Saint Charles West’s dream
season comes up short
Warriors fail to take a free throw in the second half
By: Mike McMurran
Sports Editor
It is hard to defend a 6’7” forward when your tallest forward is some 3 inches shorter. Saint Charles West found this out the hard way when they ran into Westminster’s senior forward Andrew Wiele Saturday afternoon at the new Hazelwood Central Field house. Wiele not only was a force to deal with on the low post, he was perfect from the 3 point arc going 3 for 3.
In what can only be described as ironic, West senior forward Eric Crider opened the day’s scoring with a 3 pointer, the old fashion way, by being fouled whiled shooting, hitting his shot and making the bonus shot. Ironic because it took West all of 1:13 to take their first free throw of the game; they would take only 5 more free throws the remainder of the contest, all in the first half.
Head coach Terry Hollander’s Warriors battled Westminster point for point for the first half. Senior guard Mike Ford put the Warriors on top 26-22 at half time when he buried at 3-pointer at the buzzer. “We took some momentum into halftime, but we weren’t able to build on it the way we would’ve liked,” Hollander offered. “Obviously we would’ve preferred to play with the lead, and we talk a lot about getting control in those first three minutes after halftime. But today Westminster came out strong, hit a couple of shots and hung right with us.”
West did its best to try and stop the taller Wildcats. Foul trouble (Coffey and Crider both playing with 4) forced the Warriors to play a zone defense. Westminster’s 6’3” guard Jeffrey Ehrhardt, who was held scoreless in the first three quarters of the contest, scored 10 points in the closing quarter, including 7 straight free throws to nail the coffin closed for West.
West had one last chance with 6 seconds remaining. Freshman guard Kramer Soderberg (9 pts) took a three pointer under heavy defensive pressure from the Wildcats, ending the Warriors’ dream season.
“I have always wondered what it would be like to coach the perfect team; perfect in that they do everything a coach asks of them,” said Hollander. “A team that was limited in their athletic ability, but made up for it with desire and work ethic. I now know just what it would be like, because those boys in the locker room are just such a team.” He said following the game.
