Leading scorers — Central senior Conlan Haar goes to the basket against the defense of Mater Dei senior Gavin Peppenhorst in the Cougars’ 10-point win. Haar had 16 points while Peppenhorst had 25 points. PHOTO BY JEREMY CHAWGO It was a competitive week for both the Central and Mater Dei boys basketball teams with Central claiming second and MD claiming fourth at the annual Nashville Invitational Tournament at the Assembly Hall.
The Cougars took down Mater Dei and Marion in pool play while Mater Dei beat Marion to go 1-1 in pool play.
Entering the championship game on Saturday, both Central and Nashville were looking for their 12th tournament title, only to see the Hornets dismantle the Cougars in the title game. The Cougars were 2-0 against Nashville in their previous two title game clashes.
Central’s Conlan Haar, Bryce Wieter and Wyatt Schrage each were selected to the All-Tournament Team while Gavin Peppenhorst earned the honor for Mater Dei.
Peppenhorst, also reached the 1,000 point mark in his career early on, in the Knights’ third-place loss with Mascoutah on Saturday.
Central is currently 15-7 on the season and they are scheduled to host Belleville East on Wednesday night and Roxana on Friday night.
Mater Dei is currently 12-12 on the season and they were scheduled to host Madison on Tuesday and will play at Teutopolis on Friday night.
Nashville 66, Central 33: It was all Hornets and Maddox Ritzel in the title game on Saturday morning in Washington County.
Central managed just five points in the first quarter with both coming from senior Conlan Haar on a three and a drive.
Lay it in — Mater Dei senior Gavin Peppenhorst sends in a transition bucket in the Knights’ 50-40 loss to rival Central on Wednesday in Nashville. Peppenhorst had 16 of his 25 points in the second half. PHOTO BY JEREMY CHAWGO Meanwhile, Ritzel came out inspired with three drives, a three-pointer and a free throw while Palmer Renken hit two three-pointers as the rout was on at 16-5 after one quarter.
Wyatt Schrage got going for the Cougars in the second quarter with three short jumpers, while Haar hit for another five points.
However, Ritzel, Renken, Gannon Turner and Blake Brooks each hit three-pointers in the second frame as they led 33-20 at the break. Ritzel had 14 points while Haar had 10 for CHS.
Haar hit a three-pointer in the third quarter while Jackson Kampwerth and Schrage had the only other two buckets as Nashville pulled away.
Ritzel hit five field goals in the frame while Brenton Bultman added a three-pointer with NCHS leading 50-27 entering the final frame.
Ritzel ended the second half 9-of-9 from the field with four more buckets in the final frame while Max Reeder got a bucket.
Haar and Craig Schroeder hit three’s for Central to end the contest.
Haar paced the Cougars with 16 points on 5-of-9 from the field and 3-of-3 from the line. Schrage added eight points. CHS was 13-of-32 from the field and 3-of-3 from the line with 10 turnovers.
Ritzel hit for 35 points on 14-of-20 from the field and 5-of-6 from the line. Renken had nine points. NCHS was 24-of-40 from the field that included them hitting on 9-of-17 from beyond the arc. They were 7-of-9 from the line with four turnovers.
Hook shot — Mater Dei senior AJ Poettker adjusts a runner against the defense of Central senior Bryce Wieter in the Knights’ 50-40 setback in Nashville on Wednesday. Poettker had two points in the loss. PHOTO BY JEREMY CHAWGO Mascoutah 58, Mater Dei 54: The Indians trailed for three quarters before earning the win with a strong fourth quarter on Saturday morning in Nashville’s third-place game.
Beckett Wade started hot for MD with a pair of three-pointers in the first quarter while Mascoutah got three’s from Austin Bramwell and Micah Griffo with MD trailing 11-8 after one quarter of action.
MD senior Gavin Peppenhorst got hot and historic in the second quarter with a pair of two-pointers, a pair of free throws and a three-pointer. His three-pointer, with 5:40 left in the quarter put him into the 1,000 point club for his career. He is just the 10th MD boy’s player to accomplish the feat.
Stuart Parkin added a pair of three-pointers off the bench for MD while they outscored MHS 21-7 to take a 29-18 lead at the break.
Peppenhorst had 11 points at the half while Wade added nine. MD was 7-of-13 from the arc.
Peppenhorst had all but two of the Knights’ points in the third quarter with three deuces, a triple and one charity shot.
Meanwhile, the Tribe got hot with three-pointers from Michael King, Bramwell and Griffo, as they got within 41-35 entering the final session.
King got hot in the fourth quarter with a trio of three-pointers while Brayden Watson hit four field goals for the Indians.
Peppenhorst hit a three-pointer, a two and three charity shots while Jack Reynolds had a conventional three-point play as the only other bucket for MD who was outscored 40-25 in the second half.
Double double — Central senior Bryce Wieter puts up a short jumper over Beckett Wade in the first half of the Cougars’ 50-40 win over Mater Dei on Wednesday in Nashville. Wieter had 10 points and 11 rebounds in the win. PHOTO BY JEREMY CHAWGO Peppenhorst ended with 29 points on 10-of-22 from the field and six rebounds. Wade scored all nine of his points in the first half while Parkin scored eight points.
Mascoutah placed four in the double-digits with Griffo and King each scoring 15 points while Watson scored 13 and Bramwell added 10 points.
Central 47, Marion 44: The Cougars finished perfect in pool play with their victory over the Wildcats on Friday at the Assembly Hall in Nashville.
The Cougars used a strong start to hold off a late surge from Marion in the first of two games on Friday.
Central jumped out to a 13-7 lead behind two three-pointers and a drive from senior Conlan Haar while sophomore Wyatt Schrage followed with a three and a deuce as well.
Both teams had just eight points in the second quarter with Haar and senior Ryker Hegger each hitting three-pointers while Schrage hit two free throws for a 21-15 lead at the break.
Central got 11 points from Haar in the half where they were 7-of-22 from the field with a 5-of-14 clip from the arc. They turned it over eight times. Marion was 6-of-22 from the field.
Central extended their lead in the third quarter behind a drive from Haar and a triple and a deuce from Ryder Burgmeier. Schrage added two baseline jumpers as CHS enjoyed a 37-29 lead entering the final eight.
Noah Lawrence hit a pair of three’s for Marion in the fourth quarter while Blake Blue hit another as they made a run.
The Wildcats got the game tied 42-42 after a conventional three-point play from Cameron Curry with 2:10 left to play.
Schrage hit a short jumper 50 seconds later to regain the lead in front of a one-of-two effort from haar at the line for a 45-42 lead.
After Marion got it to 45-44 with a bucket from Sam Adkins, Haar sealed the win with two free throws with 15 seconds left. Lawrence missed a last-ditch three-pointer to end the contest.
Haar led all player with 16 points on 5-of-11 from the field and 3-of-4 from the line. Schrage added 15 points and eight rebounds. He was 5-of-7 from the field and 4-of-4 from the line.
Central was 14-of-37 from the field and 10-of-12 from the line with 14 turnovers.
Marion got 13 points from Curry and 10 each from Makhi House and Lawrence. They were 18-of-44 from the field and 5-of-7 from the line with 10 turnovers.
Central 50, Mater Dei 40: The Cougars won their pool play over rival MD with balanced scoring on Wednesday in Nashville.
The Cougars had four players with at least nine points, despite losing a starter in the first quarter with a lower-body injury.
Meanwhile, MD senior Gavin Peppenhorst did his part, sparking the Knights with a game-high 25 points. MD missed their first 11 three-point attempts in the loss.
The contest was close throughout the first half with Ryder Burgmeier and Bennett Becker each hitting buckets while Peppenhorst converted a three-point play conversion for a 4-4 game.
Reed Pingsterhaus converted another conventional three-point play for MD before Bryce Wieter got hot for Central with a conventional three-point play himself along with a deuce with Central leading 10-7 with three minutes left in the opening frame.
Mater Dei got the next three buckets with two drives from Peppenhorst before Jack Reynolds gave MD a 13-10 lead with 60 seconds left. Conlan Haar hit two free throws in the final seconds for CHS as they trailed 13-12 after eight minutes.
Mater Dei managed just single field goals from Peppenhorst and Pingsterhaus in the second quarter while they hit on 2-for-13 from the floor.
Central got a three-pointer from Haar and single buckets from Wyatt Schrage and Jackson Kampwerth with CHS taking a 20-17 lead into the break.
Haar and Wieter had five points for CHS who was 7-of-21 from the field with six turnovers.
MD got nine points from Peppenhorst in a half where they missed all six of their three’s and ended the half 7-of-23 from the field with five turnovers.
The Cougars got hot in the third quarter with Burgmeier hitting two three-pointers and Haar adding his second of the game. Wieter and Haar secured deuces as well with Central extending the lead to 33-27 entering the fourth quarter.
Peppenhorst had eight points for MD in the third quarter while AJ Poettker added a drive. MD was 0-for-8 from the arc through the first three frames.
Schrage put the game away for the Cougars in the early moments of the final quarter with two jumpers and a baseline three-pointer for a MD timeout and a 40-27 lead for Central with 5:40 remaining.
Peppenhorst answered out of the timeout with a triple from the top of the kep only to see Wieter follow with a three-pointer of his own for a 43-32 lead. Haar hit two free throws for a 45-32 lead with half the fourth quarter gone.
Peppenhorst hit another three from the top of the key while CHS senior Ryker Hegger hit one-of-two from the line. Stuart Parkin hit a three-pointer for MD to get the Knights within 46-38 with 80 seconds left.
Peppenhorst would score on a short jumper for their final points before Haar secured the victory with a 4-of-4 clip form the line in the final 30 seconds.
Haar paced the Cougars with 16 points and three boards. He was 3-of-5 from the field and 8-of-8 from the line. Wieter added 10 points and 11 rebounds.
Burgmeier and Schrage each had nine points for Central who as a team was 16-of-37 from the field that included 6-of-13 from the arc. They were 12-of-18 from the line with 10 turnovers.
Peppenhorst was 11-of-23 from the field for his game-high 25 points and six rebounds. Pingsterhaus added five points.
MD was 17-of-45 from the field that included them hitting just three of their 15 three-point attempts. They were 3-of-4 from the line with 10 turnovers.
