March 1, 2000

Crimson Streaks send Old Fort packing

By Pat Magers
Sports Writer

BASCOM &emdash; It might not be possible to calculate the unlikelihood of Matt Gabel knocking down a 3-pointer with five seconds to play to give Fremont St. Joseph Central Catholic a 49-46 win over Old Fort Tuesday night.

But we'll try.

* Gabel came into this Division IV sectional semifinal game averaging 3.3 points per game and he was nursing an elbow injury.

*The 6-0 senior guard had hit 15 percent of the field goal attempts from 3-point range and the figure is that good only because he hit 2-of-4 bombs in St. Joe's regular-season ending 72-65 upset of New Riegel last weekend. He came into that game shooting 10 percent from beyond the arc.

* He already had a 3-point goal in the Old Fort game, an accomplishment which, based on his season efforts, meant he wasn't due to hit another until the regional semifinals.

Not exactly your long-range go-to guy with your season hanging in the balance. Nor did St. Joe coach Mike Gabel (no relation) didn't expect him to fill that role this time.

The Streaks called time out with 29 seconds to play and the score tied 46-46 after Jelanie Jackson rebounded a missed offering by Old Fort's Aaron Burks.

"We decided on our motion offense because, if they're in a man, we can try to isolate Jelani or Aaron (Knight), and if they're in a zone, it's our high-low look," Mike Gabel said. "(Old Fort) didn't put pressure on the ball, so our kids decided on their own to hold the ball our front.

"Obviously, (Old Fort) didn't want Jelanie to get it low," the St. Joe coach said. "We'd have probably done the same thing &emdash; let Matt shoot the ball. It was OK with me that he took it; I wanted him to take it.

"If you look at that elbow of his, he had a broken blood vessel but he was out there going at it. He played so hard, he's a three-year lettermen averaging three points, I think this is great. He's very deserving; he's a nice young man."

The Crimson Streaks survived a disastrous third quarter in gaining their 15th win against six losses while sending Old Fort packing with a final 11-10 mark.

St. Joe opened a 20-12 first-half lead the hard way. They hit just 6-of-29 from the field, including 1-of-10 from 3-point range. But during that same span, Old Fort converted just 4-of-17 from the field. Furthermore, the Stockaders had 12 turnovers to just one for the Streaks.

That all changed in the third period, when Old Fort throttled St. Joe with a diamond-and-one press. The Streaks had 10 turnovers in the quarter and went scoreless over the final 3:36.

That drought came just as Old Fort was heating up. Trailing 32-23, the Stockaders rang up 18 unanswered points through the 7:14 mark of the fourth period.

The surge began with a baseline jumper by Jared Stearns, who finished with 11 points. Then came a three-point play by Cliff Cleveland and a putback by Aaron Burks, Old Fort's leading scorer with 15 points.

Stearns followed with another baseline hoop, a 3-pointer and a pair of foul shots for a 35-32 lead. But trouble was developing as first Burks (with 48 seconds left) and Stearns (13 seconds) each picked up their fourth personal fouls.

A steal and layup by Randy Schlosser gave Old Fort a 37-32 lead at the quarter break and his putback with 7:27 to play gave the Stockaders a seven-point lead, their largest of the night.

"We didn't press in the first half because, if we press too long, we get tired," Old Fort coach Rick Renz said. "We got the momentum going our way. We wanted a little scramble and we got it. Losing Stearns and Burks killed us in the fourth quarter."

Incredibly, the turnaround for St. Joe was Gabel's other 3-pointer. Jackson added three points and Gabel then knocked down a 10-foot jumper for a 40-39 St. Joe edge.

The lead changed hands six times before Burks hit a foul shots with 2:02 to go to tie it at 46-46.

It stayed that way until Gabel's game-winner. The Stockaders managed a long inbounds pass to Burks, whose 25-foot try to tie the game bounced off the rim.

"He was shooting something like 15 percent from the field so yeah, that's a shot we wanted," Renz said. "We didn't want Jackson or Knight to beat us on the block, so we stuck with a zone. The ball ended up with Gabel and that's a situation where, if he hits it, you tip your hat to him.

"When Gabel shot it, I knew it was in," he said. "I was just hoping there'd be enough time for us to get a chance to tie. We got a good look; we got it to Burks inside the volleyball line. When he released it, it looked like it had a chance."

Jackson topped the Streaks with 14 points. Gabel added 11, Knight had eight and Joe Babione seven.

The Streaks take on New Riegel in the second championship contest Friday, 30 minutes after the conclusion of the Calvert-Buckeye Central game. When St. Joe won at New Riegel Friday, it knocked the Blue Jackets out of a Midland Athletic League co-championship with Calvert.

"They are a heck of a team," Mike Gabel said of the Jackets. "That game Friday, we played as well in the second half as any team of mine at St. Joe has ever played.

"That's why I felt good about the tournament," he said. "I was thinking, 'If we can keep playing like this, who knows?' But New Riegel's a team that can shoot the lights out, especially from 3-point range. We have to try to keep them from getting good looks."

And maybe find a look or two for Matt Gabel. The guy's on a roll.