East Mills edges Eagles

    Last fall, Daniel Duysen caught 59 passes and 26 touchdowns on the football field.

    On Friday, the all-state wide receiver got to be the quarterback on the basketball court as his dart to a streaking Charlie Ruff at halfcourt led to a game-clinching layup for the East Mills boys in a 53-50 victory over Clarinda Academy on Friday.
    “We used that play once last year and all I said to him was ‘They’re fast. So make sure he’s open,'” said East Mills coach Kevin Schafer of his conversation with Duysen, as all-state wide receiver. “And he was able to get open. We screened and they ended up double-teaming one of our kids and opened up and it worked.”
    Little of anything worked well for the Wolverines early as the Eagles turned a three point first-quarter lead into a 30-20 halftime lead, thanks mostly to their aggressive offense. Time and again, the Eagles fast break burned the Wolverines. Clarinda Academy scored the last eight points of the half and held East Mills without a field goal over the final three minutes of the first half.
    The second  half, however, would be a different story.
    Duysen, who sat out the entire second quarter after being whistled for three first quarter fouls, got things started with a three pointer. A steal and a layup by Colden Hilyer, a Ruff free throw and another three, this time by Luke Schafer, put the Wolverines out in front 33-30 with just three minutes to go in the frame.
    Coach Schafer said the 11-0 run was as much about the Wolverines defending better as it was just hitting open shots.
    “At halftime all we talked about was getting back on defense,” said Schafer. “Our guys are used to being able to stand at the top of the key and get the rebound and then get back. All we talked about was, the shot goes up, start back pedaling. And I don’t recall them getting behind us in the second half, whereas that first half it was just over-and-over.”
    The Wolverines’ lead swelled to as many as five before the Eagles battled back. Clarinda Academy went out ahead 39-35 on Charles Lee’s layup.
    The teams, however, would trade the lead four times over the final six minutes.
    East Mills appeared to be in a position to seal the win with the ball and up 51-50 with :20 left when Kalif Brown stole the inbounds pass set up a final shot for the Eagles with :10 left. But Adrien Hines was whistled for a travel on his way to the potential game-winning basket, leading to Duysen’s big pass.
    Duysen came up big for the Wolverines all night. All 12 of his points game in the second half and from behind the arc.
 “He gave us an offensive spark in the second half,” Schafer said. “He sat for a long time and we’re used to having him play nearly the entire game. We hadn’t been in that position yet this year. He took big pressure off our offense and he was a big part of that comeback.”
Luke Schafer led all-scorers with 16 points. Hillyer pitched in 13 points.
Brown led Clarinda Academy with 14 points.

East Mill 56,
Griswold 35
    The East Mills boys basketball team held Griswold to a season-low in points in a 56-35 Wolverine victory on Thursday.
    The Wolverines (7-1 overall, 3-1 in the Corner Conference) sprinted out to  33-16 halftime lead in the win. They were led by Luke Schafer's 21 points. Charlie Ruff added 10 and Colden Hillyer eight.
    Devin Bates led Griswold with 11 points.