Beulah escapes M-R

• Casey Duppong

Press Photo by Kyle Smith Beulah sophomore Casey Duppong, middle, tries to split Mott-Regent defenders Chad Mosbrucker, left, and Nate Fries, right, as Miners senior Kasey Schmidt, far left, watches the play during Monday night’s Region 7 boys basketball tournament quarterfinal game at Knights of Columbus Activities Center.

Talk about it

In its first game since winning the District 14 title in dramatic fashion a week ago, the Beulah boys basketball team hoped to continue its postseason ride as it faced Mott-Regent in the quarterfinals of the Region 7 boys basketball tournament.

Despite being outscored in the second half, the Miners held on to advance to the semifinals, beating the Wildfire 56-54.

“Close games are typically what you see this time of the year,” Beulah head coach Jeremy Brandt said. “You don’t see blowouts — teams battle to the end.”

With the win, Beulah (14-8) advances to tonight’s semifinals, where it faces Beach at 7:30.

Beulah jumped out to a 12-9 first quarter lead and never trailed until the fourth quarter. Mott-Regent tied the game four times in the second half before it finally took the lead with 6 minutes left in the fourth quarter.

“It seemed as if whenever they needed a big shot, Chad Mosbrucker hit it for them,” Brandt said.

With a game-high 23 points, the sophomore guard also added eight rebounds, Mosbrucker went 5 of 6 from 3-point range.

“It’s been fun to see these young guys step up and get better,” Mott-Regent senior Luke Honeyman said. “Chad has been keeping us in games all year.”

Trailing 27-25 at halftime, Mott-Regent was able to keep Beulah’s offense in check as it held a 16-8 advantage in points off turnovers.

Turnovers, however, also kept Mott-Regent from building a lead larger than three points in the second half.

“It just kind of seemed like we would get a run, and then they would hit some shots,” Mott-Regent head coach Don Schaible said. “We were just always playing catch up and that’s not our best game.”

Shooting just 2 of 16 from 3-point range, Beulah’s biggest lead of the game was 19-11, when Dustin Rueb hit a 3-pointer midway thought the second quarter.

“We are a perimeter-based team,” Brandt said. “We need to do a much better job at working the ball inside when we can’t get those outside shots.”

Mott-Regent (12-10) battled back in the second half as it outscored the Miners in both quarters, but free throws allowed Beulah to keep it close until the end. The Miners shot 10 of 13 from the line as the Wildfire went just 5 of 6 at the stripe.

“It was a good effort by our starters,” Rueb said. “But our bench did a great job keeping things close.”

Starting the fourth quarter on an 8-2 run, the Wildfire took their first lead of the game off a Mosbrucker 3-pointer. The 44-41 Mott-Regent lead was short-lived, however, as senior Kasey Schmidt scored four of Beulah’s next six points to reclaim the lead that it never relinquished.

With less than 40 seconds remaining, Mott-Regent was forced to foul and sent the Miners to the free-throw line.

Beulah went 5 of 6 from the line in the closing seconds and senior Logan Kessler secured the Beulah victory when he rattled in his first shot attempt with 10 seconds left.

On the final possession Honeyman scored the last two points of his high school career, as the clock hit zero and the buzzer rang.

“It’s been fun,” Honeyman said as he forced out a smile. “Seeing the young guys improve through out the year and making it as far as we did — it’s been a good time.”

MR 9 25 38 54

Beulah 12 27 39 56

MR: Chad Moshbrucker 23, Nate Fries 12, Luke Honeyman 10, McCahen Schweitzer 3, Jon Carlson 2, Tanner Vesledahl 2, Jonah Honeyman 2.

B: Dustin Rueb 17, Kasey Schmidt 16, Casey Duppong 13, Denver Unruh 5, Logan Kessler 3, Leighton Guthmiller 2.

3-pointers: Moshbrucker 5, Fries 2, Schweitzer 1, L. Honeyman 1, Rueb 1, Duppong 1. Free throws: MR 5-6, B 10-13. Total fouls: MR 17, B 12. Rebounds: MR 32 (Fries 9), B 31 (Rueb 9). Assists: MR 13 (Fries 6), B 12 (Unruh 5). Steals: MR 5 (Carlson 2), B 13 (Duppong 3, Unruh 3). Blocks: MR 1 (Fries), B 0. Turnovers: MR 15, B 14.

Tags: region 7 tournament, sports, preps, basketball