Minford 60 Zane Trace 51 D5 District Final ...

[pfloyd]

Minford 60
Zane Trace 51 final


When you talk of the Minford Falcons thoughts automatically fall on the Big Three - Myles Montgomery, Bennett Kayser and Jackson Shoemaker ... 4 year players/starters ... had bowed out of the tournament earlier than expected each year 2021-22 losing to The Burg 29-35... 2022-23 North Adams got'em 46-54 ... last year 2023-24 North Adams again sent the Falcons home 61-70 ... outstanding players with outstanding careers at MHS with a stellar 81-13 record entering the D5 District Final vs Zane Trace (20-4) ... how would the basketball gods play this one out? Minford to get over the hump and crash the Regional Party or would they go home with a disappointing end to a "what could have been" season? ... Minford 60 Zane Trace 51 final ...

Usually teams coming into the Convo have to adjust to the court, the lack of seating at floor level surroundings, the double three point line ... the Zane Trace Pioneers had nothing to do with "adjusting to anything" as the boys from the Kinnikinnick Creek area opened the game shooting better than 50% from the floor ... 6-3 soph Gunnar McCullough got to the rim on back to back possessions 4pts ... getting into the paint ZT opened up the perimeter shots as sr. Ezra Rippeth took the lid off from deep with a trey 3pts... 6-3 jr Grady Stewart drained a deep three ... sr. Landon Robinson followed with a bucket on the blocks 2pts ... at 2:21 in the quarter the Pioneers had opened a 12-7 lead over the Falcons ... Minford got on the board with 6-6 sr. Bennett Kayser's 15 ft 2 pointer ... Jackson Shoemaker with an offense board and stickback 2pts, Myles Montgomery got the last of the Big 3 on the napkin stat sheet with a drive, finish & 1 - 3pts ... coming out of the timeout, Kayser hit his 2nd midrange jumper for 2pts ... Grady Stewart for ZT answered with the Pio's 3rd trey of the quarter going 3/4 from downtown ... Myles Montgomery took a ZT miscue coast to coast for 2 pts to end the MHS scoring ... Zane Trace 15 Minford 13 after 1 ... the Falcons struggled from the behind the 3 point line going 0/3 in the period while their counterparts found the perimeter shooting to their liking hitting 3 of 4 attempts from up on Court St. ... both teams played a tough, physical man to man defense ... only 1 turnover by each team ... solid first quarter of action ... Minford attacked the rim, the ball defensively in the 2nd ... Montgomery went the only way he knows - down hill for a strong drive and finish at the rim 2pts ... on the ZT inbound pass, Montgomery with the steal and finish 2pts ... timeout ZT with 6:40 on the clock ... 17-15 Minford now leading ... the Falcons continued to push the tempo, attack the ball as the Falcons turned Zane Trace over 7 times in the quarter ... Montgomery with 4 steals & the Falcons with 4 finishes at the rim for points - Kayser put up 10 points in the period - 3 transition buckets, a putback off of a transition shot attempt and a midrange jumper from just inside the FT line ... in the middle of the "Kayser Run" Curtis Glenn had a putback bucket for 2pts ... 16 points in the period for MHS was countered by ZT with a Landon Jarrell trey and drive to the rim 2pts ... 2 fgs in the period and a pair of Gunnar McCullough FTS was the scoring for Zane Trace ... Minford 29 Zane Trace 22 at the half ... a great start for MHS with the Big 3 carrying the heavy load (25pts) and points from the supporting cast (4pts) ... if not for the turnovers 8 in the half ZT would have been right there with MHS ... turnovers mean no shots on goals ... no shots on goal , no points ... ZT had shown they could shoot the ball in the Convo going 4/9 from three point land 44.4% in the half ... Could they take care of the ball and get back in the game was the question?... ZT opened the 3rd getting "a kill" (3 straight stops on the Falcons at the defensive end - Minford with the turnover, ZT to the rim, miss , Grady Stewart with the putback 2pts ... Minford turnover Landon Robinson with a deep three from in front of the ZT bench 3pts ... Falcon bad pass, turnover - 3 in a row ... Gunnar McCullough cashed it out with a drive into the lane 2pts ... 29 all ... Shoemaker ended the MHS drought with a shot from the right block 2pts ...Montgomery able to get into the paint at will - drive/fouled/make - make 2pts ... Montgomery again with the steal (1 of 7 Montgomery steals for the game) & finish in transition 2pts & 1 - 3pts ... Kayser with another offensive rebound (6 for the game) & putback 2pts ... 3:37 on the clock Minford with its' 9-0 run was up 38-29 ... a pass to Kayser across the paint fouled on the shot 2/2 from the line 2pts for Minford ... Jarrell for ZT scored on a drive & was fouled ... 2pts missing the &1 ... Minford 40 Zane Trace 31 after 3 ... McCullough started ZT in the 4th an final quarter with bucket in the paint 2pts ... Jarrell drive/fouled miss/make ... McCullough drive fouled make/miss for MT 35-40 Falcons ... Montgomery drive/fouled/ make - make ... an Ashton Reeder transition bucket 2pts ... 4:25 on play clock 44-35 Minford ... McCullough on the steal and finish in transition 2pts for ZT ...44-37 ... MHS's Kayser fouled 1/2 from the stripe ...Pio' Grady Stewart into the paint/fouled - 2/2 from the FT line ... 6 pt Falcon lead at 45-39 ... Pioneer pressure, trapping the ball ... Kayser with a skip pass across court to Jackson Shoemaker ... the 6-4 sr. Falcon hit the shot of the game - a deep 3 ball from the right corner 3pts ... 48-39 MHS ... MM fouled on consecutive drives 4/4 from the line ... ZT finished out the game with 3 point makes by McCullough/ Stewart/ Jarrell and off the bench Roman Berry ... still not enough as Minford got a transition bucket & 1 from Kayser 3pts, a steal and score from Montgomery to give the PG 22 pts on the night ... Kayser went 2/2 from the line - the scoring machine finished with 24 pts to go with 11 rbs for a double double in the game ... the post season hill was finally climbed by the Mighty Minford Falcons ...a district 'ship ... Minford 60 Zane Trace 51 a final ...

Quarter Breaks:

Minford........13...29...40...60
Zane Trace..15...22...31...51


Pfloyd's official "UN-official" Napkin Stats - Zane Trace

Scoring ... Gunnar McCullough 16, Grady Stewart 13, Landon Jarrell 11, Landon Robinson 5, Ezra Rippeth 3, Roman Berry 3
3 Pointers ... 9/24 … Grady Stewart 3, Landon Jarrell 2, Ezra Rippeth 1, Landon Robinson 1, Gunnar McCullough 1, Roman Berry 1
FTs ... 6/11
TOs ... 14
PnP ... 9 fgs/ 18 points in the paint
PnT ... 1 fgs/ 2 points in transition
Pbk ... 1 fgs/ 2 points on putback buckets

Extras:
22 Rbs ... Gunnar McCullough 9
FG% ... 18/41 ... 43.9%
3PT% ... 9/24 ...37.5%

Pfloyd's official "UN-official" Napkin Stats - Minford


Scoring ... Bennett Kayser 24, Myles Montgomery 22, Jackson Shoemaker 8, Ashton Reeder 4, Curtis Glenn 2
3 Pointers ... 1/9 ... Jackson Shoemaker 1
FTs ... 17/19
TOs ... 9
PnP ... 18 fgs/ 36 points in the paint
PnT ... 8 fgs/16 points in transition
Pbk ... 5fgs/10 points on putback buckets

Extras:
32 Rbs ... Bennett Kayser 11
FG%...21/48...43.8%
3PT%...1/9...11.1%

[Jason Vorhees]

Minford’s first District Championship in 30 Years.