knights 18-10 after one. Homer won the 2nd quarter 9-6 to make it a 24-19 game at halftime.
GACC outscored the Knights 13-7 in the 3rd quarter to extend the lead to 11 at 37-26 at the end of three.
Homer outscored the Bluejays 21-13 in the 4th quarter.
Minnick and Stalp had double-doubles of 18 points and 11 rebounds and 13 points and 12 rebounds, respectively. Adam Reeson had 7 points while Doernemann added 13 boards.
The Eagles got out to a 16-7 lead on GACC at the end of one. LHNE won the 2nd quarter 13-11 to take a 29-18 lead into the locker room.
The Eagles doubled up the Bluejays 26-13 in the 3rd quarter to go up 55-31 at the end of three.
LHNE outscored GACC 17-8 in the 4th quarter.
Tough stretch off games for the Bluejays. I thought GACC did a nice job of competing against the Wolverines and Knights, but the Aquinas and LHNE games were really tough losses, in my opinion.
The Bluejays (3-7) host Wayne (5-6) Friday night.
The Blue Devils won 49-40 at Norfolk Catholic Thursday night.
I look for this to be a close and competitive ball game.
Wayne has lost to some great teams, but haven't blown anyone out for the most part.
The loss to the Eagles had to be a tough one for GACC, and it's never easy to recover from a loss like that, but the Bluejays just have to put it behind them and move on.
The Blue Devils have a lot of games leading up to the GACC game while the Bluejays are off until then so I'm not sure what to make of that.
I think it's an advantage for GACC in that they can focus in on and extensively prepare for Wayne, but a disadvantage in that they aren't getting good game reps in.
The Blue Devils could be a little tired coming into the game, and a well rested Bluejay team should be to come out and start strong I would think.
It will be interesting to see if GACC can play a complete game.
The Bluejays play well for a half in some games or get outplayed in all 4 quarters of others so it will be interesting to see if GACC can put things all together against Wayne.
I don't think the Bluejays are a bad team, I just don't think GACC has been as consistent as they would like to be.
Scoring has been a major issue for the Bluejays, but hopefully having a long time to practice will allow GACC to play better offensively against the Blue Devils.
Regardless of the outcome, I look for the Bluejays to compete well and hold their own.
I think fans will see GACC work hard and play their hardest and work their tails off.
I look for Minnick, Stalp, Rief, and Doernemann to all have big games.
The Bluejays need all four to contribute big time offensively and defensively to have a chance in this one I would say.
The Guardian Angels Central Catholic Girls Basketball Team routed David City Aquinas 59-32 at home on Friday, December 22nd, before hammering Homer 64-35 at the BRLD Holiday Tournament last Friday, and thumping Howells-Dodge 77-43 in the championship game last Saturday.
Against the Monarchs, GACC went on a 17-2 run to lead 26-11 in the 2nd quarter after the game was tied at 9 early on.
Head Coach Jerry Stracke says his team's defense set the tone early. "Defense is kind of key for us, and I thought we got after it tonight. And like I said our defense leads to our offense, and we did a good job converting some of our steals and turnovers this time around."
The Bluejays led 15-9 after one and 39-18 at halftime after outscoring Aquinas 24-9 in the 2nd quarter.
GACC won the 3rd quarter 16-9 to go up 55-27 at the end of three.
The Monarchs scored 5 points in the 4th quarter compared to 4 for the Bluejays.
Midland signee Lexis Haase had 21 points and 9 rebounds to lead GACC while Brenna Rief scored 12 points, all on 3 pointers. Brandi Doernemann added 10.
"Yeah it was nice to see a couple of other girls in double figures for us. They've been working hard. Like I said, Lexis is our glue to our team, and she had a good night, a lot of good passes. And offensively we're getting better, and hopefully we'll continue to improve in that area," Stracke said.
21 unofficial turnovers from the Monarchs, including 12 in the 1st half created by the Bluejays' full court press is a big reason why GACC won the way they did.
"We have to play that full court game cause our half court defense isn't there yet. And so far this year the girls are buying into it, and they've been playing hard, and that's all I can ask for," Stracke said.
The Bluejays were 4-7 at the free throw line while the Monarchs went 6-11.
GACC led by as many as 30 points.
The Bluejays led the Knights 16-7 after one, and outscored Homer 21-12 in the 2nd quarter to take a 37-19 lead into the locker room.
GACC won the 3rd quarter 11-7 to extend the lead to 22 at 48-26 at the end of three.
The Bluejays outscored the Knights 16-9 in the 4th quarter.
Marissa Hunke led the way with 16 points while Rief totaled 11. Doernemann chipped in 8 while Maddie Bracht scored 7. Haase contributed 8 rebounds.
The Bluejays got out to a 19-13 lead at the end of one. GACC outscored Howells-Dodge 24-11 in the 2nd quarter to take a 43-24 lead into the locker room.
The Bluejays won the 3rd quarter 18-14 to go up 61-38 at the end of three.
GACC outscored the Jaguars 16-5 in the 4th quarter.
Doernemann finished with 15 points and 7 rebounds while Haase posted 14 points and 7 rebounds. Hunke added 12 points while Greta Vering chipped in 7. Ally Plagge notched 7 rebounds.
The Bluejays are playing great basketball right now. GACC has gotten better as the season has progressed, a sign of a great and well coached team.
The Bluejays (9-3) takes on Bishop Neumann (8-2) on the road Tuesday night.
The Cavaliers won 43-40 at Columbus Scotus Thursday night.
The same Shamrock team that beat GACC 64-39 at home on December 5th.
The Bluejays are a much stronger team now than they were then though, in my opinion.
Neumann only beat Aquinas 53-42 so GACC can definitely go into Wahoo and win, in my opinion.
Multiple girls stepped up against Howells-Dodge, and that has to happen again against the Cavaliers for the Bluejays to be successful and win.
It's big stage for Haase, and she has to step up and play well for GACC individually.
If the Bluejays beat Neumann it should give GACC a lot of confidence and a belief that they can win another state championship if they don't believe that already.
The Bluejays are really improving, and all of these girls are getting better individually as the season progresses I would say.
GACC is becoming a great team, and their offensive woes are starting to go away.
The Bluejays struggled some offensively in a 3-game stretch early in the season, but otherwise GACC's offense has been pretty good for the most part.
The Bluejays have to full court press the Cavaliers to death and really get after Neumann on both ends of the floor.
GACC has to play lockdown, suffocating, and tenacious defense, and take it to the Cavaliers.
The Bluejays have to play physical, smart, aggressive, passionate, with pride, and gritty.
GACC went into Wahoo and beat Neumann by 41 two years ago, so who's to say the Bluejays can't do it again?
This would be an absolutely humongous win for GACC, their biggest of the year if they can get it no doubt.
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