Hammeke leads TMP boys in rout

2/12/2012

By RANDY GONZALES

rgonzales@dailynews.net

After a lackluster first quarter, the Monarch boys played the way coach Joe Hertel wanted them to in Friday night's game against Quinter.

The Thomas More Prep-Marian boys' basketball team rolled to a 74-33 win over Quinter in nonleague action at Al Billinger Fieldhouse.

But in the first eight minutes, Quinter (5-10) stayed close. If not for 14 first-quarter points from senior guard Nick Hammeke, Hertel might have been even more bothered than he already was with his team's play.

"I was not particularly pleased with the way we played the first quarter," Hertel said. "I felt like my guys entered the gym tonight thinking this one was going to be easy, and we played like it at the beginning.

"Bottom line is, I was a little bit irritated by that, because we can't let that happen come Tuesday night," Hertel added.

On Tuesday, TMP will play host to Hoisington, with the winner claiming the MCAA title.

Against Quinter, Hammeke -- who swished six 3-pointers on his way to a game-high 20 points -- connected on four from long range in the first eight minutes to give TMP an 18-13 lead.

"He was shooting lights out," Quinter coach John Crist said. "We knew he was a good shooter coming in, we just lost him a few times. Every time we lost him, he made us pay for it. He was on fire."

As unhappy as Hertel was with his team in the first quarter, Crist was just as pleased with his players' performance.

"I thought we came out, competed really well," Crist said. "We did some good things early."

But the Bulldogs' inexperienced backcourt started to crack in the second period. Quinter committed 13 of its 28 turnovers in the second quarter, and the Monarchs took advantage, outscoring the Bulldogs 19-7 to take a 37-20 halftime lead.

"Our youth showed up," Crist said. "I think we got tired in the second quarter, made some mistakes. Young kids are going to do that."

Hammeke hit two more treys in the second quarter, as TMP (10-6) went on a 13-2 run to end the half.

"That was a real lift for us tonight, when we were playing poorly everywhere else," Hertel said of Hammeke's hot hand.

TMP poured it on in the second half. The Monarchs outscored the Bulldogs 24-6 in the third quarter to lead 61-26 heading into the fourth, where a continuous clock was used due to the large margin.

The Monarchs scored the most points they have all season, and also recorded the largest margin of victory.

After Hammeke's 20, senior forward Taylor Pfeifer scored 11 points and junior guard Shane Zimmerman added 10. Senior forward Pierce Schippers pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds as TMP won the boards, 38-28. Senior center Brian Ochs led Quinter with 11 points.

Hertel said Hammeke duplicating his performance on Tuesday against Hoisington would be tough.

"We can't go into Tuesday night's game expecting Nick to make six 3s," Hertel said, "that's unlikely."

But Hertel gladly took them on Friday.