Goessel boys defeat Moundridge for second time
By DELBERT PETERS
Sports writer
Goessel High School boys' basketball team improved to 6-1 in the Heart of America League Jan. 31 with a 17-point victory against Moundridge.
Earlier in the season, Goessel came out ahead by 18 points in a non-league game against the Wildcats. The Bluebirds had a nice mixture of points for inside and outside.
GHS was the taller team, but a 20-point lead in the first half would not hold up against the streaky Wildcats.
Goessel scoring seemed to stall after Nathan Ensz blocked a Moundridge shot and ended up with a lead pass at the Bluebird end of the floor for a layup, making the score 34-14.
Moundridge cut the deficit to 34-20 by halftime and scored eight straight points in the second half to get the score as close as 34-28.
The Bluebird offense woke up again at the two-minute, 20 second mark in the third period with the lead 39-37.
Brett Goerzen hit a wide-open three-pointer, then Garrett Hiebert nailed a three-pointer, and a Jordan Voth basket gave Goessel a 10-point lead late in the third period.
The Bluebirds handled the Wildcat press and scored rapidly in the last two minutes of the game. Voth hit two long range three-pointers, Travis Buller connected on a two-pointer, and Goerzen followed with a fast break layup, as the Bluebirds won by a final score of 62-45.
Voth led the Bluebirds with 18 points with the help of four three-pointers. Hiebert scored 16 and grabbed nine rebounds, Nathan Ensz scored nine points with five rebounds, Travis Buller scored five points with seven assists, Brett Goerzen and Nathan Amstutz each scored five points, and Justin Fensky added four points.
The Bluebirds never led on Friday night against the number two ranked 3A boys' basketball team from Remington, but Goessel played tough until the end.
Hiebert scored Goessel's first six points to keep the game close at 7-6, but the Broncos outscored the Bluebirds 10-2 to finish the first quarter.
Goerzen hit Goessel's first three-pointer to open the second quarter, and Voth scored five points to get the Bluebirds back to a three point deficit, 19-16.
Goessel got stuck on 18 points as the Broncos scored 10 straight points to take a 31-18 lead.
Ensz scored six straight points and a Buller three-pointer at the end of the third period found the Bluebirds trailing by five points, 36-31.
It seemed every time the Bluebirds mounted an attack, the Broncos had an answer.
With 3:44 to play in the game, Voth hit his first of three three-pointers, and a Hiebert pass to Tyler Schroeder for a layup got the Bluebirds as close as 45-41.
From that point, Remington hit 6-6 free throws and kept the Bluebirds just out of reach of a victory.
Voth led the scoring for the Bluebirds with 11 fourth-quarter points for a total of 16 points. Hiebert scored 10 points, Ensz had eight points and five rebounds, Goerzen canned seven points and six assists, Buller scored three, and Tyler Schroeder added two points.
The Bluebirds are now 6-2 in the HOA and 12-4 overall.
Junior varsity
The Goessel junior varsity team lost Jan. 31 to Moundridge, 33-29.
Moundridge shot 42 percent from the field compared to Goessel's 22 percent. Kendall Voth led the Bluebirds with 14 points, and Austin Unruh led the team with eight rebounds.
Unruh scored 15 points Friday and gathered in 10 rebounds in a 43-52 loss to Remington.
