December 30, 2000

Columbian falls to Bellevue

By Pat Magers
Sports Writer

BELLEVUE -- He went scoreless and managed just two rebounds. But if one were inclined to select a most valuable player Friday night, Bellevue sophomore Kevin Shepherd would get the nod.

The 6-foot-8 Shepherd was a rejecter of the first order while recording an incredible 11 blocks, including two in the final minute, to seal a 49-45 Redmen victory over Columbian.

"The games we've won have been because we played solid defense and (Shepherd) was a big part of that," Bellevue coach Lyle Falknor said. "I'm not surprised he had double figures in blocks and you can probably add five more times where he either made a guy travel or take a shot that was not even close."

The end result soured what had been a creditable Tornado performance and spoiled the homecoming for first-year coach Tim Murray, a 1987 Bellevue grad whose senior season was the final one before the arrival of Falknor.

Columbian (2-4, 1-3) led from the 4:36 mark of the second quarter until Pete Lepley took a pass from Falknor's son, Ben, and scored a layup to knot the score at 45-45 with 1:29 to play.

A moment later, Falknor drove the lane for what proved to be the winning basket with 1:03 showing. That's when Shepherd put the finishing touch to his swatfest with two blocks.

Still, the Tornadoes were not done. They regained possession with 12 seconds remaining. But when play resumed, Bellevue's Shaun Hill came up with a steal, drew a foul and hit two free throws to settle the issue.

"We were trying to get a screen and roll and create a little," Murray said. "We wanted to go to the basket hard. I couldn't see what happened, but they managed to get the ball back."

Columbian's best quarter was the second. That's when Matt Martin hit a pair of 3-pointers and Jason Gottfried added another. The Tornadoes had outscored the Redmen 17-7 to take a 27-20 lead before Matt Ruffing had a pair of assists to Kevin Meyer and Falknor to trim the halftime margin to three.

Columbian hit 7-of-11 from the field (3-of-4 from 3-point range) in the quarter and three of the misses were Shepherd blocks.

"There were times when we definitely looked a little hesitant against (Shepherd)," Murray said. "When somebody can do that to you, it makes it tough. It's part of growing up. To be honest, I thought we took it to him really well. We got him up in the air and he still came up with the blocks. He did a nice job."

Meanwhile, the Tornado defense was doing its part. Bellevue managed just 9-of-28 from the field in the first half, 11-of-45 through three quarters and 15-of-56 for the game. The scoring differential came from the line -- the Redmen (4-3, 2-2) converted 11-of-13 in the fourth quarter. Columbian hit 6-of--14 for the game.

Gottfried scored 13 in the first half on the way to a game-high 18 points. Although his offense was limited somewhat in the second half, the Tornadoes threatened to pull away midway through the fourth period.

A trey by Martin (11 points) gave TC a 39-34 advantage. Falknor and Gottfried traded free throws before Brian Eachus scored off a Brad Cox feed to make it 42-35 with 3:57 to play.

But Falknor (nine points) and Lepley (14 points) combined for to score six straight and the rally was on.

Despite the loss, Murray was far from discouraged..

"Our kids played well; they played hard," he said. "If you took a (pregame) poll and told people this was going to be a four-point ballgame, I doubt if many would have agreed.

"I don't think we're a team that is struggling anymore," he said. "At the beginning of the year, we lost to Willard by 39 and Shelby to 21. But I'm telling you, by the end of the year, I don't think anyone's going to want to play us. I don't think anyone's improved more than we have."

Murray said the greatest improvement has been at the defensive end.

"That's where we're trying to focus right now," he said. "We were allowing 73 per game through the first four games. There was a definite need to buckle down and now we've had back-to-back games allowing just 49.

"It was tough for them -- I'm the new guy on the block," he said. "But they're starting to believe. They can see our system works and that's half the battle."

The other half, on this night, was trying to handle rejection.