Clutch.
Junior guard Julian Kunzman swished a driving baseline runner with 1.6 seconds to play Friday to propel the Boone Central Cardinals to a dramatic 52-51 victory over visiting Ord.
With the late rally and winning shot, Boone Central just did manage to keep its win streak intact at five and improved to 7-5 on the season.
The Cardinals got off to a slow start against the 3-8 Chants, trailing 27-19 at halftime. Boone Central played a much stronger second half and used some late Ord miscues and free throw misses to get in position for Kunzman’s heroics.
“Coming into the game, we had been defending and rebounding fairly well,” commented Card Coach Dan Zoucha. “Early on, these areas were not up to our standards.
“In the second quarter, we did not hit shots (4-of-15) and we were fouling too much. Along with that, we weren’t getting the defensive touches we had been getting in previous games.
“The second half was a different story, as it has been on several occasions this year,” Zoucha noted. “We picked the pace up on defense and our rebounding was better.”
Even with the improved play, the Cardinals nearly missed their opportunities down the stretch.
“We had been fortunate in many games to shoot well from the foul line – this game didn’t go that way, however,” Zoucha said. “We had a couple times toward the end of the game to take advantage of free throws, but they didn’t fall. This sometimes happens.
“Fortunately, we did take advantage of some missed foul shots by Ord and the last one gave us a chance to make one more play,” he added. “The players responded well to what he drew up during the timeout and, needless to say, it was a nice drive to the bucket by Julian and an exciting finish.
“We are proud of the overall effort by all the guys.”
Ryan Shotkoski led BC scoring with 24 points and Kalvin Zoucha added 14. Zoucha and Nathan Olson topped the rebounding effort with 10 and nine, respectively. Shotkoski dished out four assists and Dusty Dozler made three steals in the contest.
Complete Details in Print Edition of Albion News.
