Wolverines grab Corner Conference tourney title for first time since 2014

The adage goes, “Always a bridesmaid, never a bride.”

The best thing about adages is they do, sometimes, come to an end.

After four straight years of runner-up finishes at the Corner Conference Boys Basketball Tournament finals, East Mills won its brass ring. The Wolverines dominated rival Fremont-Mills from the opening tip and the ensuing 14-2 run and cruised to a 63-26 win and its first conference crown since 2014 Saturday night in Griswold.

East Mills coach Kevin Schafer said his team was well aware of the fact they’d been in this position before.

“There was definitely a look in our kid’s eyes before the game, let’s just say that,” Schafer said. “I was more nervous about us being almost too up. And it did take us a few minutes to get going. But defensively, our kids were locked in from the very beginning.”

After jumping out that that early 14-2 lead, the Wolverines (14-1 overall, 4-0 in the conference) held the Knights to just 12 first half points. The Knights’ 26 points was a season low.

“We’ve played like that for stretches, I don’t if we’ve done it for four quarters like that,” Schafer said of his team’s defense. “That was the difference. When we played Auburn (Neb.), those kids played hard defense for four quarters. We need to get the place where we can play that kind of defense for longer stretches of time. We’re getting there.”

The Wolverines led 33-12 at halftime. The lead swelled to 52-21 at the end of three-quarters.    

Braden West led three Wolverines in double-figures with 14 points. Mason Crouse had a huge night, scoring 12 points and pulling down a season-high 18 rebounds. Kyler Williams came off the bench to score 13 points and grab five rebounds.

The Knights’ Taylor Reed, who entered averaging 19.1 points per game, was held to six points and second leading scorer J.T. Mahaney (13.8) was held in check in check with a team-high seven points.

Fremont-Mills 73,
Stanton 63

J.T. Mahaney had a monster night and Fremont-Mills knocked off Stanton 73-63 to grab a spot in the Corner Conference Boys Basketball Tournament Finals Thursday night.

Mahaney hit 13-of-20 shots, including 2-of-5 from behind the arc, and scored a career-high 32 points.

Taylor Reed had a big night of his own for the Knights, scoring 16 points and grabbing 25 rebounds. Paxten VanHouten chipped in 12 rebounds and seven assists.

East Mills 65,
Sidney 36

East Mills earned a spot in the Corner Conference Boys Basketball Tournament finals with a 65-36 win over Sidney Thursday in Tabor.

The Wolverines led 16-3 after a quarter and cruised to the victory.

Mason Crouse led East Mills with 20 points. Kyler Williams and Layne Mastin each came off the bench to the contribute 11 and 10 points each, respectively.’

Braedon Godfread led Sidney with 13 points.
    
East Mills 79,
Griswold 39

Braden West and Mason Crouse combined for 40 points for East Mills in 79-39 win over Griswold in the Corner Conference Boys Basketball Tournament last Tuesday.

The Wolverines shot 55.6 percent – 35-of-63 – from the field and out-rebounded the Tigers 33-20. Crouse led the way with 21 points and West added 19.

Layne Mastin came off the bench to chip in 11 points for East Mills.

Aiden Kennedy scored 12 points for Griswold.

Fremont-Mills 81,
Essex 34

Fremont-Mills built a 47-25 halftime lead and cruised to an 81-34 victory over Essex the Corner Conference Tournament opening round last Monday.

The Knights limited the Trojans to 32.6 percent shooting – 14-of-43 – and forced 24 turnovers in the win.

“As a team we wanted to be more proactive in our defensive denial of entry passes, and I think that limited a lot of easy touches for Essex,” said Fremont-Mills coach Chelsey Zimmerman.
Offensively, Taylor Reed led four Knights in double-figures with 18 points.

“We had production from a lot of different players on the court, which I like to see because it means our guys really took ownership of the concept of having five threats on the floor at a time,” Zimmerman said.
Paxten VanHouten had 14 points to go with his nine rebounds and four steals. JT Mahaney and Lucas Madison chipped in 10 each.

“Paxten had a huge night, which was great to see because sometimes the positive things that he brings to the court haven’t rewarded him in the stat book like they should,” Zimmerman said. “He stepped up offensively as a scoring threat and defensively as a presence on the boards.

Qwintyn Vanatta scored 22 points to lead Essex.