Chieftains pull away from rival Blue Jackets, remain in 1st place

NEW RIEGEL — On the road in a rivalry game and the Battle of Bullfrog Road, Hopewell-Loudon just had to weather the first quarter Friday. New Riegel, a team looking for a signature win and to somewhat remain in the hunt for a Sandusky Bay Conference River Division title, played like it for eight minutes. The Blue Jackets led 16-11 after one period.But they managed just 30 more points the rest of the way as Hopewell-Loudon ratcheted up the defense, shared the ball on offense and pulled away for an important 63-46 league win. "We pride ourselves in our defense and we played a lot better in the second half," H-L coach Roger Jury said. "They have kids that can really score in certain spots. (Mathew) Flores is really good and you can't let him get to a point and to drive it. (Reese) Goshe is a load inside and one of the best post-up players in the league. "The rivalry is unbelievable. Coach (Dave) Losey had a great game plan inside to tough us out, I think he challenged his team to see if they were tougher than we are. We had to weather the storm and didn't let the lead get too far out, but I thought we played better after that."Flores came out on fire Friday with nine first-quarter points to give the Blue Jackets (11-7, 9-4 SBC River) the lead after a quarter, but Blake Berrier was huge for the Chieftains all night. Berrier, who has had a phenomenal season for H-L, carried the Chieftains a bit when leading scorer Evan Kreais was sidelined with two early fouls. Berrier scored the first five points of the second quarter to tie things at 16 and then eventually hit a free throw to push the lead to 18-16 midway through the second period.H-L maintained a lead in the first half because of New Riegel fouls, which became a theme in the game. The Chieftains (14-3, 12-1) went 23 of 35 from the charity stripe, while the Blue Jackets were 8 of 14. H-L led 28-25 at the half. "We were called for 24 fouls … you can add up our last four games and we don't get to that," Losey said. "We're not a team that fouls a lot and besides Reese we haven't been in foul trouble for much of the year, so strange game. Guys were a little on tilt out there, and so was I. It was called the way it was called, you can't change it. There was no flow and you didn't know what was legal or illegal, so it was what it was. When you shoot 35 free throws and have a 21-free throw advantage, there's not a lot you can do to overcome that. "I thought we did some nice things. We hung around for a long time, but kind of fell apart there after I got T'd up … it didn't go in the right direction."Braylon Martinez started the second half with a 3-pointer for the Chieftains and after Goshe got H-L's lead down to 34-31 mid-third quarter, Kreais came alive. He jolted H-L's 8-3 run to end the quarter with a 42-34 advantage. Kreais scored six of the eight points. New Riegel didn't get within 10 for the rest of the game as the Chieftains closed things out, but Berrier led H-L with 19 points and three assists. He kept the Chieftains afloat when Kreais was in foul trouble with his ability to get to the rim and finish through contact. "Basketball is a big team game and Evan did get in foul trouble early, so the next guy stepped up. That's how basketball works," Berrier said. "We know we'll be on top at the end of the game if continue to trust each other and play good basketball."I'm a little bigger than most (guards) … I'm not huge, but I'm able to drive and create shots for my teammates. I know if start bringing two guys to me, my post is going to open and the other guards can hit 3s and finish layups for us."H-L has plenty of players who can score and it was on display against New Riegel as it almost had five players in double figures. Backing Berrier were Kreais with 16 points (3 assists) and Carter Yarbrough, Donovan Elmore (9 rebounds, 3 steals) and Martinez all with eight.Flores had a team-high 23 points for the Blue Jackets, while Goshe popped in seven points and pulled down seven boards.While the Blue Jackets have plenty of wins this season, they still are searching for that "big" win, that "signature" win. With Calvert and Old Fort still on the schedule, there are opportunities left. "Tonight we wanted to hopefully knock off Hopewell and then you put yourself right back in it for the league picture, so that's gone now," Losey said. "You have to move forward. We have opportunities for a signature win with Lakota, Fostoria, Calvert and Old Fort left on the schedule, so we have opportunities to build some confidence, which I think is important."We just need that one, at least one, so the guys believe. I think we have the talent, we have the skill, we just need to get that one. We seem to be hanging around, but one or two plays go wrong and then things go sideways. We need to find a way to battle back through those moments. There's no quit in this team, but we need that consistency."H-L is right back on the hardwood tonight with a short trip to Division II Fostoria. Then a massive league showdown with Old Fort in Bascom concludes a tough three-game stretch in in five days to determine how H-L finishes in the league race. "When I first looked at this stretch, I just thank God we went 1-0 tonight," Jury said. "New Riegel on the road, a rivalry game with Coach Losey doing a great job and then you go to Fostoria with their athletes. Then you play Old Fort who we beat the first time, but that's a tough stretch. It's tough, but we'll be ready to go (tonight)."