By Brian Hall
Crane, MO – You never want to lose. And you definitely don’t want to string many losses together. Both Conway and Crane were trying to right the ship with a win Friday night. Conway was able to get back on track earning a road win over the Pirates, 58-52.
“I would say that’s a great win for us,” said Bears Head Coach Jeff Cope. “We knew coming in that they [Crane] lost back-to-back games in the Blue and Gold Tournament and they weren’t going to be in a very good mood when we got here. They had something to prove. We lost to Fair Grove the first Tuesday out of Christmas break so we had something to prove, too.”
“It was just a great high school basketball game,” said Cope.
The Bears (5-5) had opened up a 10-point lead by the end of the third quarter after they finally started hitting some shots from beyond the arc. Gunnar Berger hit two from long range and scored eight points in the quarter; he had 13 points in the game.
Crane wasn’t going to do down without a fight, however. Coach Craig Campbell put it on line for his Pirates. “I told them it’s now or never. If you guys are going to play with the same effort we have been it’s not going to get any better,” Campbell said.
The teams traded baskets for much of the quarter as the pace of scoring increased markedly. And while Crane was scoring more, Conway was able to grow their lead to twelve points with 32 seconds left to play while riding the hot hand of Cody Delcour who hit three baskets from deep.
Brayden Cook hit a 3-point basket for Crane (6-5) with 23 seconds left to play. After a quick foul where Conway converted on one of two foul shots, Wyatt Vaught hit another 3-pointer to trim the lead to seven. After another one of two foul shots were made by Conway on their next possession, Cook hit a layup to get it down to six. But Conway didn’t have to inbound the ball as time ran out. Cook led the Pirates with 17 points.
Conway was paced by Tayler Simpson’s 22 points. Simpson hit several key free throws down the stretch to maintain the Bears’ lead. He was 7-for-8 from the line in the frame.
Coach Cope mentioned the contributions on offense from Simpson, Delcour, and Berger, but also had praise for post player, Tanner Pippins. “He may not ever be mentioned as one of the great players in my career in coaching, but to see how far he’s come from since junior high to where he is now is remarkable.”
Both teams had trouble finding any consistency scoring in the first half. The bears used a weaving, three guard offense against the man-to-man Crane defense. They were patient on offense and were often rewarded with shots in the lane.
Pippins had a big impact in the first half, filling the paint for Conway. The Bears’ junior had eight rebounds in the half and 10 for the game.
Crane will head to Strafford next week and face a tough Indians team. Conway will face Ava on Tuesday.
Crane:Â Â Â Â 8 6 11 27 – 52
Conway: 10 9 16 23 – 58
Crane: Branstetter, 2; Campbell, 7; Cook, 17; Elder, 12; Hayes, 4; Vaught, 6; Williams 4
Conway: Berger, 13; Delcour, 17; Pippins, 4; Simpson, 22; Wissbaum, 2
