Published: February 27, 2008 09:19 am      

Cam Snyder leads Goshen over Concord

Thank goodness, there was no two-hour delay Tuesday night for Cam Snyder.

The 6-1 Goshen High School senior scored a career-high 22 points as the Redskins topped the Concord Minutemen, 59-41, in the opener of a Class 4A boys basketball sectional at North Side Gym in Elkhart.

Earlier in the day, Snyder had missed his early-morning shooting drill due to the start of GHS classes being on a two-hour delay for weather-related reasons.

“When Cam Snyder shoots the ball well, it just seems to give everyone else on our team a lift and they step up their level of play,” said Redskin coach Brian Bechtel.

The Redskins’ reward is a spot in Friday night’s first semifinal game at 6:30 against the Elkhart Central Blue Blazers. Goshen takes a 12-9 record into that one and Central 5-17.

Goshen led the Minutemen most of the way, but didn’t go on a decisive surge until Concord had tied the game at 29-29 with 3:25 to go in the third quarter. The Redskins went through a scoreless drought of 5:28.

Snyder triggered the run by hitting two free throws with 2:39 left in the third. He then scored from the right corner and 6-2 junior Ethan Hussey buried a ‘3’ from the same spot.

Ryan Bartley, 6-0 senior, fed 6-1 senior Brad Sink for a layup and Goshen led 38-33 going into the fourth quarter.

The Redskins outscored the Minutemen, 14-2 in the first 4:33 of the final stanza with seven different players scoring.

“Goshen played a great game,” said Concord coach Ryan Culp. “We had too many unforced turnovers and, defensively, didn’t get the stops when we needed them.

“Our guys continued to learn and get better throughout the season and I am proud of their effort.

“We will have most of these kids back, but we talked about picking up from here and starting next season by continuing to build toward the next level.”

Hussey added 12 points for Goshen, Bartley eight and 6-6 senior Nathan Stegelmann seven.

Sink and 5-10 senior Jordan Short both tallied four and 5-9 junior Alex Aguilar two.

Sink and Stegelmann both had five rebounds, Bartley dished out five assists and 5-10 senior Josh Randall also had a strong floor game.

Snyder was 8-for-8 from the field before missing his last shot and was 6-for-6 at the free-throw line.

“Our kids played very determined,” said Bechtel. “I thought Concord had an excellent game plan, giving us some trouble with their trapping defense, but we played like veterans.

“We weathered their storm in the third quarter and then hit some key shots.

“Ryan Bartley did a great job as our floor general, finding the open man.

“We have a good feeling playing in this gym and want to keep it going. It’s good that we are finally getting everyone healthy.”

Tyrie Larkin, 5-10 junior, led Concord with 14 points while netting six each were 6-3 junior David Yoder, 6-1 sophomore Doug Acker and 5-8 junior Ja Vontae Hence. David House, 6-4 junior, was the game’s top rebounder with six.

Concord actually led on several occasions during the first half, once by as much as five points at 17-12 when Yoder hit a ‘3’ from the left corner with 6:12 until halftime.

The Minutemen trailed 29-20 just seconds before intermission, but Larkin drained a ‘3’ from the right side at :01 for a 29-23 halftime tally.

Then, House, Acker and 6-4 junior Ryan Kohn all scored in the third quarter to create the 29-29 deadlock before Goshen broke away.