P-C boys now 15-2 in conference

By SUE RIEDER
sports@beeherald.com

The Paton-Churdan boys basketball team kept on rolling this week with two more conference wins over Glidden-Ralston and Adair-Casey. This is an example of a group of kids who have worked very hard for several years to become a cohesive unit, and they are starting to reap the rewards by winning consistently.

The game with Glidden-Ralston on Jan. 30 was much like the first meeting of the two teams. The Rockets used their team speed to exploit the Wildcats on their home floor and get a resounding 58-39 victory. Jake Carey had 26 points when the teams played on January 2, and he lit it up for 33 this time. Paton-Churdan was in control the entire game and built up a double digit lead by half time. The home team started the second half with a 6-0 run, but the Rockets kept their composure and answered with a 9-0 run of their own, regaining the momentum for the remainder of the game. Paton-Churdan was successful on 45 percent of their shots from the field and got several high percentage shots after stealing the ball 16 times. Coach Chris Stimson was pleased with his team’s performance except for their free throw shooting where they were successful on only 12 of 25.

The Rockets got their second win of the week on Feb. 3, when they hosted Adair-Casey in Churdan and came out with a 69-54 win. Noah Juergensen had quite a night scoring 27 points and snaring 12 rebounds. Carey added 16 more points, grabbed nine rebounds, and led the team in assists and steals.

P-C had a very productive first half and led 43-23. After the first eight minutes, they was little doubt as to who would win the game. The Rockets successfully hit 50 percent of their shots from the field, and 70 percent of their free throws. They out rebounded the Bombers 33-21 and scored 16 second chance points after rebounding their own missed shots. P-C’s players on the bench contributed well, and out scored Adair-Casey’s non starters 11-0. This appeared to be a total team win. The Bombers were led by multi-sport athlete Emmitt Wheatley who also scored 27 points. The Rockets are sitting in second place in the conference, but will need to keep focused as they face Boyer Valley on the road this Friday. The Bulldogs are currently in third place with a 14-4 conference record, and are just waiting for P-C to have an off night, so they can move up.

Stats- Paton-Churdan vs. Glidden-Ralston
P-C (58) Scoring leaders- Jake Carey 13 4-5 33, Noah Juergensen 3 5-8 11, Colton Fitzpatrick 2 2-5 7. Rebound leader- Juergensen 8, Steal leader- Carey 8. Assist leader- Colton Fitzpatrick 4. 3-pt. goals- Carey 3, Fitzpatrick 1.
G-R (39) Scoring leaders- Reid Schlabach 2 4-6 9, Cameron Carroll 1 3-4 6, Blake Handlos 1 2-6 4, Wesley Reever 2 0-1 4, Noah Borkowski 2 0-0 4. 3-pt. goals- Schlabach 1, Carroll 1, Trent Wiederien 1.
Stats- Paton-Churdan vs. Adair-Casey
P-C (69) Scoring- N. Juergensen 12 3-3 27, Carey 6 3-3 16, Fitzpatrick 2 0-0 6, Joe Towers 2 0-0 6, Jacob Bundt 3 0-0 6, Chase Juergensen 2 0-0 5, Dylan Burgart 1 1-4 3. Rebound leaders- N. Juergensen 12, Carey 9. Assist leader- Carey 7. Steal leader- Carey 5. 3-pt. goals- Fitzpatrick- 2, Towers 2, Carey 1.