ST. MARYS – Led by Division 1 recruit Austin Parks and eight triples the St. Marys Roughriders raced past visiting St. Henry in Friday evenings non-league tilt 56-22.
St. Henry opened the game on a 5-0 run on baskets from Sam Koesters from inside and outside the three point line through the first two minutes but were unable to find themselves on the board again in the quarter.
Austin Parks first basket of the quarter with 6:25 left gave the Roughriders their first marker of the game and was quickly accompanied by a trio of makes by Brayden Sullivan and a three from Andrew Moore for a 7-5 advantage.
Moore splashed home two more shots from deep in the first quarter and Parks threw down a two handed fast break dunk as the home team finished off a 17-0 run just before the buzzer sounded.
Similarly to how they opened the game the Redskins struck first in the second quarter on a Koesters free throw and a triple by Bennett Gels to cut the lead to 19-9 but were able to add just one more basket, a three by Shane Franck with 1:27 left in the half while the Roughriders continued to shoot out the lights.
Joining Parks in the scoring barrage for the blue and gold was 6’6 sophomore Jace Turner who turned away a pair of Redskins shots and netted six points of his own to add to the nine from his teammate. St. Marys took their final score, a three point goal by senior Gavin Reineke and a 37-12 lead into the halftime stoppage.
Koesters once again broke a long spell without a point of over two and a half minutes in the third to cut the lead to 46-14 before a three by Jace Turner, his second of the quarter started the running clock with 4:33 left and a 49-14 Roughrider advantage.
St. Marys senior Kyle Steininger knocked down a shot from behind the arc for a 52-14 lead and his only make of the game before Reineke put the hosts on top 54-17 heading into the final eight minutes with his second make.
Turnovers punctuated the fourth period of play as the Redskins outscored the Roughriders 5-2 on baskets by Koesters and Gels for the final 56-22 margin of victory.
Next up for the Redskins (0-1) is a Saturday evening trip to Lima’s Lappin Gymnasium for a non-league battle against the defending WBL champion Indians. St. Henry was led in scoring by Koester who ended the night with 11.
St. Marys (2-0) was paced by Austin Parks with 18 and Jace Turner with 12, they will be home on Saturday as Route 66 rival New Bremen visits The Horseshoe in a non-conference affair.
Scoring:
St. Marys (56):
Andrew Moore 9
Kyle Steininger 3
Braeden Hemmelgarn 2
Brayden Sullivan 4
Gavin Reineke 5
Jace Turner 12
Evan Angstman 3
Austin Parks 18
FG: 23/45
3PT: 8/19 (Moore 3, Turner 2, Steininger, Reineke, Angstman)
FT: 2/7
REB: 24
TO: 5
St. Henry (22):
Bennett Gels 5
Shane Franck 3
Evan Bowers 2
Sam Koesters 11
John Hartings 1
FG: 7/31
3PT: 4/20 (Koesters 2, B. Gels, Franck)
TO: 17
REB: 21
JV: St. Henry 42-31
Freshman: St. Marys 54-51