FULL REPORT: BEARCATS OUTLAST FLYERS

JEREMY WALTNER – PUBLISHER

Lance Friesen, head boys basketball coach at Freeman Public, needed just one word to describe the Flyers’ showdown with Freeman Academy/Marion last week.

“Ugly.”

That’s the adjective that quickly came to mind following his team’s 42-35 loss to the Bearcats in the second round of the Region 4B Tournament played at Sterling Hall Tuesday night, Feb. 28. And by “ugly,” Friesen didn’t mean nasty. He meant “far from pretty,” an accurate summary deduced in part by Freeman Public’s 26 turnovers, in part by Freeman Academy/Marion’s 1-for-17 showing from three-point range, and in part by a physical contest that only intensified as the game wore on.

There’s was a little edge to it, but that’s part of the game,” said Austin Unruh, head coach for the Bearcats. “Everyone gets a little chippy in a game like that, but overall I thought it was a good, clean, competitive environment.”

And he said the energy in the Sterling Hall gymnasium was a thrill.

That’s 100% what I anticipated,” he said. “I knew that they were going to play hard. I knew that we were going to play hard.”

And the defensive battle that unfolded, which caused both team’s offenses some problems, reflected well on both programs, Unruh said.

“I think that game showed that both defenses have been putting in good work.”

Friesen said the feel of last week’s game against the Bearcats — a little wild and a little sloppy — was actually to his liking given the context of it all.

“That’s our style a little but until we get a little older and smoother,” he said. “They’re a good team and we got what we wanted, which is a little bit of a scrum,” he said. “We didn’t want to get into a three-point shooting contest with them; we wanted to show we could defend.”

‘Oh, it was intense’

The Feb. 28 win over the Flyers was the second time in recent history and just the third time ever a boys basketball team from Freeman Academy won against Freeman Public. The Bearcats came from behind to edge the Flyers 62-60 in region play in 2017 and then famously took down Freeman Public 70-63 in the first round of the 1970 District 21 Tournament.

Last week’s game was every bit as close.

Freeman Academy/Marion struck first on a three-pointer by senior point guard Connor Epp — which would end up being the only three-pointer for the Bearcats all night — and then held an 11-4 advantage late in the first quarter. But three-pointers from seventh grader David Walter and freshman Luke Peters brought back the Flyers, who trailed 12-9 at the end of the first quarter.

The Bearcats maintained the edge in a back-and-forth second quarter and extended their lead to 21-15 on an Epp field goal inside. But the Flyers responded with a three-pointer from junior Rocky Ammann that made it 21-18, only to see FAM get the last word of the half when senior Matt Hagen connected on a layup in transition as the second quarter clock expired.

Unruh said the team was calm and confident at halftime despite a lead of just five.

“We missed a lot of shots we normally make, so the confidence was still there — as a coach you’ve got to bleed confidence,” said Unruh. I just encouraged the guys to continue doing what they were doing defensively, because defensively we were fine. We were just missing shots we normally made.”

That trend only continued in the third period, when the Flyers held the Bearcats to just three points.

“We have guys who can consistently get into the lane, and they were doing a good job of collapsing down and causing turnovers,” said Unruh. “We had a couple charges, we had some missed shots in there, and that was because of their defense.”

The Flyers, meanwhile, found a jolt of momentum thanks to back-to-back three-pointers from Ammann that brought Freeman Public to within one at 27-26 late in the third quarter, but FAM responded.

“I think our experience in big games made the difference,” said Unruh, who watched his team go on an 8-0 run in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter to open up a 35-26 lead — its biggest of the game. “We had some confident ball handles that were able to handle some situations when it got close and got intense.”

Unruh pauses, and then says, “Oh, it was intense.”

And the Flyers didn’t go quietly. A Walter three-pointer with 4:41 to play trimmed FAM’s lead to 35-31, and Freeman Public was within four at 39-35 with 23 seconds to play after a field goal inside from freshman Tate Sorensen.

But free throws from senior Maddox Kihne and Hagen sealed the deal, bringing the game to its 42-35 final and moving the Bearcats into the third round of the Region 4B Tournament.

The Flyers finished the season 5-16.

Summary

Friesen said turnovers in a big-game setting by a young Freeman team made the difference, but that the battle with Freeman Public was game-changing for a program on the rise.

“The experience is invaluable, especially against a team with a winning record, a team that has been really successful lately, and is well coached,” Friesen said. “It shows we’re there — or at least we’re close.

“Hopefully another offseason gets us where we want to be.

The Bearcats were led by Hagen’s 20 points. Epp went for 10 and senior Jess Bashige led the way with seven rebounds.

For the Flyers, Sorensen had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds while Ammann had 15 points and eight boards.