DeWitt boys hold off rival St. Johns, grab eighth straight win
SAINT JOHNS - One could make the case that the DeWitt boys basketball team was the hottest squad in mid-Michigan having won seven straight games coming into Friday night.
One could also make the case that St. Johns, despite only having three wins this season, is better than its record suggests.
Both cases were made Friday when the two CAAC Red rivals got together for their second meeting of the season. And much like the first matchup, the Panthers and Redwings went back and forth, bucket for bucket, before DeWitt broke away late in the third quarter and picked up a 65-53 win over St. Johns.
"This is a rivalry game, neighboring districts, and their kids got up to play. Give them credit," Panthers coach Ron Marlan said. "They did some things that made us comfortable, and we didn't respond to it. Give our kids credit for gutting the win out, but we didn't play real well, and a lot had to do with what St. Johns did."
It was what the Redwings (3-10, 1-6) didn't do late in the third quarter that allowed DeWitt to take control of the contest. After a bucket from St. Johns junior Caleb Paksi gave the Redwings a 33-31 lead midway through the third quarter, the Panthers (11-2, 7-1) rattled off a 17-6 run to take a nine-point lead into the fourth quarter.
Sophomore Tanner Reha and senior Evan Conn combined to score 13 during the spurt for DeWitt.
"With them (DeWitt), the margin of error is slim," first-year Redwings coach John Archambault said. "When we give up two 3s from the out-of-bounds plays, and we don't box out on free throws, to me, that's the difference in the game right there."
St. Johns was able to battle back halfway through the fourth when it went on a 9-0 run ignited by upperclassmen Nathan Stiebe and Ben Feldpausch. The Redwings were able to cut their deficit to four with about two minutes remaining, but the Panthers hit 8-of-8 from the free throw line to close the game.
"We weren't smart with the ball, we were lazy with our passes and we didn't execute," said Paksi, who scored nine of his 13 points in the second half. "We're a good team. Our schedule is (tough) this year. We were beating them (last game), before the half, so we knew we could stay with them."
Reha, who scored a game-high 18 points, said Friday's win was big for DeWitt as it continues to gain momentum heading into next week's games against the Portland Raiders and the Waverly Warriors, who handed the Panthers their only conference loss of the season.
"We knew they were going to give it their best," he said. "It's a big game for the league because if we don't get this then we're out of it next week when we play Waverly at home."
Conn and sophomore Luke Hyde added 13 points for DeWitt.
Ross Feldpausch scored a team-high 14 points for St. Johns and junior Jack Bouck added 12.
Contact James L. Edwards III at jledwards@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @JLEdwardsIII.