By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
The Cair Paravel Latin boys basketball team held off a late rally by Mission Valley to beat the Vikings 48-40 at Cair Paravel Thursday.
The Lions built an 18-point lead by the middle of the third period, but saw that margin evaporate quickly.
Cair Paravel senior Simon Everhart (1) drives the lane in Thursday's 48-40 win over Mission Valley. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Mission Valley used a 13-2 run to get back in the contest, eventually whittling the Cair Paravel lead to just three points with a minute remaining.
“There’s a lot of momentum that happens,” Cair Paravel coach Chip Kueffer said. “There for a moment we were playing not to lose. You always want to play to win. In the first half, we took some bad shots that went in. That’s sort of fool’s gold. That catches up to you.''
The Lions were handcuffed by fouls which sent several of their players to the bench for extended stretches. The Lions committed 17 fouls in the first period alone.
“You can write it on the white board but sometimes the game gets away from you. You’ve got to control what you can control,” Kueffer said. “Fortunately, we had a lot of guys come in off the bench and make contributions early. I’m grateful for the way we handled the adversity.”
Most notably, Cair Paravel senior Rich Hembold come into the game and drilled three 3-pointers in the second period.
When it got down to crunch time, it was senior guard Simon Everhart who came through. He scored 10 of the Lions’ last 13 points, mainly by knocking down eight of nine free throws in the second half.
Chip Kueffer's Cair Paravel Latin boys improved to 3-2 with Thursday's 48-40 win over Mission Valley. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
“Evan Will, Simon Everhart, Ty Gossard, those guys made big plays in the last three or four minutes,” Kueffer said. “We kind of made it hard on ourselves, but those guys kept their composure and finished the game for us.”
The win lifted the Lions to 3-2 with one more game remaining before the holiday break.
A first-year head coach, Kueffer had to wait to get his team together until after the Lions football season concluded on Nov. 18. That left precious little time to prepare for the season, which tipped off on Nov. 30.
“I’m super proud of how well (the football team) did this fall. It was fun and I hope they are proud of themselves for the finish that they had,” Kueffer said. “It’s tough, but it’s a long season, so hopefully we’ll have enough time after Christmas break to dial it in, get accustomed to what we want to run.
“Right now, we’re trying keep it simple. We’ve got some experience, so the players are playing right now and I’m grateful that we’ve got some good players.”
CAIR PAREVEL BOYS 48, MISSION VALLEY 40
Mission Valley 7 9 12 12 -- 40
Cair Paravel 14 16 9 9 -- 48
Mission Valley (0-2) – Tenbrink 7-17 1-2 18, Bunger 1-5 2-4 4, P. Deters 5-12 3-7 13, Hoelting 0-7 0-0 0, Bryan 0-1 0-0 0, I. Deters 0-2 0-0 0, Jones 2-3 0-2 4, McCart 0-0 1-2 1, Taylor 0-0 0-0 0, Dudley 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 15-47 7-17 40.
Cair Paravel (3-2) – Everhart 2-10 10-11 14, Pavlik 2-7 1-2 5, Gossard 2-3 0-6 4, Marichal 3-8 0-0 9, Will 0-1 3-5 3, Brian 1-8 2-2 4, Cleverdon 0-2 0-0 0, Hembold 3-5 0-0 9, Fay 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 13-43 16-26 48.
3-point goals – Mission Valley 3 (Tenbrink 3), Cair Paravel 6 (Marichal 3, Hembold 3). Total fouls – Mission Valley 23, Cair Paravel 27. Fouled out – Bunger, Will, Brian. Technical fouls – None.
MISSION VALLEY GIRLS 46, CPLS 21
The Cair Paravel girls are still looking for their first win of the season after they fell to Mission Valley 46-21 Thursday at Cair Paravel.
The team has struggled thus far, but coach Brian Ewing sees opportunities for improvement.
“It’s always two seasons -- before Christmas and after Christmas,” Ewing said. “I’ve been talking to the girls telling them that (what happens) before Christmas doesn’t define us. We can get better, and we’ve still got some goals for the second half when we get into league play.”
The Lions are competing in the Kaw Valley League for one more season before they will change leagues next year.
Ewing credits the leadership of four seniors for keeping the team moving in a positive direction. He pointed to his two captains in particular for their effort and guidance.
“Abby Kuder has been in the system for a long time, so she and Allison Schwarz would be the two senior leaders. They are our captains,” Ewing said. “We’re struggling for production right now. We’re not scoring a lot of points. We need to work as a team better. So hopefully it becomes more balanced.”
The Lions will take one more shot at getting a victory prior to the holiday break, playing Northland Christian Friday.
