Game 68: Orion @ Monmouth-Roseville (Boy's Basketball)

Game 68
(1/22/10)
Orion @ Monmouth-Roseville (Boy's Basketball)

The Orion/Monmouth-Roseville matchups over the last couple seasons have provided some great games for fans in attendance. The first meeting between these two teams left a lot to be desired for. The teams managed to turn the ball over 20+ times and Orion held on for a 59-51 win.

With the small Monmouth-Roseville High School gym sure to be packed like sardines in this one, I wanted to get there early and conduct both pregame interviews before tipoff of the JV game. I've said it numerous times, the Monmouth-Roseville gym is just not an easy gym to broadcast in. I feel claustrophobic, and trying to get up to my broadcast booth is a pain walking all over people in the bleachers.

I arrived at the gym around 5:30. There were already quite a few fans at the gym and both sophomore teams were already warming up. It was a pretty sultry night in the gym, one of the hottest gyms around.

After getting most of the equipment set up, I walked down and spoke with Orion head coach Brent Hutton. His team is ranked (#5) in Class 1A this week and comes in with a (14-5) record. The Chargers had a set back on Tuesday in Olympic Conference play, getting bit by the Sherrard Tigers, a team Monmouth-Roseville beat last Friday on their home floor. Coach Hutton said his team's guard play has really improved over the course of the season, and the turnovers have come down dramatically. We also spoke about (6'5" sophomore) Tanner Williams. He was a one-man wrecking crew in the first meeting between the teams, on both sides of the ball. I mentioned to Coach Hutton I remembered him playing at the JV level as a freshman, but didn't really recall his ability. He agreed, and said he really wasn't a dominant player at the JV level last year, but has been as a sophomore at the varsity level this year.

Tanner Williams played on the Martin Brothers Select 15-under AAU team this past summer, and that team won tournaments in New York City, Chicago, Milwaukee, took 2nd at the AAU Super Showcase in Orlando, and finished 14th at the Nationals.

After my talk with coach Hutton, I sat down with coach Chuck Grant of the Titans. We talked about Tuesday's ugly win at Farmington. Late in the game at Farmington, sophomore guard Drew Cole threw a pass right at a Farmington player. Grant said he was giving him some grief over that play, comparing it to Georgetown's Sleepy Floyd in that 1982 NCAA tournament championship.

Pat Repp joined me as the color analyst tonight, filling in for Jeff Thompson. We went on the air with a minute and a half as the JV game was a dead heat between the two teams. An exciting finish, in which the host Titans came out on top, 60-58.

The varsity matchup started out the exact same way, both teams trading baskets. One achilles heel (besides atrocious free throw shooting) for Monmouth-Roseville has been the final shot of a quarter. Tonight, though, that would not be the case. The final play went to Cory Jensen, who nailed the shot at the buzzer to tie the game after the first quarter, 16-16.

Monmouth-Roseville completely dominated Orion the first six minutes of the second quarter, going on a 16-4 tear. Alex Temple knocked down a couple three-pointers during that run. Orion seemed lost in this part of the game, and Tanner Williams sat much of the run. In fact, I believe he left the game with a second foul when the game was just a two-point deficit for Orion. He returned, and that Titans lead was at 32-18.

Once Williams was back in the game, Orion turned on their jets and rolled off a 7-0 run, in which the Titans looked a little rushed and lost during this part of the game. Again, in the final seconds, Monmouth-Roseville was able to get off a nice shot at the buzzer, with Markus Hunter draining a three-pointer, making it a ten point game at halfime (35-25).

The Chargers chipped in even further during the third quarter, outscoring the Titans 16-12 and it was 47-41 heading into the fourth quarter. To start the fourth quarter, the Titans had posession. Tanner Williams stole the inbounds pass and brought down the house with a thundering one hand slam dunk. He would later drive in for a two-hand slam.

With that dunk, the momentum swung in Orion's favor, although it had already begun to swing in their direction prior to that point, this was just an exclamation point. With that dunk, it was a 47-43 game, and Orion would score five more unanswered points to take their first lead since the final seconds of the first quarter, at 48-47.

The Titans only put up six points in the fourth quarter, all field goals by Markus Hunter, who finished with 17 points. Meanwhile, Orion scored 15 points in the final eight minutes and went 9-16) from the free throw line in the final quarter. Both teams struggled at the line, with Orion (13-23) and Monmouth-Roseville just (6-13) from the charity stripe.

Monmouth-Roseville had a shot to send the game to overtime in the waning seconds of the fourth quarter, as Alex Temple had a great shot from the wing, and the three-pointer was just off the mark and rimmed out. Orion won the game, 56-53.

Williams finished with 17 points for Orion, while his sophomore classmate Trent DeDecker added 10 points. Joining Hunter in double figures for Monmouth-Roseville was Alex Bresnahan with 10 points. Turnovers were a definite improved aspect of the team's play the second time around, with both teams turning it over 12 times. The Titans had eight of them in the second half.

After the game, I headed straight home down Route 67, with the IHSSN scoreboard to update, and a few hours of sleep before a four-broadcast Saturday ahead of me.

The Quest File Notes
Game 68
Date: 1/22/10
Result: Orion mounts comeback and beats Monmouth-Roseville 56-53
Miles: 70