Bowers lights up Eastern for 34, helps Rochester advance to sectional semis

Baugher adds 15, Reinartz 11; next up: No. 3 Manchester, 6 p.m. Friday

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

Drew Bowers Bryce Baugher

WABASH — Drew Bowers is a Comet killer.

The point guard for the Rochester boys basketball team outscored the entire Eastern (Greentown) team 22-19 in the first half and finished with a game-high 34 points as the Zebras rolled to a 64-51 win in a Class 2A, Sectional 38 quarterfinal at Coolman Gymnasium Tuesday.

Bowers’ output was his second most in a game. His career high of 48 came against Caston Jan. 28.

Caston, like Eastern, is nicknamed the Comets.

Bryce Baugher added 15 points, and Tanner Reinartz hit three 3-pointers in the third quarter as part of an 11-point night for Rochester, who improved to 17-5 and earned a sectional semifinal matchup with No. 3 Manchester at 6 p.m. Friday.

The win was Rochester’s first in a sectional game since 2021. Seniors scored all 64 points.

“These guys haven’t tasted a sectional win,” Rochester coach Rob Malchow said. “So it’s nice for these guys to get a win and know what it feels like to move on after three seasons.”

Colton Lindsay, a 5-11 junior guard and the nephew of coach Dr. Brad Lindsay, led Eastern (10-13) with 25 points. His backcourt mate Kyan Hannah added 11.

“They’re 17-5 for a reason,” coach Lindsay said. “They’re good. They’re experienced. They’re very well coached. They’re strong. They’re fast. It just causes us mismatch challenges. That being said, I’m very proud of our guys. I thought they fought hard. Through most of the first half we were there. Second half, we were always chasing them.”

Eastern’s only lead was 2-0. Rochester led by as many as 16.

Eastern cut what had been a 15-point deficit down to 50-42 when Lindsay stuck his fourth 3-pointer of the half with Carson Paulik in his face with 6:30 left.

Then came a moment of Zebra senior grit and desire.

Carson Paulik missed an open 3 from the left corner. Reinartz got the offensive rebound and then lined up a 3. That also missed, but Bowers retrieved the rebound and went up again from the left elbow as Eastern’s Perry Kochensparger flew out at him.

Bowers’ shot went in as Kochensparger fouled him. He missed the ensuing free throw, but Reinartz grabbed yet another offensive rebound after Owen Prater got an initial hand on the miss. Reinartz muscled home the putback to complete the four-point possession.

The lead was back up to 12.

Baugher hit two free throws with 4:21 left and then scored on a back cut off a Bowers assist after Eastern cranked up its ball pressure.

The lead was 16.

Lindsay and Kochensparger hit 3-pointers to cut it back to 10, but Baugher answered with two more free throws to make it 60-48.

After a Baugher steal from Lindsay, Bowers cut behind Hannah’s back and accepted Baugher’s pass from the corner for another layup. The lead was 14 with 1:22 left.

If the fourth quarter was more flee-flowing, then the second quarter was more of a taffy pull as both teams slowed down the other with their respective 2-3 zone defenses.

Eastern cut what had been an eight-point deficit down to 17-14 on two Lindsay free throws with 4:27 left.

A Baugher free throw and a Bowers triple after an offensive rebound got the lead back to seven.

But Tristan Armogum threw in an off-balance circus banker and was fouled and hit the free throw for a 3-point play.

Abe Edwards missed two free throws for Eastern, and Bowers fed Xavier Vance in the post for a bucket. But Edwards countered with a putback to make it 23-19.

Jack Reffett missed a 3-pointer from the corner, and Edwards rebounded and threw an outlet pass to Hannah, who threw a hit-ahead pass which led Lindsay to the rim.

Lindsay missed a layup, and Bowers cut into the lane and hit a 10-footer with 30 seconds left.

Then Reffett and Baugher swarmed Armogum, a freshman guard, and forced a live ball turnover. Bowers streaked toward the basket, took a hit-ahead pass from Baugher and laid it in with six seconds left.

Instead of potentially cutting the margin to two in the final minute, Eastern was down 27-19 at halftime.

“That was very key because up to that point, I felt like several of their points were off our turnovers,” coach Lindsay said. “So we actually, I felt like, could have had a lead at halftime. But we didn’t. Still, four points is one thing, but eight’s another.”

Vance did not start the game, but he did start the second half. Vance was playing in the back row of the Zebras’ 2-3 zone.

“I know what their coach had to be thinking,” Malchow said. “We’re preparing for the halfcourt trap, the 1-2-2, the 2-2-1, the fullcourt, it’s coming, guys. And they were ready. And then we went to a zone. And we’ve talked about that this year, and I thought our man-to-man, our ‘50’ defense, did a good job against them too. Number 20 (Colton Lindsay) got hot and stayed hot, but the nice thing with these guys is we can play anything within reason of opponents or matchups. We were able to play the zone and man that we don’t play a lot of sometimes, but you go back to your fundamentals and basics of tournament basketball.”

The Rochester momentum continued. Bowers scored in transition off a Bowers assist.

Lindsay hit two free throws with 7:03 left, but Reinartz scored his first points on a 3 thanks to a Prater kick-out assist from the short corner. There were two offensive rebounds on that possession before Reinartz’s trey.

And on the next possession, Reinartz hit another 3 after a Bowers inbounds pass to increase the lead to 35-21.

Lindsay hit a trey, but Bowers broke down the defense and hit an open Baugher with a bounce pass for a layup. A steal and layup from Bowers made it 39-24.

Reinartz’s third 3 of the quarter made it 46-31, but another Lindsay 3 and a Ke’Mari Butler transition bucket kept Eastern within 48-36 after three quarters.

Hannah hit a 3 to open the fourth, but Bowers hit an elbow pullup to make it 50-39.

“Drew was a load tonight,” Malchow said. “He was our answer to 20 (Colton Lindsay) and then some.”

Eastern came out in a 2-3 zone, but Bowers scored Rochester’s first eight points. A Baugher steal and layup and a Bowers 15-footer off a second chance made it 12-4.

After Kochensparger and Hannah hit 3s, Bowers hit from deep to push the lead back to five.

“He’s got the great combination,” coach Lindsay said of Bowers. “He’s confident. He’s experienced. He’s very skilled. And the only way you get skill is you put a lot of time in. So you can tell he puts a lot of work in.

“We didn’t stop him – clearly. What makes him hard is he can move without the ball. He’s quick. He’s fast. He’s smart. He has a high basketball IQ from playing a lot. He can shoot the 3s, so you’ve got to get out on him, but he can also drive right by you. And then he knows how to move without the ball, and his teammates know how to find him. … It takes teammates to make those 34 points happen.”

Rochester 64, Eastern (Greentown) 51

ROCHESTER (64) (17-5)

Drew Bowers 15 1-2 34, Carson Paulik 0 0-0 0, Bryce Baugher 5 5-6 15, Tanner Reinartz 4 0-0 11, Owen Prater 1 0-0 2, Jonas Kiser 0 0-0 0, Grant Clark 0 0-0 0, Jack Reffett 0 0-0 0, Xavier Vance 1 0-0 2

TEAM: 26 6-8 64

EASTERN (GREENTOWN) (51) (10-13)

Kyan Hannah 4 0-0 11, Colton Lindsay 8 4-4 25, Tristan Armogum 1 1-1 3, Perry Kochensparger 2 0-0 6, Will Brown 0 0-0 0, Ke’Mari Butler 2 0-2 4, Abe Edwards 1 0-2 2

TEAM: 18 5-9 51

Three-point field goals:

Rochester 6 (Bowers 3, Reinartz 3),

Eastern (Greentown) 10 (Lindsay 5, Hannah 3, Kochensparger 2)

Total fouls: Rochester 12, Eastern (Greentown) 12

Turnovers: Rochester 9, Eastern (Greentown) 13

Score by quarters

Rochester 15 12 21 16 – 64

Eastern 12 7 17 15 – 51