High hopes for Horsemen

PLAINS – The Horsemen accomplished their goal of competing at the Divisional Tournament last week. They faced off against the Loyola Sacred Heart Rams and the St. Ignatius Bulldogs. It was the first Divisional Tournament any of the current Horsemen had played.

In the game against Loyola, the Plains boys hung right with their opponents in the first quarter. They had 13 points compared to the 17 points of the Rams. Loyola stayed consistent and earned 17 points once again in the second quarter. The Horsemen made seven points and fell behind. The score going into the half was 20-34.

The third quarter was close like the first with Plains scoring 12 points and the Rams just doing one better at 13 points. Unfortunately, the last quarter mirrored the second and Loyola pulled ahead even further. The Horsemen earned 14 points and the Rams had 21 points. This made the final score 46-68.

Freshman Ryan Ovitt was the lead scorer for the Horsemen with 12 points which included three triples. Seniors Aaron Baker and James Rulison followed each with nine points.

With that, Loyola moved on and the Horsemen moved into the consolation bracket of the double- elimination tournament with another chance to fight back.

The Plains boys moved on to compete against the St. Ignatius Bulldogs for the right to continue.

The first quarter was tight and resulted in a tie at 16-16 going into the second. By the end of the first half, the score was still close even though the Horsemen had doubled the number of points the Bulldogs earned in the second quarter at eight to four. The score going into halftime was 24-20.

The Plains boys lost the lead after St. Ignatius had an explosive 23-point third quarter. The Plains boys put up seven and the score going into the last quarter was 31-44. The Horsemen rallied and outscored the Bulldogs in the fourth quarter but it was not enough to catch up after the third. The final score was 56-67 and the season came to an end for the Horsemen.

Ovitt lead his team again with 20 points. Kyle Revier followed closely with 15 and Freshman Alec Cole had 10 points.

Head Coach Russ Baker gave his thoughts on the game.

“In the third quarter there was that long stretch without baskets and then they got frustrated. They fought hard and played hard until the end and had 25 points in the fourth quarter,” he said. “We had it cut down to under 10 with a few minutes to go.”

All of the boys fought hard, but Coach Baker acknowledged Freshmen Ovitt and Cole for their performances in the tournament.

“Ryan was in double-digits both nights so he stood out pretty well,” he said. “Alec Cole had 10 points against Loyola which was good to see.”

Having talented players that are so young will undoubtedly help the Horsemen in the future.

Coach Baker is pleased with all the boys have accomplished this year and the progress they have made.

“They improved quite a bit from the start to the end. Thompson beat us pretty badly at the first tournament of the year then we beat them two times in a row,” he said. “Their goal was to make it to Divisionals this year and they accomplished their goal so I thought [the season] was pretty good.”

After two years with the Horsemen, Coach Baker will step down from coaching. He knew this would be his final season from the beginning. He is content with the decision and has high hopes for the future of the Horsemen.

“They were better this year than last year and I think they are going to continue to improve,” he said. “I think they are moving in the right direction.”