Lost Lake Tribune Basketball Update 3/10/2011
When the Tigers Play, It's a Family Thing Guthrie Center 53, Iowa Mennonite (Kalona) 49 Guthrie Center High School cousins Brandon and Dustin Clark held an on-court family reunion Monday. The two combined to score 42 points in a 53-49 win over No. 2 Iowa Mennonite of Kalona in an Iowa Class 1-A state boys' basketball quarterfinal in Des Moines. Brandon finished with 22 points and Dustin added 20. Both are seniors. There's a third Clark, Justin, who's the twin brother of Brandon. The three of them have been teammates since they were old enough to play sports. "For the most part, all three of us got along," Brandon Clark said. Dustin scored 12 and Brandon added 11 in the first half to give Guthrie Center (20-7) its first state tournament win since 1996. Guthrie Center built its biggest lead at 43-32 with 7:14 left in the game. Iowa Mennonite rallied. Ethan Gingerich, who scored a game-high 18 points, hit a 3-pointer with 9 seconds to go to cut the lead to 52-49. He was able to attempt a game-tying basket moments later, but Brandon Clark gathered the miss. Clark hit a free throw to put the game out of reach. "I think we upped the pressure at the end," Gingerich said. "We started getting some more turnovers." Mennonite's Chance Miller also hit a 3-pointer in the final minute. "It was probably one of the longest 60 seconds of my life," Dustin Clark said. Brandon Clark made five free throws in the last minute. Dustin Clark, a 6-5 center, hit 10 of 14 field-goal attempts in the win. He also had 11 rebounds and blocked three shots. His inside play helped hold off Iowa Mennonite, which finished 24-2. The Tigers also have another family connection with the identical twins of Adam and Caleb Courtney. Adam is taller than Caleb but the two are nearly indistinguishable. Adam helped the Tiger all year by averaging 10 points a game as a starting forward. He added 8 points in this win, including two big 3-pointers. Adam and Caleb's dad, Mark Courtney, who has a sports history of his own, was interviewed after the game. http://www.kcci.com/video/27111937/detail.html Guthrie Center held an opponent to fewer than 50 points for the 20th time this season. "That's what we prided ourselves all year, is defense," Dustin Clark said. Mennonite coach Dwight Gingerich said he was proud of his team's rally. "They hung in there and executed," said Gingerich, Ethan's uncle. "We couldn't ask for a better opportunity." Coach Gingerich led the school to state for the 11th time. His career record is 533-141. The team will graduate three seniors. "I think we've got some good young talent coming up," Gingerich said. "Hopefully they can get back."
Information Gained from the Sports Editor, the Courtneys' oldest brother, Kyle Courtney and from http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20110307/SPORTS0811/303080007/State-boys-basketball-Guthrie-Center-tops-No-2-Iowa-Mennonite-in-1-A
Butler tops Milwaukee, headed back to NCAA tournament
Butler's back! The scrappy school from Indianapolis that came within two points of a national title last season and weathered a rocky ride this season will return to the NCAA tournament owning another big winning streak.
"It doesn't get old. It's not easy to win this game, it really isn't," said Howard, the tournament MVP. "We knew it was going to be rocking in here. The key is to jump on them, and we had to jump on them. We talked about that."
Butler (23-9) will get a chance to be the talk of the nation again and duplicate its wild run last year to the NCAA championship game that ended with a loss to Duke. In the process, the Bulldogs avenged losing to Milwaukee (19-13) for the third time this season.
"I thought we made some tough shots, I think we did some tough things," Butler coach Brad Stevens said. "It doesn't hurt when somebody beats you twice. You're pretty on edge and also, you've got to change, you've got to do something different. And we did."
The Panthers got 10 points apiece from Tone Boyle, Tony Meier and Anthony, but couldn't overcome a terrible shooting night, finishing 30 percent from the field. Milwaukee made its move when Ryan Allen's layup cut it to 42-39, but Butler answered with a 16-1 run and held the Panthers without a field goal for more than 7½ minutes.
"We didn't shoot the ball well, and we had some good looks," Milwaukee coach Rob Jeter said. "You're not going to win many games shooting the percentages that we shot. It's unfortunate it happened in this game."
Howard hit a layup, Shawn Vanzant added one and after a miss the Bulldogs got out in transition as Howard went through the lane for a two-handed slam that made it 48-39 with 8:13 left. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Chase Stigall and Mack put Butler ahead 54-40 with 5:21 left and well on its way to the school's seventh Horizon League tournament title.
"You can't be satisfied with where you are, just because you won a championship. There's more out there if you do the right things," Howard said. "We know what it takes, you can't relax now, I think that's key."
The Panthers mounted an 11-0 run early in the second half trailing by 15. Meier hit consecutive 3-pointers, the second when Butler's Andrew Smith fell into the crowd and made it a 5-on-4 on the other end. On Milwaukee's next possession, Boyle was fouled beyond the arc and made all three free throws and Allen's layup made it 38-34 as the game tightened but the Panthers never rallied all the way back.
"It's been a trademark of our program I think to withstand the storm and just be resilient," Stevens said. "Last year in the tournament, that fairy tale would've never been written if we didn't have that trait."
Butler opened up a big lead using a 14-0 first-half run after a stifling defensive effort and outworked Milwaukee, never more apparent than when the Bulldogs got two offensive rebounds on one possession before Smith's layup put Butler ahead 33-20 at the half.
The Panthers were looking for their fourth NCAA tournament appearance and had handed the Bulldogs their worst loss in nearly six years in early January, a glimpse of promise in an up-and-down beginning to conference play.
Milwaukee fell to 9-11 after a bad loss to Valparaiso, afterwards, the players responded with a win at Butler in overtime to start a streak of 10 wins in the next 11 games until last night.
Milwaukee will head to the NIT after winning the Horizon League's regular-season title.
The Bulldogs will once again be representing the Horizon League despite having as many black and blue moments as their uniforms this season.
Injuries on top of the departures of Gordon Hayward, Avery Jukes and Willie Veasley appeared to bring Butler down after a 14-9 start. Three players missed time with concussions and Mack did not finish several games early in the year with cramps.
Even Stevens had an issue. He wore contacts that were too tight, causing vision problems that forced him out of a game just over a week ago. He was diagnosed with a swollen cornea and has come back to the sideline sporting glasses. "These glasses are 2-0," Stevens noted. "I'm going to keep them."
NCAA Tournament Automatic Bids
Teams that have clinched automatic bids to the 2011 men's NCAA tournament:
| Team | Conference |
| Atlantic Sun | |
| Missouri Valley | |
| Ohio Valley | |
| Big South | |
| MAAC | |
| CAA | |
| Southern | |
| West Coast | |
| Sun Belt | |
| Horizon | |
| Summit |
Information Gained from: http://espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=310670270
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