RRC, H-BC and Fulda advance in Sub-Section 3A South tournament

SLAYTON -- Utilizing the sizzling long-range shooting talents of senior guard Travis Vollmer, the sixth-seeded Red Rock Central Falcons prevailed Thursday night, claiming a hard-fought, 59-54, victory over Edgerton in an opening round game of the Section 3A South sub-section high school boys' basketball tournament.

Vollmer, who sank a 3-pointer from the left corner on the game's first possession, netted three straight treys early in the second half to help the Falcons hold off several gallant charges by the 11th-seeded Flying Dutchmen.

Vollmer, in fact, scored RRC's first 11 points of the second half before finishing the contest with a team-high 21 points, including 16 in the second half.

"Edgerton was doing a great job of plugging up the inside," explained RRC head coach Brian Walker. "We were fortunate that we were able to make seven 3-pointers in the game and stay on top."

After Vollmer's opening basket, the next minutes featured lots of hustle, several steals by each team -- and a bunch of defensive rebounds off of missed shots, as neither team could score.

At the 11:24 mark of the first half, Edgerton's D.J. Berning sank a long 3-pointer from the left wing, giving his team an 8-6 lead.

Berning, who finished with 23 points, two assists and three steals, scored Edgerton's first 10 points and had 12 of the Dutchmen's 14-point halftime total.

The Falcons, who improved to 16-8 with the victory, responded to Berning's barrage with a 16-2 run to turn a 10-6 deficit (at the 9:56 mark) into a 22-12 lead with 22 seconds left in the half.

Blake Walker, who scored 11 first-half points, capped the run with a nifty baseline move after receiving a return pass on an inbounds play.

Holding an eight-point lead (22-14) to start the second half, Vollmer (three steals) gave the Falcons a 10-point advantage with a steal and a lay-up on the first play following intermission.

Edgerton trimmed the lead to 24-18 on a pair of baskets by Chace Hulstein -- both off of feeds from Brady Vander Waal -- before RRC's Eric Altermatt (four assists) made the extra pass to Vollmer in the right corner and Travis delivered, lifting the Falcons up, 27-18.

Both offenses heated up after this, as the pace of the game -- and the scoring -- picked up.

"In the first half the pace kind of favored Edgerton," said Walker. "But when we switched to man-to-man, we got the tempo going our way."

Edgerton, however, seemed to like the faster pace too, as Hulstein (10 points, six rebounds) and Alex Heard joined Berning in taking turns lighting up the Dutchmen side of the scoreboard.

With RRC holding a 30-22 lead, Berning -- then Vollmer -- and then Berning again exchanged 3-pointers in a span of less than 30 seconds, making the score 33-28 with about 12 minutes to play.

Thirty seconds later, Walker's trey (on an assist from Altermatt) from the left wing increased the advantage to 36-28 and on RRC's next possession Walker (three assists) fed Josh Fredrickson (12 rebounds, eight points) inside and the Falcons had a 10-point lead.

That's when Heard, Hulstein and Berning combined for 10 points, trimming RRC's lead to 42-38 with 7:21 to play.

But 15 seconds later, Vollmer answered with his fifth 3-pointer of the game and RRC was back up seven.

Heard (nine points) swished a trey from the corner, cutting the lead to 45-41, but Walker found Travis Erickson (six rebounds, six points) inside for another basket for the Falcons, making it 47-41.

Vander Waal scored on a nice drive, cutting the margin to 47-43 with 6:15 to play.

Walker's 10-footer in the lane gave RRC a 49-43 advantage with 5;25 remaining, but Edgerton's Brandon Gunnink (six rebounds) slashed inside for a hoop, bringing his team back to within four.

A free throw by Vander Waal (three assists) cut the lead to 49-46, but RRC's Jordan Wetter hit a shot from the left elbow to put his team back up five, 51-46, with 4:12 to play.

Down the stretch, Altermatt made five free throws, Vollmer made a pair and Walker sank one, as the Falcons held off Edgerton's final rally, which included baskets by Gunnink and Berning, making the score 54-50.

With 53 seconds left, Edgerton's Jordan Bouw (#53) sank a 3-pointer, cutting the lead to two points, 55-53. Altermatt's two free throws pushed the lead back to four, before Altermatt, Heard and Altermatt each made one of two from the line to close out the game's scoring.

Edgerton finishes its season at 4-20, while RRC advances to play third-seeded Adrian in Saturday's fourth quarterfinal game at 6 p.m. in Worthington.

Edgerton 14 40 -- 54

RRC 22 37 -- 59

Edgerton (3FG-2FG-FT-TP) Vander Waal 0-1-1-3, Berning 5-4-0-23, Heard 2-1-1-9, Gunnink 0-2-0-4, Hulstein 0-4-2-10, Bouw 1-1-0-5. Totals 8-13-4-54

Red Rock Central (3FG-2FG-FT-TP) Vollmer 5-2-2-21, Wetter 0-1-0-2, Walker 2-4-3-17, Altermatt 0-0-5-5, Erickson 0-3-0-6, Fredrickson 0-3-2-8. Totals 7-13-12-59

H-BC 63, SSC 60 OT

EDGERTON -- Despite SSC's James Anderson tying the game on a trey with 30 seconds left in regulation, the Patriots (11-13) scored on five free throws in overtime to pull out a victory Thursday night in the opening round of the Sub-Section 3A boys' basketball tournament.

With the victory, the Patriots advance to face No. 1 Ellsworth at 1 p.m. Saturday in Worthington. The Quasars end their season with a 9-16 mark.

Halden Van Whye led the Patriots with 22 points, 11 rebounds and five steals. Andrew Scholten added 20 points, while Terence Reid had 14 points and Karic Wiertzema finished with eight assists.

Ben Scheevel led the Quasars with 22 points to go along with 15 rebounds. William Cranston added 13 points for SSC.

SSC 33 27 (2) -- 60

H-BC 28 32 (5) -- 63

Fulda 59, RL-B 53

EDGERTON -- Alex Hein scored a game-high 26 points to lead the Fulda Raiders (10-13) past the Round Lake-Brewster Raiders Thursday night in the opening round of the Sub-Section 3A boys' basketball tournament.

With the victory, Fulda advances to face Southwest Christian at 4:30 p.m. Saturday in Worthington. With the loss RL-B ends its season with a 7-17 record.

Tom Kuhl added 19 points for Fulda, while David Crowley pulled down nine rebounds and dished out 10 assists.

Round Lake-Brewster was led by Cole Baumgard with 21 points. Riley Van Westen knocked down 16 points, while Tim Haberman finished with 10 points for RL-B.

RL-B 26 27 -- 53

Fulda 29 30 -- 59