Fremont-Mills wins Corner crown

It may have taken overtime but Fremont-Mills is the Corner Conference tournament champions.

The Knights out-scored Stanton 12-9 in the extra frame to avenge a loss in last year’s conference final and go on to win 73-69 Saturday in Stanton.

The conference title is the Knights’ second in the last three seasons.

“What a great way to win a tourney championship,” said Fremont-Mills coach Steve Raymond. “My hat goes off to Stanton. They are an excellent team and deserve a lot of recognition. Luckily, for the fans, we get to play again this Friday and more than likely again in district play. The title obviously means quite a bit to our boys. For our seniors, they now have two (tournament championships) on their legacy. It was a goal of ours early in the season and they made some big plays to help us out.”

The Knights led by as many as 13 in the second half only to see the Vikings rally to take a brief lead in the fourth quarter and then force overtime.

In overtime, the teams would trade baskets and the score would remain knotted at 66-66 with 56 seconds to go when Stanton co-head coach Kevin Blunt was whistled for a technical foul.

Although Parker Powers missed both free throws, the momentum had shifted for good and the Knights answered on an inbound play to take a lead they would never relinquish.

Parker Powers led the Knights with 19 points. Dalian Melgoza added 16 and Sam Phillips 12 points and 11 rebounds.

“This was the ultimate team win,” Raymond said. “We were balanced with our scoring, rebounding and had numerous assists. This is an extremely unselfish team and that shows with their character. It was a great program win and one we will remember for awhile.”

Blunt said his team got better as the night went on but couldn’t get over the hump in the fourth quarter.

“We did a better job of executing and were more aggressive in the second half,” Blunt said. “We have to step up our intensity at practice and take the next step forward to improve down the stretch.”

Drake Johnson scored a team-high 29 points to lead Stanton.

East Mills 43,

Sidney 33           

East Mills out-scored Sidney 15-7 in the final quarter to pull away for a 43-33 win in the Corner Conference boys basketball tournament third place game Friday in Tabor.

The Wolverines (9-6 overall, 4-5 in the conference) held Sidney to a season-low 18.3 percent shooting (9-of-49) while holding a 27 to 22 rebounding edge.

Noah Hillyer led East Mills with 11 points. Matt Glockel came off the bench for six points and six rebounds. Kameron Wederquist added six points and seven rebounds.

Cameron Whitehead led Sidney with 18 points.

Fremont-Mills 60,

East Mills 37

Fremont-Mills used a 12-1 second quarter run to pull away from East Mills and into the Corner Conference tournament championship with a 60-37 victory Thursday in  Stanton.

The Knights (10-2) led 20-15 after a quarter but, thanks to their big second quarter, took a 32-16 lead into halftime. Head coach Steve Raymond said he felt like his team, after getting an opening round bye, played a little lethargic in the first quarter but a three at the buzzer by Parker Powers energized his team.

“Once we ratcheted up the pressure in the half-court and did a better job of attacking the 50/50 balls, we started to impose our will,” Raymond said. “We hang our hat on the defensive end, so we emphasized getting into better position and just playing better fundamental defense. We also emphasized limiting them to one shot per possession. Once we did that, we felt the offensive end would take care of itself. We started to play the game one possession at a time and methodically build the lead.”

The Knights built that lead thanks to blistering 52 percent from the field (24-of-46) and unselfish passing that led to 17 assists on the 24 made baskets.

East Mills coach Kevin Schafer said when the Knights are on like they were in Thursday’s semifinals, they are hard to beat.

“We did a pretty good job of keeping our turnovers to a minimum,” Schafer said. “We got some good shots but they just were not falling and F-M did not allow any offensive boards.  Their fast break was too much for us to handle and when they hit three’s, they are just plain better than us.”

Sam Phillips led the way with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Carter Jennings added 14 points and Parker Powers eight.

“It was a well-balanced win and the same suspects made the same great plays that they have all year,” Raymond said. “I did feel that Sam and Parker’s play really started to ignite us. Sam has really stepped up in a leadership role and has really added an extra dimension to his game. He’s seeing the floor well and shooting the ball better from the mid-range.

“He’s a great kid to coach and has basically been an extension of the coaching staff on the floor. We often hear him instruct his teammates with the same words, that us coaches use. I’m real proud of him and I know he will continue to play hard.”

Weston Copperstone paced East Mills with 13 points.

East Mills 44,

Essex 42

East Mills built a double-digit lead only to see Essex rally to take the lead in the third quarter before the Wolverines staged a rally of their own to pull out a 44-42 victory in the Corner Conference boys basketball tournament quarterfinals Tuesday in Malvern.

The Wolverines (8-5 overall, 4-5 in the conference) carried a 30-19 lead into halftime but saw that spread evaporate and Trojans (3-9 overall, 3-5 in the conference) take a 34-32 lead into the fourth quarter thanks to a 14-2 third quarter run.

In the fourth, East Mills re-grouped and got big plays by Dylan Schroeder down the stretch to secure the win.

“We struggled for most of the game and had too many turnovers,” said East Mills coach Kevin Schafer. “Dylan (Schroeder) had his best game of the season and made some big plays at the end of the game to give us a chance to win.”

Schroeder finished with 11 points, four assists and four steals. Weston Copperstone led the way with 15 points and Jordan Childers added nine points and five rebounds.