March 17, 2000

Fleeting hearts need not apply

By Dave Feltner
Sports Editor

If it's fast-paced hoops you like, take a trip up north tonight. It ought to be well worth it.

Regional final basketball games don't really need hype to prove their worth, but we'll do it anyway.

Fort Jennings likes to run. Calvert likes to run. They both do it well.

So when the two hook up tonight at the University of Toledo's Savage Hall to decide who earns a trip to the state tournament, points and thrills figure to get more play than a dot com commercial.

Fleeting hearts need not apply.

"It's definitely going to be a game of runs and spurts," said Calvert coach Tony Mass, who is leading the Senecas into their first regional final. "They are capable of putting points on the board in a short amount of time, but we are, too. It could come down to who has the last spurt.

"They're going to hit some outside shot because they shoot a lot so naturally some are going to fall," he said. "The thing we have to do is cut down their easy baskets and second shots. When they do miss you want to make sure they don't get an easy look off the rebound."

If the trend continues, the Senecas will have to be dominant on the boards. The Musketeers (21-3) shoot 58 percent from 2-point range and nearly 52 percent overall.

Like the Senecas, they love to push the ball up the court, the only difference being the regularity with which Fort Jennings shoots the 3-pointer.

All five Muskie starters can shoot it, and they all score in double figures. Kevin Grothause (17.6 ppg.) has been the the team's top player through the course of the season, but Matt Metzger (17.3) has taken charge during the tournament run.

The point guard is Kyle Liebrecht (12.0), while Adam Gasser (10.4) and Aaron Utrup (10.2) join the starting five.

"One game this year we shot 70 percent as a team," Fort Jennings coach John Von Sossan said. "We shoot about 58 percent from 2-point range, so we've been a pretty good shooting team all year.

"Calvert plays a style very much like ours, so we like this matchup," he said. "The thing that bothers me, though, is Calvert's ability to throw over top of the press. If you turn your back on them they'll just throw it right over top of you and get a layup."

The styles are the same, but one big difference is depth. Fort Jennings has little, and the Senecas have a lot.

The Musketeers regularly go six or seven deep, but the seventh man, Mark Boehmer, played just two minutes in the semifinal win over Stryker despite the 17-point margin of victory.

"We have to wait and see if they want to play that (uptempo) type of game,' Mass said. "I think we're deeper so we really need to try and do what we do best. And I think we're our best when we're on the move.

"(Fort Jennings) likes to put a lot of pressure on you, but we like to see that because if you can beat it you can get a lot of layups."

One area the Musketeers showed weakness on Tuesday was the post. Stryker scored nearly all of its points in the lane, and Fort Jennings defenders offered little resistance.

That could open things up for Calvert's Kevin Lucius, Dustyn Risner and Kevin Cahill. If not, Mass still likes his chances with his perimeter guys.

"I do think we have an advantage inside," the Calvert coach said. "Metzger's pretty tall (6-foot-3), but we're a little bigger. Down the stretch of the season we've said that we can go as far as our post players take us. We're going to get points out of our guards because they handle the ball and shoot a lot, but our post play has been solid. Our post players have defended well, they've boxed out and contested shots the way they should.

"We just want to do the best we possibly can," he said. "These kids are ready to play, and all we can ask of them is to do their best. If things don't work, they don't work out. But we're going to give it our best shot."

Game time is 7:30 p.m.