Cagers Rally for Win!
December 13, 2025
The Cagers used a ferocious second-half comeback to down the Senedot Stripes in an early season contest by a score of 40-37.
The game did not start out as planned for the Cagers. Playing for the second time in about three hours, the Cagers looked sluggish. They might as well have had cement in their legs. Senedot came out firing on all cylinders and torched the zone defense. The Stripes reigned down three after three and jumper after jumper to take an 18-2 lead after the first period. The lone bucket for the Cagers came on a Luke Kinser putback. The hole was deep, and the Cagers had to find a way to get out of it. “We looked absolutely terrible that first period. Nothing was working and we still were a bit hung over from the first game. I told the boys that there isn’t a 16-point shot and that we would have to start plugging away one possession at a time,” said bench boss Doug Hamsher.
For the rest of the half, at least the bleeding had stopped. The Cagers found a way to slow down the Stripes on the offensive end and start to get a little bit going themselves. Offensively Logan Winans would get things started off with a bucket. Jordan Berens added a 2-pointer and Peyton Casto would go three for four from the charity stripe. It wasn’t much, but it was just what the doctor ordered going into the second half. However, the Cagers were down 24-10.
Coach Hamsher put a plan in place for the second half. “I told the boys that if we could cut the lead to eight by the end of the 3rd, we would have a fighting chance and be in a position to win the game. That plan seemed to work and wake up the offensive rebounders. For the next eight minutes the Cagers were relentless on the boards. It was something to behold as gray jerseys flew through the air gobbling up rebounds like your grandma eats mints. “Between Brody (Shultz), Quintin (Steiner), and Luke (Kinser) I bet we had 20 rebounds in that quarter. It was unreal,” said Hamsher. Shultz made the most of his opportunities by scoring eight points in the frame. None bigger than the rebound put back with three seconds left that made it an 8-point game (30-22). At that point the plan was working and the Cagers were believing they could win.
The fourth quarter saw the Cagers march toward the prize one bucket at a time. Kinser would get a rebound put back. Steiner scored on a fast break bucket. Steiner on a put back. Kinser cashed in from five feet. Another bucket by Shultz. With the game hanging in the balance, the Cagers came down the floor needing a bucket down two points at 34-32. The shot went up but missed…Cagers got the rebound, kicked it out, and swung it to Winans who was wide open at the top of the key 20 feet away from the basket. He set his feet, aimed it, gunned it, and found SWISH! The Cagers had the lead 35-34. That took the sails out of the Stipes and the Cagers would go out winners. “That was one heck of a TEAM comeback,” said an elated Hamsher. “These guys were Commited and at times Compelled, working as a team to find a way. They will remember this one for a long time.” For the game, the Cagers had a balanced attack, Steiner and Shultz had 10 each. Winans had 7. Kinser with 6. Casto added 4 and Berens rounded out the scoring with 3 points. The Dravenstott’s Big D Player of the game went to Jacob Bricker who played an excellent defensive game shutting down one of the Stripes top scorers.
