SCHULENBURG — The Schulenburg High School boys basketball team had the upper hand in a barn burner Jan. 31 at Shorthorns Gym and defeated Bloomington High School by a finals score of 50-42 in a game that went into overtime. The Shorthorns jumped out to a big lead early, but Bloomington was able to hang in the game with their shot-making until Schulenburg ultimately sealed the deal.
“We had way too many turnovers and most of them weren’t forced,” said Schulenburg head boys basketball coach Rich Hoogendoorn.
“We gotta stop that. They did a good job of shutting our guys down. Kaz (McBride) had his way the first half, they didn't give him any touches the second half.
I was thankful to get him on the free throw line. We’ve been in a lot of close games and we’ve won most of them because we’re mature and we believe in each other. Tyler (Ryba) is a huge blow for us. Not next man up, but we just got to have some guys. It’s their opportunity and they need to take advantage of it.” Senior Shorthorns guard Tyler Ryba, one of the best players on the team, went down with an ankle injury during the Weimar game a couple weeks ago and is out for four to six weeks.
Schulenburg senior forward Kenny Schramek has produced heavily throughout the season and had another impressive night in the Bloomington game. “My main focus is trying to push the younger kids to get better,” Schramek said. “Just get better everyday. Whether it’s a game or practice. We played a tough game. We weren’t exactly getting the calls that we wanted, but that’s sometimes how it goes. I felt like it was pretty fair-sided.
I feel like we came together as a team at the end there. We fin ished strong.”
Schulenburg started the game on a 10-0 run with a three from freshman guard Jayse Janda, then scored one more basket to take a 12-5 lead at the end of the first quarter.
After a three from Schulen- burg's McBride to take a 15-5 lead at the start of the second quarter, McBride hit another three-pointer to go along with two tough baskets from senior Misael Cortez to take a 24-15 lead at halftime, with a jumper near the free throw line from Shorthorns big man Ignacio Hernandez mixed in.
Both teams traded punches in the third quarter with made shots and free throws from Bloomington while McBride cashed in another three for the Shorthorns at about the five minute mark.
Schramek went on to convert a couple tough layups, which was followed by a Bloomington layup just before the buzzer to take a 38-35 lead on Schulenburg.
A low-scoring fourth quarter resulted in a layup and a couple free throws from Schramek and a 40-40 tie at the end of the fourth quarter as Bloomington had an inbounds underneath their own basket, but wasn’t able to cash in, which sent it into overtime.
McBride made a drive around the perimeter from the top of the key for a tough floater and the first points of overtime at about the three minute mark to make it 4240.
Bloomington responded with an and one basket, but missed the free throw before Schulenburg made four more free throws of their own from Janda and sophomore Byron Johnson to go ahead 46-42 with 1:02 to go. Schramek then made a huge block at the 30 second mark as he pinned the ball against the backboard after a turnover, then Schulenburg hit a layup and two free throws en route to a 50-42 victory.
