Second-half scoring drought dooms Pioneer in sectional loss to DeMotte Christian

McFatridge, Rine, Scott score 8 each for Panthers

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

Gabe Scott Phillip McFatridge

FULTON — The Pioneer boys basketball team came into their postseason opener 5-1 in games in which they scored at least 50 points.

Of course, that also meant they were 2-14 in games in which they did not score 50.

Against DeMotte Christian in a Class 1A, Sectional 50 quarterfinal at Caston Wednesday, a scoring drought of nearly seven-and-a-half minutes doomed them to another night under the half-century mark.

Meanwhile, that was the winning number for the Knights in a 50-36 triumph that ended the Panthers’ season.

Tony Bos, DeMotte Christian’s lanky 6-6 guard, had a double-double with 22 points and 10 rebounds, and Tanyon Bakker added 12 points.

DeMotte Christian upped their record to 20-4 and earned a meeting against Caston in the semifinals at 7:30 p.m. Friday. Caston routed North White 69-24 in Wednesday’s other quarterfinal.

Phillip McFatridge, Shiloh Rine and Gabe Scott scored eight points each to lead Pioneer, who finished 7-16. Pioneer’s only lead was 2-0.

The game was the last for seniors Micah Rans, Xander Bullock, J.J. Solano and Jaxson Merrick. Rans, who came back midseason after recovering from a fractured leg suffered during Pioneer’s run to the state finals in football, scored four points – he did not score after the first quarter – with multiple shots in the second half spinning in and out of the rim.

Meanwhile, Bullock’s 3-pointer in the final minute garnered perhaps the loudest cheer for Panther fans.

Scott shrugged off early foul trouble – he picked up his second just 1:38 into the game – and drilled a 3-pointer to cut what had been a nine-point deficit down to 26-23 with 6:38 left in the third quarter.

Pioneer would not score again until there was 7:04 left in the game.

Bos scored on a putback, and he found Ben Eisses for a layup. Connor Zylstra’s putback got the lead to nine. After a DeMotte Christian timeout, Bos stole a floating Lane Weldy pass into the high post, charged into the frontcourt, established his pivot foot and turned around and banked in a 10-footer.

A Bos 3-pointer off a Titus Terpstra assist bumped the lead to 14.

Pioneer never got closer than 11 after that.

“A little bit of everything,” Pioneer coach Darren McKaig said of the drought. “We had a few shots go in and out. Of course, their height bothered us a little bit and affected that. Maybe there were some fouls … some contact inside that went one way and didn’t go the other. But we’ve had droughts like that all year. We were trying to call timeouts and trying to focus on offense. Hey, we’ve got to score to flip the momentum and give us some adrenaline so we keep playing defense.

“We expended so much energy on defense in the first half that we were just kind of a step slow in the second half. … Not having enough subs that can really contribute in the game.”

DeMotte Christian coach Ethan McCammack credited Bakker with the defense on Rans.

“Nothing jumps out,” McCammack said of his team’s defense in the third quarter. “It just looked like that’s what we had been practicing all year. I challenged them in a timeout and at half. Hey, we’ve worked on this all year. This doesn’t look like us. It was a little sloppy. It’s the beginning of sectionals. Nerves take over. And so, it looks like we settled into our defense, especially in that second half.”

DeMotte Christian was coming in off a 61-58 win over Winamac Thursday in their regular season finale. Winamac’s defensive average of 35.7 ppg ranked No. 1 in the state, but DeMotte Christian bombarded nine treys over the top of it.

But in the first half Wednesday, DeMotte Christian had more turnovers (nine) than field goals (eight). 

Still, Bakker and Terpstra hit treys as the lead reached 20-13. Rine scored on a turnaround banker on an inbounds play, but Bakker found Bos for a layup and then scored himself after a steal and a pullup banker.

The lead was up to nine.

But that is when Pioneer took some momentum to the locker room.

A Scott post-up led to a 3-point play. Then came a transition layup from Lane Weldy off a McFatridge steal and Rans hit-ahead pass. They were within 24-20 at halftime.

“We were dreading Pioneer,” McCammack said. “Because they have some funky scores. They can keep games close. They’re really very scrappy with those zones. So that was a big emphasis – recognizing what they were doing. They were not going to go down without a fight. We knew that. Credit to coach McKaig. He did a great job getting them prepped. But I was proud of our boys for slowing down. Sometimes it’s hard for us.”

Pioneer’s eighth-graders completed an undefeated three-year run earlier this winter. Combined with Scott, McFatridge, Rine, Weldy and sophomore guard Ronny Layer, Pioneer has the basis of a team for 2026-27.

But Wednesday might have been more about saying goodbye to Rans’ contribution to the program.

“He played six games on a broken leg in football,” McKaig said. “How easy it would have been for him to just sit basketball out. And he knew that we needed him. A half a season is better than nothing. You saw his impact tonight, especially in the first half. He was able to drive in and get some buckets for us. But if he’s not out there, other teams would press us more. He’s completely valuable in ways we don’t even know.”

DeMotte Christian 50, Pioneer 36

DEMOTTE CHRISTIAN (50) (20-4)

Ben Eisses 1 0-0 2, Tony Bos 7 4-4 22, Tanyon Bakker 4 2-2 12, Nate Rottier 1 1-2 3, Titus Terpstra 1 0-0 3, Kyle Bayci 0 0-0 0, Connor Zylstra 1 2-2 4, Connor Misch 0 0-0 0, Simeon Terpstra 0 0-0 0, Brock Teune 1 2-2 4, Trevor Babulic 0 0-2 0

TEAM: 16 11-14 50

PIONEER (36) (7-16)

Micah Rans 2 0-0 4, Ronny Layer 0 0-0 0, Phillip McFatridge 3 2-3 8, Shiloh Rine 4 0-0 8, Gabe Scott 3 1-1 8, Kayden Rigney 0 0-0 0, Xander Bullock 1 0-0 3, Lane Weldy 2 0-0 5, Samuel Shewalter 0 0-0 0, Braxton Maciejewski 0 0-0 0, J.J. Solano 0 0-0 0, Jaxson Merrick 0 0-0 0

TEAM: 15 3-4 36

Three-point field goals:

DeMotte Christian 7 (Bos 4, Bakker 2, T. Terpstra),

Pioneer 3 (Scott, Bullock, Weldy)

Total fouls: DeMotte Christian 9, Pioneer 15

Fouled out: Scott (PIO), :57.6, fourth

Turnovers: DeMotte Christian 16, Pioneer 14

Score by quarters

DeMotte Christian 9 15 13 13 – 50

Pioneer 9 11 3 13 – 36