The Goshen Warriors spent their 72-65 win over New Richmond doing what they do best: hitting shots from behind the arc.
Goshen drained six three-point shots in the first quarter and seven in the first half en route to the league win, bringing their record to an even 6-6 on the season.
Jack Webster connected on a trio of three-point shots in the first quarter. Josh Hice, Christian Kollmorgen and Dylan Ashcraft also connected from behind the arc in the period. Head coach Brandon Baker said he felt the team’s offense worked well against the Lions.
“Our guys have been doing a good job being focused and getting extra shots this week,” Baker said. “We shot really well on Tuesday. I thought the other thing was we did a great job attacking and getting in the lane. We forced their help to sink in, and our shots were more open than they have been, which helped our shooters be on balance and knock them down.”
Baker said the team’s defense gave him pause, but he was grateful for the conference win.
“I thought we played really well offensively,” Baker said. “The halftime discussion, the postgame discussion, was mostly about defense, which I was not happy about. When it comes down to it, that was a really good team that came into our gym. It’s a big conference game that we badly needed. We had guys who made plays to get the win, and that’s all I can ask for.”
New Richmond didn’t make it easy for Goshen. After surrendering a barrage of three-point shots in the first half, the Lions picked things up defensively in the final two quarters. Goshen missed all four three-point attempts over the final 16 minutes, allowing the Lions to come back in the game.
Head coach Brian McMonigle said the team knew Goshen’s propensity for the three-point shot going into the game, and they didn’t do a good enough job to stop the Warriors.
“We just gave up the three too soon, too early, too wide open,” McMonigle said. “It’s as simple as that. They live and die by the three, and we knew that going in. We just didn’t do a good job early on. I’m proud of my guys for making an adjustment later on in the second half, we made some adjustments and we did a much better job defensively. It put us in a situation where we came back and almost had a chance to win the game. [Goshen] did a good job taking care of the ball late and hitting their free-throws, so kudos to them for pulling out a good win.”
Goshen led New Richmond 45-37 at the halftime break. McMonigle said the Lions were able to stay in the game due to strong shooting at their end of the court.
“In the first half, we actually shot pretty well,” McMonigle said. “We hit quite a few of them, but we were trading baskets, which is never a good thing to do. They were hitting more than us, so we made an adjustment at halftime to try and up our defensive pressure.”
The Lions out-scored the Warriors 28-27 in the second half thanks in large part to a balanced offensive attack.
“Our guys really do a good job sharing the ball,” McMonigle said.
Four Lions finished with double-digits in points. Alex Stephen tallied 16 points, while Jason Ackerman and Max Ernst picked up 14 each. Griffin Delisle chipped in 13 points.
Baker said the Warriors’ defense didn’t play up to par in the game against the Lions.
“It’s especially frustrating because I thought Tuesday was our best defensive game of the year,” Baker said. “I thought we played phenomenal half-court defense, and it won us the game, which I thought was a big turning point for us. Today, we kind of backtracked a little bit.”
Goshen also had four players finish in double-figures offensively. Josh Hice led the team with 17 points, while Jack Webster added 13. Bradley Moore tallied 11, and Victor Hill scored 10.
Goshen was scheduled to take on Shroder High School on Saturday, January 19, but the game was not played due to weather. The team returns to action on Friday, January 25 against Western Brown.
New Richmond has a pair of games upcoming this weekend. The Lions travel to Batavia on January 25 for a 7:30 p.m. tilt. The team then hosts Dayton (KY) on Saturday, January 26 at 4 p.m.
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