Published: February 20, 2008 10:57 am      

An empty feeling at home for GHS boys

The home rims again looked like teacups for the Goshen High School boys basketball team Tuesday night.

The Redskins trailed South Bend St. Joseph’s, 40-36, with 3:30 go but couldn’t get over the proverbial hump as the Indians pulled away to a 55-40 triumph in the GHS season home finale.

Mysteriously, the Redskins often seemed to struggle with their shooting at home where they posted a 5-6 record as opposed to a 5-3 mark on the road.

That adds up to a 10-9 standard going into the regular season finale Friday night at West Noble in Ligonier. The Redskins then prepare for a Class 4A sectional at North Side Gym in Elkhart, meeting Concord at 6:30 next Tuesday night.

“It’s a mystery why we didn’t shoot the ball better in our home gym,” said Redskin coach Brian Bechtel. “It seems like in a lot of our home games we didn’t get off to good starts.

“We can go over the video and break down this game a lot of ways, but it comes down to our inability to put the ball in the basket.

“I thought early in the game we were getting most of the hustle plays, but in the second half St. Joe did.

“They seemed to get key rebounds throughout the game including a couple on the offensive end after we got to within four points in the fourth quarter.

“St. Joe hit some big shots and Marcus Johnson (6-1 senior) showed why he is a great player, hitting a couple big ‘3s’ and playing with a lot of poise down the stretch.

“They shot the ‘3’ so good early in the game that we had to change our defensive philosophy. Their size inside bothered us and they found some seams in our defense.”

Johnson finished the night with 23 points while 6-4 senior Luke Lattimer tallied all 13 of his in the second half and 6-3 senior Samuel Franczek hit a trio of ‘3s’ for nine total.

The Indians, improving to 17-4 under the coaching of former Notre Dame player Keith Kurowski, won this one without 6-7 senior standout Marcus Macellari who sprained an ankle during a game last week.

St. Joseph’s is headed for a titanic Class 3A sectional first-round showdown next week with Plymouth on the Pilgrims’ home floor.

Johnson and Franczek hit ‘3s’ in the first couple minutes to give St. Joe a quick 6-0 lead.

The Redskins created the only tie of the night when 5-9 junior reserve Alex Aguilar hit a ‘3’ from the right corner for an 11-11 deadlock with 1:06 to go in the opening stanza.

The Indians outscored Goshen, 5-0, in the first 3:16 of the second period for a 19-11 lead. St. Joe went scoreless the rest of the quarter, but the Redskins managed just six points to get within 19-17 at halftime.

Brad Sink, 6-1 Redskin senior, hit a 15-footer with 5:32 left in the third quarter to get Goshen within 23-21. The Skins would get no closer.

It was 40-36 with 3:44 remaining, but the Redskins didn’t score in the next two minutes.

Johnson hit a pair of ‘3s’, scored on a steal and made two free throws for a 50-36 Indians lead with 1:51 remaining.

Ethan Hussey, 6-2 junior, led Goshen with 15 points and 6-0 senior Ryan Bartley scored eight. No other Redskin netted more than four.

Nathan Stegelmann, 6-6 senior, led Goshen in rebounds with six but the Redskins lost the board battle 27-16.

Cam Snyder, 6-1 senior, had three assists for GHS, Hussey and 5-10 senior Josh Randall both two. Randall also had two steals.

Junior Varsity

The Redskin JV improved to 18-1 with a 42-27 victory over a 15-4 St. Joe team.

Junior Andrew Bowers scored 16 points for GHS, junior Scott Landis eight, sophomores Jon Good and Taylor Kolbus both six. Kolbus and sophomore T.J. Wright both had five rebounds; Kolbus, Landis and junior Mac Hussey two assists each; and Landis three steals.