Published: December 16, 2007 12:12 am         

Redskins 6-1 for Christmas

Goshen 43, Fairfield 38

Goshen’s lone 3-pointer Saturday night proved to be the smelling salts the team needed to revive after sluggish second and third quarters, helping the Redskins to a 43-38 high school boys basketball win over Fairfield.

Marshall Crawford sank the ‘3’ with 42 seconds left in the third period to temporarily give Goshen a two-point lead. Although the Falcons later regained the lead in the fourth, Goshen’s play perked up after the 3-pointer.

“I was proud of Marshall, he played with some moxie tonight,” Redskin coach Brian Bechtel said. “He forced a shot in the third period that we had to talk to him about, but then he stepped up with confidence and banged in that ‘3’. That was a big turning point.”

Bechtel said it was especially important because it took advantage of one of the rare chinks in Fairfield’s defense.

“It was almost like we were waiting for a break,” he said. “When Marshall hit that shot it was a wide-open look that we hadn’t had.”

Falcon coach John Wysong said the defensive game was his team’s most complete effort of the season. In previous games, he said, Fairfield had defended well against either the perimeter game or the inside, but not both.

“We did a better job tonight on both aspects,” he said. “We played one of our better games defensively.”

Goshen (6-1) is idle until meeting Michigan City Friday, Dec. 28 around 7:45 p.m. in the Goshen holiday tourney. Fairfield (3-4) meets Jimtown Saturday, Dec. 29 at 10 a.m. in the Bethany holiday tourney.

After Crawford’s 3-pointer, Fairfield tied the game at 30 with a tip-in by Adam Miller just before the buzzer ended the third quarter.

Crawford then regained the lead for the Redskins with a conventional three-point play to start the fourth quarter.

The teams traded free throws before Fairfield’s Colin Holmes tied it with a 3-pointer with 4:56 to go. A half-minute later he put the Falcons back on top when he sank a pair of free throws.

Ryan Bartley answered for Goshen with a bucket to tie and Ethan Hussey stole the ball and took it the length of the court for a layup for a 38-36 Goshen lead.

Fairfield had a chance to tie but missed both free throws. Hussey then sank two free throws at the other end, making it a four-point advantage.

The Falcons pulled within two after Alic Vanover made his fourth steal of the game and whipped it ahead to Grant Baumgartner for the score.

But the Falcons couldn’t get a shot to drop after that, while Goshen made just enough free throws (3 for 8) in the final 1:19 to create a two-possession game.

“We had about six possessions there where we didn’t get the plays executed,” Wysong said.

The Falcons executed well in the second quarter, though, when they made six of eight shots from the field and pulled ahead 22-18 at the half.

“We’ve had trouble sustaining our defensive intensity in the second quarter for two games in a row now,” Bechtel said.

Fairfield’s lead could have been even larger but two 3-pointers were waved off in the first half, once because of a foul away from the ball and another on a traveling call.

In the third quarter, both teams showed signs of having played tough conference games the night before. That weariness resulted in some poor shot selection by both squads.

Fairfield pulled ahead by as much as six in the period, but five unanswered points pulled the Redskins to 28-27, setting up Crawford’s 3-pointer.

Bechtel was particularly pleased with the play of Nathan Stegelmann, who scored 11 points and pulled down seven rebounds, despite spending most of the night in foul trouble.

“Stegelmann had a great weekend for us,” Bechtel said. “He grew up a little bit this weekend. He had some tough defensive challenges and he responded well to them.”

The Falcons again received a boost from the full-tilt style of play of Vanover, a junior playing for the first time at the high school level. He made two steals at the end of the second quarter that helped the Falcons build their halftime lead, and swiped the ball two more times in the fourth quarter that led to five points.

“He needs to learn the game at both ends,” Wysong said. “But you gotta love him. He is exciting to watch.”

Andy Curry led the Falcons with 12 points and Adam Miller had a game-high nine rebounds. Crawford and Stegelmann each scored 11 for the Redskins, while Hussey chipped in with 10.