5 takeaways from the semifinals of the Macon County Boys Basketball Tournament

WARRENSBURG — For followers who have been dissatisfied that soccer groups Maroa-Forsyth and St. Teresa did not meet in the Class 2A title sport, they’ll watch these groups battle it out in a special type of championship.

The Bulldogs and Trojans confronted off in the finals of the Macon County Boys Tournament after each groups placed on spectacular performances in Thursday’s semifinals.

The matchup was a showcase of two sturdy guards in Maroa’s Kaiden Maurer and St Teresa’s Billy Guyse.

Both are excellent footballers – Maurer as Maroa’s double menace quarterback and Guyse as a multi-tool weapon at receiver, defensive again and kicker – and each managed to return by means of the lengthy soccer season comparatively unscathed.

What they lack in top – Guyse at 5-8 and Maurer at 5-6 – each greater than make up for in depth and creativity when the basketball is of their fingers.

Both gamers are offensive sparklers with seemingly countless vitality on the pitch.

Both are the finest ball defenders on their groups and are fast to steal and steal the ball from unsuspecting opponents.

Guyse completed Wednesday’s semifinals with a sport excessive of 20 factors and Maurer led the second semifinal with a sport excessive of 19.

Guyse returned on Monday after lacking video games with the flu final week and St Teresa head coach Mike Noonan can see his continued enchancment.

“I thought Billy looked a little bit better, especially in the second half,” mentioned Noonan. “When the game got a bit physical he took good care of the ball. He was our leader in the second half.”

Maurer and Guyse will undoubtedly take heart stage as how successfully they can restrict the different might be the figuring out consider who lifts the match trophy.

“Thanks to our coaches we’re definitely playing better than at the beginning of the season. They prepared us and our team chemistry is right. We played very hard,” mentioned Maurer. “(A championship) would mean a lot.”

Where Maurer goes, Ennis goes with the Trojans.

“There isn’t a coach in America who wouldn’t want Kaiden Maurer. He just plays and he goes and he goes and he goes,” Ennis mentioned. “We ask a lot of him and he answers every night. When he’s at his best, we’re at our best as a team.”

Even greater than the pleasure of a match crown, the Maroa/St. Teresa rivalry can be an element.

“We’re not in the same conference, but our kids know each of their kids and they know ours. It’s going to be a question of which team comes out ready to play,” mentioned Ennis. “They have some athletic guards. Billy has been in the starting XI for three years and is really good with the ball. They’re going to get some shots and I think it’s going to be a good match-up.”

Last 12 months’s champions and runners-up – Warrensburg-Latham and Cerro Gordo-Bement – each fought offensively of their semifinals video games.

The Broncos have been restricted to 14 factors in the first half and had simply 21 after three quarters earlier than gaining foothold in the fourth quarter.

The Cardinals scored 4 factors in the first quarter, three in the second and three in the fourth as Maroa’s 2-3 protection and rebound benefit severely restricted their offensive choices.

The 2-3 was a brand new experiment for the Trojans – one which paid off instantly.

“Historically we’ve been a one-on-one defensive team and I felt like this group and this matchup would be potentially beneficial for us,” Ennis mentioned. “For the first time in four years we started a game in the 2-3 zone (two players up and three players behind) and I said we would switch to man if necessary.”

That second by no means got here as Maroa stayed comfortably in entrance all through.

“Properties to our kids. I assumed we have been aggressive, we have been in the quick lane, and we made every thing they did tough for them,” Ennis said. “At first we did not shoot (it was 4-4 after 1 / 4) and I informed them that in case you maintain enjoying defensively, the pictures will ultimately go into the purpose.”

Behind Guyse’s 20 points, St. T senior Shadow Sumner has 12 points, with five points in the fourth quarter. Senior Martin Velchek had four points, but his first priority is defense, where he was instrumental in slowing the Broncos’ offense.

“What we expect from Shadow was what he did in the fourth quarter. He did a good job of not settling for a (3 point shot). He got on the trail and made some room,” Noonan mentioned. “With Martin he’s number one in defence. If he gives us a good, solid defense and takes care of the glass then scoring goals with him is a bonus.”

There was bodily play between the Bulldogs and the Broncos all evening, and that is the type of play Sumner likes.

“We wanted rebounds and they wanted the ball as much as we did. They got very tough on us and we had to fight it. That makes the competition a lot better,” Sumner mentioned. “We got here out and had so much of turnovers in the first half however we established ourselves on protection and bought the win.

“A championship would be really great for us. We didn’t win it last year and we came back and I think we can win it this year.”

With Warrensburg and CGB – final 12 months’s match winners and runners-up – eradicated from the title sport, a brand new champion can be topped on Friday.

St. Teresa final gained the match in 2017 and has a complete of 11 wins in the lengthy historical past of the match (1971, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1985, 1986, 1994, 1995, 2009, 2012, 2017).

Maroa-Forsyth additionally has 11 Macon County titles general, nevertheless it’s been 16 seasons since the Trojans have been final match champions. Their final win got here in 2006 when the staff grew to become 1A state champions. The Trojans are titled 1931, 1942, 1958, 1959, 1982, 1990, 1993, 1997, 1998, 2004, and 2006.