Hayfield senior center Mark Oelkers broke down into tears after Thursday’s 61-54 Section 2AA East Sub-section victory over United South Central, not because he was overjoyed with winning, but because he knew it might have been his last game.

Tuesday, March 12, 2002

Hayfield senior center Mark Oelkers broke down into tears after Thursday’s 61-54 Section 2AA East Sub-section victory over United South Central, not because he was overjoyed with winning, but because he knew it might have been his last game.

The 6-4, 240-pound post played a pivotal role in the Vikings’ sub-section semifinal triumph, but a family vacation scheduled to begin on Monday prevented Oelkers from participating in the finals. His presence was sorely missed by the Vikings (13-13), who lacked the size necessary to defend Waterville-Elysian-Morristown’s top scorers in a 68-53 loss at Minnesota State University in Mankato Monday night.

The Buccaneers (25-4) got a combined 35 points from 6-6 center Lance Warner and 6-4 swingman John Kunelius to move into the Section 2AA finals Friday night against Minnesota Valley Lutheran. The winner will advance to state, where Hayfield has been prevented to return after last year’s runner-up effort.

"We knew that we were the big underdog," Hayfield coach Chris Pack said of Monday’s match with WEM. "I was happy with the effort we gave, they never quit."

"It always hurts to lose, but we have reason to be proud that we got that far."

Hayfield held an early led over WEM, but the Buccaneers’ size wore down the Vikings’ interior defense, which unfortunately did not include Oelkers. Cody Hegna and Bryan Oelkers held their own against a strong pair of posts, but Hayfield still had trouble preventing Kunelius and Warner from scoring.

The Vikings trailed 33-25 at the half, and after David Johnson’s layup to start the scoring in the second half, Hayfield got no closer than six. Once WEM’s lead reached 10, the Bucs never allowed the advantage to fall below that plateau through the remainder despite shooting 3-16 in the third quarter. Hayfield, however, netted only one field goal in the third quarter.

"If we were going to win we were going to have to shoot well, and we didn’t," Coach Pack said. "We had a lot of open looks, we just couldn’t knock ’em down."

Over half of Hayfield’s field-goal attempts were from beyond the three-point arc, but WEM surprisingly matched the Vikings’ long-range attack. Hayfield was 9-27 from three-point land, while WEM was 8-18.

"I didn’t expect them to hit that many," Pack said.

The Bucs shot nealry 50 percent (28-57) from the field while controlling a 34-28 rebounding advantage. Hayfield netted only 32 percent (17-53) of their field goals in their season-ending loss.

"They were just too big," Pack said. "Not having Mark really hurt us, just rebounding and post defense. Offensively we had no inside game."

WEM’s Warner scored nine of his game-high 19 in the fourth quarter, while the Vikings countered with 10 of Johnson’s 17. The freshman sensation nailed three threes in leading the team in scoring for the second time this postseason. The team’s leading scorer entering the game – junior point guard Tyler Kramer – shot 0-4 from three-point land.

Johnson overtook Kramer for the first time in total scoring in the last game of the year. Johnson finished with 409 points and Kramer tallied 407, setting the stage from a strong season in 2002-03.

"It helped to look into the future with as much as we have returning next year," Pack said. "We had our opportunities, but when we needed them, the shots didn’t fall."

Junior swingman Bryan Oelkers scored 11 points and led the Vikings with nine rebounds and three blocked shots, while Kramer added nine points and six assists.

Four seniors ended the season with Hayfield – Nick DeMaria, Ted Simonson, Mark Oelkers and Randy Gebhart. DeMaria shot just 1-6 from three-point range and finished with three points. Gebhart added a trey and Simonson scored one point.

Call Ross Thede at 434-2234 or e-mail him at sports@austindailyherald.com.

Boxscore:

HAYFIELD (53)-Nick DeMaria 3, Brandon Boulion 0, Cody Hegna 2, Ted Simonson 1, Brock Greenhagen 0, Tyler Kramer 9, Bryan Oelkers 11, Shawn Colucy 0, Drew Wanzek 1, Randy Gebhart 3, David Johnson 17, Bradey Perrigo 0, Cody Schieck 0, Weston Hanson 0, Ryan Sowers 6.

WEM (68)-Bryan Woitas 2, Dane Roemhildt 7, Dave Kunelius 3, John Kunelius 16, Cody Wagner 0, Brian Rupe 8, Brent Vollbrecht 2, Lance Warner 19, Kory Green 1, Mike Anderson 2, Brian Vollbrecht 8.

Hayfield 13 12 5 23 – 53

WEM 16 17 10 25 – 68

Free-throws-Hayf 10-16; WEM 4-9. Three-pointers-Hayf 9-27 (Johnson 3, B.Oelkers 2, Sowers 2, DeMaria, Gebhart); WEM 8-18. Rebounds- Hayf 28, WEM 34.