Cagers Upend Gospel Haven

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Any time visitors go down Holmes County, there is a chance that you’ll have to dodge an Amish buggy moseying along the narrow dark roads. However, it was the home team, the Gospel Haven Flames, that weren’t dodging buggies, but offensive outbursts from the visiting Cagers. The Cagers would show offensive prowess in a convincing 60-39 victory.

Just a few minutes after the tip, the Cagers came out of the gate firing from beyond the arc. Gospel Haven (GHA) started in a 3-2 zone that stifled the visitors at first. But once the Cagers figured things out, the barrage started. First it was Anthony Sines from deep. Then it was Preston Demiter who was left open in the left corner. Sines would nail another one. And then it was big man, Taj Gibson, finding his stroke as he buried one from downtown. “We came out firing. We hit four of our first five 3’s, and that set the tone for the game,” said head coach Doug Hamsher. Add two-pointers from Gibson, Eli Stanley, and Jay Hanzie’s three points, the Cagers had a great start. However, Collin Coblentz, the all-everything player for the Flames, single handedly pumped in 14 points to keep GHA in striking distance. At the end of one, Cagers 20 and the Flames 14. 

The Cagers (10-1) would cool off in the second quarter, but so would Coblentz. The Cagers made some defensive adjustments that put the clamps on the ultra-athletic forward. “Coblentz is a very good player. We had no answer in the first quarter. We made the switch to put Jay on him and emphasize help side, and that was the difference,” said Hamsher. Hanzie did a marvelous job, as did the rest of the team, holding GHA to only four points in the quarter. Stanley would hit a three and Gibson would finish inside twice to lead the Cagers. Going into the half, the score was 28-18.

Coming out of the half, Hamsher had an ace up his sleeve. That ace was new offensive set to utilize the Cagers size advantage to create mismatches on the inside. The set ran Stanley along the baseline utilizing screens to get open against the 3-2 zone. Stanley wasn’t the main threat. Rather it was one of the screeners, Demiter, who made a living in the quarter from the right block. Not once, not twice, nor three times did Demiter score in a row. But a whopping five straight offensive trips he would score from the right block! Finally, GHA called a timeout to make an adjustment of their own. “We found their weakness and just attacked it. Give the guys credit for recognizing and to Preston for cashing in.” All that inside play opened up the outside as Gibson and Sines would each make three-pointers. Demiter would add another bucket from the same spot to have an outburst of 12 points in the frame. At the end of three it was 48-24 in favor of the visiting Cagers. 

The fourth quarter started out like the third as the Cagers continued to keep Coblentz at bay on the defensive end and another outburst on the offensive end, this time by Stanley. With the Flames really guarding the block area, Stanley was left wide open on the wing and he had his pull-up jumper working. The sharp shooting senior hit three straight 16-foot jumpers. It was something Hamsher has been waiting to see from one of his returners from a year ago. “Eli was a stud QB/DB for his high school this fall and that those positions took their toll. He has had to overcome some aches, pains, and injuries so it was so nice to see him catch fire early in the fourth,” remarked Hamsher. With the score doubled up, the Cagers coasted the rest of the way for an easy win. For the game, the scorecard looked like this: Gibson led the Cagers with 16 followed by Demiter who cashed in 15. Stanley and Sines each had 11. Hanzie had 5 and Belodedici rounded out the scoring column with 2. Next up for the Cagers is Wooster Christian School.