The Blackford Bruins basketball program played host Saturday night to the Winchester Falcons. The Bruins returned from the hardwood, a night after a devastating loss on the road vs Conference rival Mississinewa Indians. The Winchester Falcons entered the game 6-5 overall on the season, while the Bruins loss Friday night dropped them to 8-5 overall. Winchester and Blackford have matched up 25 times over the last 35 years, with the Winchester Falcons dominating the matchups, winning 22 out of the 25 games. Blackford entered Saturday night looking to bounce back from their tough loss Friday night.
The first quarter started with a flurry of baskets from both teams. The Falcons and Bruins were both able to knock down three 3-pointers apiece in the first quarter, leading to a 18-17 lead for the Falcons. Ethan Morris and Gage Baker both scored 7 points apiece in the first quarter, scoring 14 of the team's 17 points. Morris was able to knock down two 3-pointers in the first quarter, while Baker hit an early 3 of his own and scored a couple baskets on drives. Gage Baker was whistled for his 2nd foul at the end of the first quarter, impacting the Bruins in the 2nd quarter.
Baker entered Saturday night, averaging 16.5 points per game and 7.5 rebounds over the previous 6 games for the Bruins. Due to the two early fouls, he was sent to the bench for the second quarter. Blackford really struggled in the 2nd quarter, getting outscored 15 to 5, while only attempting 10 shots in the 2nd quarter. The Bruins committed 6 turnovers, while attempting only 10 shots, they missed multiple open lay-ups and committing a couple careless passes that would've led to layups for the Bruins.
The lone 5 points in the 2nd quarter, came from Mason Kitterman. Kitterman was able to knock down a 3-pointer off a hustle play from Jacob Dillon gathering an offensive rebound, falling to the floor and dishing it out to Kitterman in the left corner. Kitterman's other basket came off a nice back cut where guard Ethan Morris delivered a bounce pass for a layup. The Bruins struggles in the 2nd period led to a 33-22 deficit at half-time.
Blackford entered Saturday night undefeated (5-0) at home on the season and had their work cut out for them after digging themselves into a double-digit deficit at the intermission. For much of the 3rd quarter, it seemed to be more of the same for Blackford, as the Bruins traded baskets with Winchester for the first 6 minutes of the 3rd quarter. Winchester scored a basket to extend their lead to 11 points (43-32) before calling time-out with a little over 2 minutes remaining in the 3rd quarter. During the time-out, the Bruins set a goal of getting the game to a 6-7 point deficit before the end of the 3rd quarter.
Blackford took control for the rest of the 3rd quarter, going on a massive run, led by guard Kian Wells. Winchester went to a 3-2 zone defense out of the time-out and Blackford exhibited excellent ball movement before Gage Baker swung a pass to Wells in the corner and he drained a 3-pointer. Blackford was then able to get a stop on the defensive end, before the Bruins sent a pass up the right side of the floor to Wells who froze his defender with a crossover dribble and exploded to the rim for a right-handed layup. A quick 5 points from Wells and the deficit was cut to 6 points, 43-37 with about 1:30 remaining. On the next possession for the Falcons, the Bruins were able to collect another stop, with Mason Kitterman grabbing the defensive rebound and launching a pass up the floor to Wells in the front court. Kian Wells received the long pass from Kitterman and spun around the defender driving hard towards the left side of the basket and rose up over the help defender to finish an And-1 bucket. The basket to cut the score to 3 points, 43-40. The home fans have seen this before, as Wells took over the season home opener in a similar fashion, leading Blackford to their first win of the year vs Bluffton. Wells was not finished, off the made free-throw, Blackford went to a full court pressure defense, leading to a Falcons transition opportunity. The Falcons started to break the Bruins press and push the ball up the floor as a guard went in for a layup attempt, Wells sprinted down the offensive player and had a massive chase down block, hammering the basketball off the backboard. Jacob Leas sprinted down the rebound and took the ball full speed up the floor driving in to draw a shooting foul. Leas drained both free-throws, drawing the Bruins to a 1-point deficit, 43-42.
The Bruins stayed in their full court press, but this time the Falcons were able to break the press and finish a contested layup over Mason Kitterman. Blackford had the ball with about 25 seconds left in the 3rd quarter, down 45-42. The Bruins called out for a high ball screen for Jacob Leas, and Leas delivered, driving hard down the right side of the lane drawing 3 defenders before dishing it out to a wide-open Gage Baker in the right corner as he drained a 3-pointer to tie the game at 45. The Falcons were able to get the ball inbounds and dribble up the floor and drain a 28 foot 3-pointer at the buzzer to retake the lead 48-45.
It was tough to see the long range 3-pointer go in at the buzzer to end the 3rd period, but Blackford had a ton of momentum entering the 4th, in large part due to Kian Wells's scoring spurt. At the start of the 4th quarter, both teams struggled to put the ball in the basket for several possessions. Blackford drew first blood in the 4th quarter on a nice drive down the side of the lane by Kian Wells, Wells's defender cut him off and spun and shot a jump shot to pull the Bruins within 1 point, 47-48. With two minutes remaining in the 3rd period down 43-32, Wells delivered 10 out of the Bruins 15 points to pull Blackford within 1 point with about 6:45 remaining in the 4th quarter. The line-up consisting of Ethan Morris, Gage Baker, Mason Kitterman, Jacob Leas and Kian Wells played the final two minutes of the 3rd quarter and the entire 4th quarter. The 5 players played the final 10 minutes of the game for Blackford and were really active on the defensive end. After the Wells basket, Blackford's activity on the defensive end was evident, as Baker rotated over to block a shot. The Falcons retrieved the blocked shot but attempted a pass to the middle of the floor and Jacob Leas was able to steal the pass. Blackford's first chance to retake the lead since the 1st quarter, came up empty as the Falcons drew a charge on a drive from Kitterman. Winchester was able to score on the next possession, on another offensive rebound putback putting the Falcons ahead 50-47. Gage Baker was then able to get loose for a pull-up jump shot at the left elbow to pull the Bruins back to within 1 point, 50 - 49. The Falcons were then able to score the next 3 points on a basket and making a free-throw, extending their lead to 53-49. Enter senior guard Ethan Morris, as he stepped up to make several plays to help the Bruins down the stretch. Morris drove hard down the left side of the lane and scored an And-1 on a pivot spin. The basket pulled the Bruins to within 2 points, down 53-51 with about 4:30 remaining. Morris's free-throw attempt jarred off the rim long and Jacob Leas came up with a huge offensive rebound over the Falcons 6'4" Center Adam Moore. Leas kicked the ball out to the perimeter and Blackford set up their offense. The ball was swung around the perimeter before finding Morris again, Morris took off down the left side of the lane and completed a powerful pro-hop finish over the defender to tie the game at 53.
The Falcons once again answered with another basket, retaking the lead 55-53. On the next possession, Blackford attempted to go back to Morris, as he started to drive hard towards the left side of the lane, the ball was knocked loose, Leas sprinted over to help collect the basketball and proceeded to drive hard down the right side of the floor before finding a wide open Kian Wells behind him in the right corner, Leas delivered the pass and Wells drilled another 3-pointer, all net giving the Bruins their first lead 56-55 since the first quarter! The Falcons and Bruins both came up empty on their next chances to score and Blackford was able to get another stop on the Falcons. Blackford called time-out with a 56-55 lead with about 2:30 remaining. Out of the time-out, the Falcons went to a zone defense. The Bruins passed the ball on the perimeter before Baker found Morris open on the left wing, Senior guard Ethan Morris delivered another monster 3-pointer, draining it giving the Bruins a 4-point lead, 59-55. It was Ethan Morris's 5th 3-pointer of the game, and maybe the biggest shot over the past 3 years. Kian Wells and Ethan Morris were still not finished making plays, as Wells was able to steal a pass from a Falcons player on the next possession leading to a 2 on 1 fastbreak, Wells found Morris for a wide-open layup to extend to a 61-55 lead. Blackford executed the final two minutes of the game playing keep away to finish off the Falcons 64-59 and earn their 9th victory on the season. Morris finished the game tying his career high with 22 points (he's scored 22 points 4 other times in his career) and Wells delivered 15 second half points in the comeback (17 points in the game). It was a massive performance from Wells and Morris, delivering for the Bruins to help gain momentum into next week. The Bruins have now won 9 games, exceeding their win total from the previous two year through 14 games. This was the 4th win in Blackford's history vs the Winchester Falcons over the last 35 years in 26 games. Blackford will host Frankton next Friday night in another girls/boys double header.
Varsity STATS:
Ethan Morris - 22 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 1 block & five 3-pointers
Kian Wells - 17 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals, 1 block & two 3-pointers
Gage Baker - 12 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 blocks and two 3-pointers
Mason Kitterman - 6 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal & one 3-pointer
Vince Oxley - 5 points, 1 rebound, and 2 steals
Jacob Leas - 2 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals
Jacob Dillon - 1 rebound and 1 assist
Gavin Collett - 1 rebound
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