BP boys knock off JWP 71-50
Published 9:42 pm Thursday, March 1, 2012
Blooming Prairie's Gabe Kartes puts the ball up in the second half of their Section 1A-West Division tournament game against JWP in Blooming Prairie. - Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
BLOOMING PRAIRIE — It was pretty clear what Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton wanted to do from the first minute of their Section 1A West Division boys basketball quarterfinal game against the Awesome Blossoms Thursday.
Blooming Prairie's John Rumpza goes over JWP's Brandon Janike during the second of their Section 1A-West Division tournament game in Blooming Prairie. - Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
They wanted to take away inside and they did that — for one half. JWP put two or three defenders on BP freshman center John Rumpza in the first half, but he scored 11 of his 15 points in the second half as BP rolled JWP 71-50.
Blooming Prairie's Michael Thomas leaps into the lane on the way to the hoop against JWP in their Section 1A-West Division tournament game Thursday night in Blooming Prairie. - Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
“It means a lot (to get that kind of attention) and it really opens everything up for everybody else,” said Rumpza, who finished added eight rebounds, four assists and four blocks. “If you can get it into the post, pretty much everything is open.”
BP senior guard Ryan McCabe was the sole beneficiary of the attention Rumpza drew as he knocked down three three-pointers and scored 13 points.
“Whenever we play JWP it seems like they always collapse down inside,” McCabe said. “Personally I love it when they do that. You get the ball inside and they pop it back out and I get a shot. I feel if I’m open I’ll just take it. I’ve got confidence.”
BP opened the game on a 13-2 run and JWP never got closer than five in the first half. The Blossoms (12-13 overall) used a 12-0 run in the second half to make it a 61-37 game with 6:47 left.
The game was a far cry from BP’s two regular season matchups with the Bulldogs (7-18 overall), that saw each team win a close contest.
“We played one of our better games tonight. We took care of the ball and we did a good job on defense,” BP head coach John Bruns said. “We forced them to change their defense and come out on our shooters. Ryan McCabe’s threes were huge and it’s big to get points from him.”
Michael Thomas had 23 points and 10 rebounds for BP and Luke Hueman added eight points and seven assists.
“Luke’s really playing well right now,” Bruns said. “He’s not necessarily going to score a lot of points, but you can’t leave him open and he’s going to penetrate and make some really good decisions.”
Blooming Prairi'e s Luke Hueman drives past JWP's Billy Steinhauer during the second half of their Section 1A-West Division tournament game Thursday night in Blooming Prairie. - Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
BP will now play No. 2 seeded Goodhue (18-7 overall) in Mayo Civic Auditorium Monday at 7:30 p.m. The Wildcats beat BP 66-40 Dec. 8 in the second game of the season.
“That was a long time ago and at that point we had like five full practices,” Bruns said. “It was a close game with three minutes to go and it kind of got away from us. It should be another battle I think.”
JWP 22 28 — 50
BP 32 39 — 71
BP scoring: Michael Thomas, 23; John Rumpza, 15; Ryan McCabe, 13; Luke Hueman, 8; Gabe Kartes, 6; Alex Fiebiger, 4; free throws: 75 percent (18-for-24); rebounds: 30 (Thomas, 10); turnovers: 17
JWP scoring: Joshua Stockman, 18; Brandon Janike, 14; Sawyer Gahler, 10; Brett Bartelt, 4; Mason Zellmer, 2; Chad Ziemke, 2; free throws: 70 percent (16-for-23); rebounds: 20; turnovers: 14
