Flyers drop regional semi to Antwerp
BOWLING GREEN — Despite returning just two seniors from last year’s team, the Marion Local Flyers put together a run in the tournament that many may not have saw coming.
The Flyers fell to Antwerp last Tuesday in a regional semifinal, but it wasn’t because of a lack of effort.
“Our game plan coming in was we’re not going to let the big kid beat us,” Flyers coach Kurt Goettemoeller said following the 41-23 loss against eh Archers, with Goettemoeller referring to Antwerp’s Jagger Landers. “We had some kids we thought could help off on him and if you’re going to get beat by a better team, you gotta make somebody else beat you. And he found some guys at the rim, especially late when they were gapping us.”
Landers had five points on Tuesday, but found open teammates late as Antwerp outscored Marion Local 25-11 in the second half.
“Our game plan was to make somebody else beat us and you gotta give their team credit because they did,” said Goettemoeller. “They found guys and they have other guys that make plays. They have a chance to win a state championship and you need other guys to step up.”
Antwerp went ahead 4-0 in the first, but a Jack Knapke bucket and a three by Tate Hess tied the game at 5-5 and the Flyers held an 8-6 lead after the first quarter of play.
Antwerp’s Landon Brewer connected on a three to start the second quarter and the Archers went up 9-8.
Knapke answered with a bucket down low and the Flyers regained the lead.
Brewer scored on a reverse layup to put the Archers back in front.
Later, Hess scored inside to make it 13-12.
Landers connected on a three near the right wing late in the first to put the Archers up 16-12 at halftime.
Following the break, Antwerp showed a different defensive look in the second half, dropping into a 1-3-1 zone defense which gave the Flyers some trouble.
“They dropped that 1-3-1 zone on us and I thought we were going to be fine against it. But we just struggled moving the ball. They’re so long in it,” said Goettemoeller. “We didn’t make any shots. I know we made two threes early in the game, and after that I don’t think we made a three or a perimeter shot all night.”
With the game tied at 19-19, Antwerp caught fire toward the end of the third, outscoring Marion Local 9-2 the rest of the way.
The fourth quarter saw more struggles for the Flyers as Antwerp pulled away, outscoring the Flyers 13-2 in the final period.
“[It’s] certainly frustrating,” said Goettemoeller.”We were down four at half and we had to get off to a good start to start the third and we did. I thought if they got an eight or 10 point lead on us, we’d be in trouble. I knew we needed to get off to a good start and we did. You just gotta give them [Antwerp] a lot of credit too. If you’re going to go out and lose, you need to lose to a team that’s better than you, a team that has a chance to win it all.”
Goettemoeller questioned whether his team wasn’t fully prepared enough for the 1-3-1 Antwerp threw at them.
“Part of it’s just in that zone, we didn’t find Jack enough. It was really that zone,” he said. “Maybe we didn’t rep it enough during the week. We just don’t see a ton of zone to be honest with you. Against their size in that zone, we just didn’t make some plays maybe we could have, but a lot of the credit goes to them.”
In a season that saw the Flyers earn a share of the Midwest Athletic Conference title, Goettemoeller was happy with their sea- son.
“Nobody had us at the beginning of the year. We returned two starters and anybody else came off the JV team. Nobody had us picked to win our league, to win our dis- trict,” he said. “I told these seniors — we’ve had a hell of a freak- ing year and we always knew it was going to be Antwerp because they are so good. For us to get in this game and have a shot, we’ve had a tremendous season and it starts with our seniors and the leadership they gave all year. We’re excited for the future because we’ve got some young guys coming up.”