PREP BOYS BASKETBALL: Fuchs, defense key Eagles

By Dan Larson, Sauk Prairie Eagle

Tyler Fuchs did all he could to make sure it didn’t happen like it did, but after missing the second of two free throws with 7.9 seconds to play, the best he could do was hope for the best.

“I saw that thing hit the rim, and I was like, ‘Please don’t go in, just please don’t go in.’” the Sauk Prairie senior guard said of his reaction to a tying 3-point try by Oregon’s Evan Ackers. 

In fact, it fell halfway through the cylindor before spinning out, making sure Fuch’s game-best 18-point effort wasn’t wasted and giving the Eagles a 44-41, non-conference win at Sauk Prairie High School.

“Matt (Rudig) got the rebound, and I knew we were good then. It was a good, deep breath – a sigh of relief for sure,” Fuchs said.

So, too, was it a sigh of relief for Eagles’ coach Tim Marshall, who not only got to celebrate this win — which he did with outstretched arms and a fist pump — but also his birthday with cake and congratulations afterward.

“I thought this was as important a game as we had this year,” he said, ignoring the fact it was his birthday and pointing out this one was significant because it was the first of a stretch that has the Eagles playing seven of eight at home.

Sauk Prairie (9-6) needed to come-from-behind to earn it, too. The Eagles trailed 35-30 entering the fourth after struggling to score for much of the third before Rudig’s 3 from the top of the key at the buzzer gave them some momentum.

The Eagles still trailed 39-34 with a little more than 5 minutes to play, but then came the defense. Rudig made 3-of-4 free throws then Drew Carden made a pull-up jumper from the top of the key with 3:58 left to tie it at 39.

Fuchs, who led all scorers with 18 points, putback his own miss to give Sauk Prairie the lead with 2:15 left, then made 3-4 free throws down the stretch to keep the Eagles out front.

“We try to play five-as-one,” said Fuchs, who entered averaging just less than 5 points per game. “We know anyone on our team can score 10, 15 points a game. It doesn’t really matter who. If we work as a team, we’ll be fine.”

Oregon’s (3-10) only field goal in the final 5:10 of the game came from Adam Gorman, whose lay-up with 9.6 seconds to play ensured Ackers a chance to win at the end.

From the get-go, it seemed it was going to be Fuchs’ night. His steal — the first of three for him in the game — and breakaway lay-up opened the scoring 30 seconds into the game, and he finished with nine in the first half to help keep the Eagles within 25-21 at halftime.

The most Sauk Prairie trailed by was eight at 35-27 before Rudig’s third-quarter closing 3.

“It was a good comeback,” Marshall said, adding: “Our offense isn’t a well-oiled maching right now, so sometimes when you’re down eight, it’s more like being down 16. That’s when you have to be able to play defense like we did in that fourth quarter.”

Oregon coach Shelton Kingcade agreed, adding the Eagles’ simply played better from start-to-finish to earn the win.

“They executed their gameplan all the way to the end, that’s the only difference. We executed our gameplan, we didn’t finish,” Kingcade said. “They were poised down the stretch, they never wilted under the pressure.”

 

Oregon 11 14 10 6 — 41  

Sauk Prairie 15 6 9 14 — 44 

OREGON: Ackers 9, Hinz 8, McCauley 2, Keuler 2, Byrne 10, Gorman 10. Totals (field goals-free throws made-attempted-points) 18 2-3 41.

SAUK PRAIRIE: Matt Rudig 8, Drew Carden 7, Travis Breunig 5, Derek Sullivan 4, Jay Kuenster 2, Tyler Fuchs 18. Totals: 16 10-16 44.

3-point goals: Oregon 3 (Hinz 2, Ackers 1). Sauk Prairie 2 (Rudig 1, Carden 1). Total fouls: Oregon 15, Sauk Prairie 10.