Coach Mike Lang said he liked the way members of his Trinity Lutheran boys basketball team distributed the points in an 83-68 win over New Washington in the Bollinger Athletic Complex on Saturday night.
Kowan Gross scored a career-high 24 points, Levi Pottschmidt netted 17, Reed Mellencamp finished with 16 and Hudson Lang scored 14 as the Cougars scored their highest point total of the season.
Different Cougars put the ball in the basket at different times during the game.
Mellencamp made two 3-pointers and scored 10 in the first period when the Cougars held a 21-17 lead. Mellencamp and Lang both made two 3s in the second quarter as the Cougars held a 38-35 lead at the half.
Gross was a force inside in the third period with five baskets and a total of 13 points. Plus, he had three rebounds.
Lang, Pottschmidt and Charlie Hackman drilled 3-pointers in the final quarter, and Gross stayed strong inside with three goals.
“We came out in the third quarter and had a set for Kowan, and he got an and-one out of it and he was kind of propelled, and it just built his confidence up,” coach Lang said.
“He got stronger and stronger. We see it every day in practice, and he carried it off and had a great game tonight. All year long, we’ve been looking to get a third scorer going, and Kowan has been giving that to us lately.
“We’ve got to keep him consistently scoring, and it’s going to keep things opened up for our guards, and if they try and collapse on him, Pottschmidt got his shot going tonight, and if we can get Levi, Hudson and Reed going from the outside, that is going to open up things up on the inside.”
The Cougars held a 10-8 lead midway through the opening period before Mellencamp, then Pottschmidt, then Mellencamp again hit shots from beyond the arc to spark the home team to the 21-17 lead.
Lang and Mellencamp each made two 3s during the first four minutes of the second quarter to give Trinity a 33-22 lead before the Mustangs closed the gap to 38-35 at the break.
Gross converted his 3-point play on Trinity’s first possession of the third period, and he scored his baskets throughout the quarter.
He said this is the second time he has scored in the 20s against the Mustangs as he scored 20 against them last year.
“That helped scoring right off at the start of the second half,” Gross said of his 3-point play. “I think once that first shot went in, everyone thought, ‘Let’s just keep getting the ball to him’ and they would throw it to me and I’d score, and that is what really got it going. No one was told to do it. It just kind of happened.”
The Cougars have won two in a row, and Gross said, “We need a good week of practice, and hopefully, we can keep this streak going.”
New Washington’s Mason Arthur topped all players with 30 points, including seven 3-pointers.
Lang said, “Mason Arthur is a big-time scorer. He can score in bunches, and he can score a lot of different ways. He proved that tonight. We tried to run two different guys at him, and sometimes, it opened up another person, and they hit (13) threes. We hadn’t seen them hit those shots all year, but they stepped up and hit them tonight, and thankfully, we were able to put some big points on the board.”
The Cougars (5-9) will travel to Shawe Memorial Friday night.
“Now, we’ve just got to tighten things up on the defensive end,” Lang said. “We know if we want to advance in the tournament, it’s got to get done on the defensive end, and that is something we’re going to continue to work on. The guys are having fun. They’re working hard every day in practice, and it’s showing on the floor. Overall, we played well tonight.”
Trinity Lutheran 83, New Washington 68
Trinity (5-9); 21; 17; 24; 21;—;83
New Washington (2-12); 17; 18; 14; 19;—;68
Trinity Lutheran (5-9): Levi Pottschmidt 6 2-2 17, Kowan Gross 11 2-3 24, Peyton Pollert 2 0-0 4, Hudson Lang 5 1-2 14, Reed Mellencamp 6 0-0 16, Kade Gillaspy 2 1-2 5, Charlie Hackman 1 0-0 3, Luke Schepman 0 0-0 0, totals 33 6-9 83
New Washington (2-12): Mason Arthur 12 0-2 30, Connor Shaffer 5 1-1 14, Landon Bowen 1 0-0 3, Amos Bell 4 2-2 11, Miguel Hessig 4 1-4 10, Danny Hostetler 0 0-0 0, totals 26 4-9 68
3-point goals: Trinity (Mellencamp 4, Lang 3, Pottschmidt 3, Hackman), New Washington (Arthur 7, Shaffer 3, Bowen, Bell, Hessig)
Rebounds: Trinity 25 (Gross 6, Pottschmidt 5 Pollert 5), New Washington 19 (Hessig 6)
Fouls: Trinity 12, New Washington 11
Turnovers: Trinity 5, New Washington 7
Junior varsity
Trinity Lutheran 24, New Washington 1
Trinity Lutheran: Luke Schepman 10, Levi Curry 6, Bode Brooks 5, Braxton Sinclair 2, Logan Schepman 1.