By GARY R. RASBERRY
grasberry@dailystandard.com
DELPHOS — Welcome to the world of varsity basketball,
Adam Johns.
The St. Marys freshman was brought up this week from the junior
varsity when Wes Clark and Corey Vossler were lost to season-ending
injuries.
His debut on Saturday will be one to remember.
Johns hit the winning bucket with 4.5 seconds left in the game
to give the Roughriders a 51-49 win on the road at St. John’s
at Arnzen Gymnasium.
Johns attempted just two baskets, making both, but the shot
off the pass from Tom Burke with time winding down allowed the
Roughriders to celebrate after a tough week on and off the court.
“When he shot it, I thought it was long,” said St.
Marys coach Josh Leslie. “It’s great for a freshman
to step up and hit a shot like that. Great play by Tom as well.
He could’ve easily taken a three (Burke was 3-for-8 from
the arc on the evening) but he was unselfish, drove and made
the pass.”
Johns’ shot was the finale to a fourth-quarter rally.
Just as the night before when Shawnee held a double-digit lead
in the second half, St. John’s was up big early, leading
34-20 at the half and still holding a 38-30 lead going into
the fourth quarter.
The Blue Jays opened the lead up to 45-33 with 6:37 left in
the game when St. Marys began to get a rhythm. Todd Graves and
Scott Vossler started picking up the scoring and got the score
to 47-43 with 3:26 left. Bart Bergfeld scored what was to be
the final Blue Jay points with 3:10 left on a jumper to make
the score 49-36.
Scott Vossler cruised down the court and hit a three-pointer
eight seconds later to get within three at 49-46. St. John’s
was unable to score as the Roughriders got the ball back and
Scott Vossler was fouled and went to the line with 2:25 left.
Vossler missed the free throw but Kyle Vossler picked up the
rebound, his only rebound of the game, and the ‘Riders
pulled it out and got the ball to Burke, who hit a trey with
2:14 left to tie the game for the first time since 2-2 in the
first quarter.
St. John’s coach Brett Norris called timeout to settle
the team down but on the ensuing possession the Blue Jays turned
the ball over with 1:50 left.
Rather than score right away, St. Marys slowed the tempo, passing
the ball around and calling a timeout with 1:19 left. After
the timeout, St. Marys went to work again, trying to get the
ball to Scott Vossler.
With the Blue Jays keeping Vossler in check, Burke got the ball
and looked for an open look for a three-pointer. With the perimeter
defended well by the Blue Jays, Burke drove and delivered a
perfect bounce pass to a posted-up Johns. Johns banked the shot
in and Norris immediately called timeout with 3.5 seconds left.
“It was originally going to be a cross-screen for Scott
(Vossler) in the post. He got that look but they doubled him,”
said Leslie about the final play. “The next option was
for Tom at the top. He was covered. Tom had a great read, drove
and Adam was in the right place.
“This was huge. What could have happened is that we would
have been on a streak of losing three out of four. That can
have a negative effect on the season. By far this has been the
hardest week of the season. This win is a confidence builder
for the rest of our season,” added Leslie.
After the timeout, Matt Webb got the inbounds pass for St. John’s
and sprinted down the floor and shot from around 25 feet but
the ball fell well short and hit the ground as the horn sounded.
“We had some great shots, my goodness,” said Norris.
“Right from the start of the second half we had some great
shots but went cold. We didn’t deal with our lack of success
shooting the ball well. We were kind of tentative. They made
big play after big play. We just kind of broke down both offensively
and defensively.”
The Blue Jays had the stats to get the win on most occasions.
St. John’s outrebounded St. Marys 32-14, including 18-4
in the first half.
Scott Vossler finished with 15 points, Kyle Vossler added nine
and Derron Steinke came off the bench for eight points.
Chad Reynolds hit some big shots early for St. John’s
but just scored two of his 13 points in the second half. Webb
added 12 with Ryan Patton scoring 10.
St. Marys hosts Kenton on Friday while St. John’s travels
to Minster.
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