BY fAICHAEL J. SCHMALTZ
The ball hit the backboard ;md
Senior StaH Writer trickled off the left side of the riill · -s1c. J1es;SjAJcws qii{'!J. as th~ Moeller student body The Moeller Crusaders ended . last week in .firm control> of the Greater ~atholic League basketball 'race after a 64-54 win over Chaminade Julienne Tuesday and a exciting 63-62 triumph over Elder · the following Friday. The Elder win gave Moeller a 91 conference record and two game lead over the second place Panthers ,with just two conference games :remaining. · . The Crusaders, 12-5 overall; should win .the GCL if they can get by remaining conference foes Roger Bacon tomorrow at Roger Bacon and J..aSalle next Friday. . Sandwiched between is a road date with Sycamore this Saturday, leaving Moeller head· coach Carl Kremer concerned about an upset. "Our scout said Sycamore is better than their record and could upset us," he said. · "They always play us tough and we were so high after Elder we'll have to come back to earth and work hard this week," Kremer said. The high from the Elder game is understandable. The contest featured a scenario most likely played out on every sandlot basketball court at one time or another. The situation: Score tied at 62, four seconds remaining in regulatioii. The star: Moeller's Bobby Brannen on the foul line for a would-be game-winning .free throw and for all intensive purposes a con~ ference championship. · He delivered. Moeller led 63-62. Brannen wasn't finished. He got · back on defense in time to alter a Pat Kelsey lay-up which would have won the game for Elder. Brannen jumped ·in front of the Panther guard and moved with him toward the baseline. 1
. mobbed the floor and carried Brannen off. "They executed a well-designed in bounds play and Bobby did a good job getting pack on defense," Kremer said. The junior forward finished with 28 points, hitting 12-of-13 from the floor and 4-of~5 from the foul line. "It was a nice win for us," he said."Our kids played real smart and kept their guards from penetrating. The only tirites Elder has lost n is when they've been held under 65 points. We were able to do that last Friday," he said. Moeller led 36-29 at the half and went up by 55-44 by the end of the third quarter, but Elder didn't die. The Panthers chipped away at· the Moeller lead while holding the Crusaders to just eight fourth-quarter points. . "They really didn't do anything special, just turned up the defensive . pressure," Kremer said. Moeller trailed 62-58 with about three minutes remaining. . "We had been playing zone, but went to a man trap and were able to cause some turnovers," Kremer said. The move paid big dividends when sophomore Brad Kc;:ating intercepted an Elder pass and fed · Brannen who tied the game at 62 on a fast break. · Elder brought the ball back with 40 se·conds remaining, ran the clock and tried to execute an inside 1backdqor cut. · Crusader junior forward Ron Wegmann deflected the pass which was recovered by senior guard Mike Bell. Bell was fouled and went to the· line for the ond-and-one. He missed th~ front end. . Brannen was there for the re]?ound and was fouled with four seconds
remaining. He made the second of two shots and the Crusaders held the one point lead. . Elder marked the second close call of the Crusader's week. The first came at the hands of Chaminade Julienne guard tandem Darnell Hoskins and Damon McGuire. Chaminade played the Crusaders · tough in the first half trailing by tive at the end of the frrst quarter · and just 36-30 at the half. "Chaminade's a good team and McGuire had a tremendous night. He took us off the dribble and combined for 21 points in the second and third quarters to stay in· the game," Kremer.said. Hoskins led all scorers with 25: Chaminade trailed 50-48 at the end of the third. They kept up offensive pressure to get Brannen in foul trouble. · · He left the game around the seven minute mark of the fourth quarter with the score tied at 52.·· "Chaminade runs the best fourcorner offense this side of North Carolina," Kremer said. "They brought the ball down and were content to hold it We let them because Brannen was out of the game," Kremer said. Chaminade held the ball until the four-minute mark before scoring inside and going up 54-52. · Moeller senior captain Joe Schin1pf stepped up and hit a threepointer, he had four in the game, on the Crusaders return trip down the floor and Moeller led by one. "Joe's basket was big because they couldn't hold the ball," Kremer said. Schimpf became a defensive asset on Chaminade's next possession when he drew a charge on a Hoskins drive with around 3:30 remaining, Brannen returned and subsequently scored to put the Crusaders
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on top 57-54. T!Jat . ba sk et sparked . with good free throw . Moeller surge wb· h . a 12-2 down the stretch . . shootmg Heilm'ann th. . IC featured a J D ree · · · Brannen led. M . . mark th -pomter at the 1·04 With 17, Schi · . o~ller scorers at put the to stay 62·54. . rusaders ahead and J. . mpf fimshed with 12 unwr guard Chri D .. . 11. . s eBow had Moeller sealed "t . I s ten point w1n
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