Despite Devine’s intervention, Rochester hangs on, beats Bremen

Seniors Prater, Reinartz, Baugher combine for 46

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

Owen Prater Tanner Reinartz Bryce Baugher

BREMEN — Owen Prater scored a season-high 18 points to lead three players in double figures, and the Rochester boys basketball team held on to beat host Bremen 52-48 on Saturday.

Tanner Reinartz added 15 points, and senior Bryce Baugher had a season-high 13.

Rochester (5-2) led by as many as 14 points and by as many as 12 in the fourth quarter, but Bremen closed to within 49-48 on a 3-pointer from Chase Devine with 29 seconds left.

But Carson Paulik split a pair of free throws with 23.7 seconds left to give Rochester a two-point lead, and after a Bremen turnover on a Silas Laidig moving screen foul, Baugher completed the scoring with two free throws with 13.3 seconds left.

Rochester made 14 of 18 free throws while Bremen made just four of eight. Bremen also committed 22 turnovers.

Rochester had 20 turnovers themselves. Rochester coach Rob Malchow said the team had to adjust to the permissive officiating.

“I think we showed a toughness,” Malchow said. “Obviously, the officials were really letting both teams play physical. I don’t even know if physical’s the right word. It was a browbeating, and both teams did it. And so I was just trying to tell the guys they’ve got to meet their passes and they’ve got to hold onto the ball strong because what you think should be a foul isn’t going to be a foul tonight. I thought the guys made the adjustment down the stretch, and then 14 for 18 from the line – I mean, that was everything. That’s what won the game on the road.”

Rochester trailed by as many as five in the first quarter but went on a 23-4 run covering the first and second quarters to seize control.

Prater and Reinartz had 14 of the 23 points during the run, and Prater, playing more of a point guard role, had assists on two Baugher layups.

Prater played point guard with regular point guard Drew Bowers limited due to two sore wrists suffered at a fall in practice on Friday.

“Drew got hurt in practice,” Malchow said. “He bruised his hands, right in the heel of his hands. He came down, and he hit the floor hard, almost like if you were jumping into a pool and you wanted to do a belly smacker. He did that on a wood floor, and his hands took the brunt of it. So his hands were bruised. He tried to go. He did as much as he could. But I thought Owen stepped up, and I thought Carson stepped up in his absence. … And Tanner, taking care of the ball the best they could because obviously Drew is usually the guy who takes care of it for us.”

Devine led Bremen (4-6) with 25 points, including 13 in the fourth quarter. Tyrus Graverson added 10.

Bremen is a new addition to Rochester’s schedule, so it was the Zebras’ introduction to Devine, a sophomore who came in averaging 22 points per game.

He hit three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter – a left corner triple that bounced high off the rim before landing that made it 42-36, a fallaway 3-pointer with two Rochester defenders in his face from in front of the Bremen bench that made it 48-45 and the aforementioned 3, a Tim Hardaway-style crossover with defenders on him.

“It’s like I tell the guys, when it’s the end of the a quarter, everybody becomes a really good shooter, and he’s already a good shooter,” Malchow said. “But when he had no choice but to shoot it in that fourth quarter because if he doesn’t, they can’t compete, all of a sudden, he just got hot. I thought we did a good job until he just decided, you know what, I’ve got to score, and he hit some tough shots.”

Devine scored on a driving lefty layup as part of an initial Bremen burst, and fellow sophomore center Riley Tener had two buckets on a putback and a flash in the post. Aden Hunziker tossed in a 3 as Bremen led 9-4.

But Prater, who was held scoreless against Northwestern in Rochester’s last game, drove the right baseline for a reverse layup, and Reinartz hit a 15-footer from the right baseline and a top-of-the-key trey to give the Zebras their first lead at 11-9.

Prater hit a free throw before Graverson drove and finished with a lefty finger roll.

Grant Clark found Jack Reffett for a layup just before the first quarter buzzer to get the lead to three, and the momentum continued into the second quarter.

With Bremen in a 2-3 zone, Prater cut for a layup and then hit two free throws. Prater found Baugher in transition for a layup and then again for another layup in the halfcourt. The lead was up to 22-11.

Bryce Miller hit a short banker, but Baugher drilled a 3 from the left wing – it was his first 3-pointer since the Winamac game on Dec. 6 – and Prater scored an unusual basket in which a pass was batted back to him which he turned into a layup to make it 27-13.

He called the game a “big confidence booster.”

“It was different because normally I’m up top, middle, or even down low, like a lot tonight I was when Drew wasn’t,” Prater said. “But I just think without Drew, it’s obviously always a challenge because he’s a great point guard, but when I’m able to get the ball, I worked a lot on that this summer, so it’s nice to be able to show it in games that I can handle the ball and be a point guard.”

Devine scored the last five points of the second quarter to cut the Lions’ halftime deficit to 27-18. He hit a 3 from the left corner in the third quarter to make it 35-30, but Prater scored twice in the post to restore a nine-point lead heading into the fourth.

Reinartz hit a 12-foot pullup off a turnover, and Jonas Kiser split a pair of free throws to get the lead to 42-30 with 7:27 left.

Devine had seven points during a chaotic 10-0 run, but Baugher led Reinartz to the bucket with a post pass for a layup to make it 44-40. Two free throws from Baugher and two free throws from Baugher made it an eight-point game with 1:46 left.

Rochester also won the JV game 38-33 behind a game-high 17 points from Brady Coleman. Parker Casper and Aiden Wilson had seven apiece, Mitchell Clark had five, and Conner Dunfee had two.

Rochester 52, Bremen 48

ROCHESTER (52) (5-2)

Drew Bowers 1 0-0 2, Carson Paulik 0 1-2 1, Tanner Reinartz 6 0-0 15, Bryce Baugher 4 4-4 13, Owen Prater 5 8-10 18, Jonas Kiser 0 1-2 1, Grant Clark 0 0-0 0, Jack Reffett 1 0-0 2, Xavier Vance 0 0-0 0

TEAM: 17 14-18 52

BREMEN (48) (4-6)

Chase Devine 10 0-2 25, Tyrus Graverson 4 2-2 10, Silas Laidig 0 0-0 0, Aden Hunziker 1 0-0 3, Riley Tener 2 1-2 5, Jack Wildauer 0 0-0 0, Wyatt Beasley 0 0-0 0, Luke Kincaid 0 1-2 1, Hartley Mitole 0 0-0 0, Maddux Hickman 0 0-0 0, Bryce Miller 2 0-0 4

TEAM: 19 4-8 48

Three-point field goals:

Rochester 4 (Reinartz 3, Baugher),

Bremen 6 (Devine 5, Hunziker)

Total fouls: Rochester 11, Bremen 16

Turnovers: Rochester 20, Bremen 22

Score by quarters

Rochester 14 13 12 13 – 52

Bremen 11 7 12 18 – 48

JV: Rochester 38, Bremen 33