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ORIENT — Things looked promising early for the Orient-Macksburg boys basketball team here Tuesday, as the Bulldogs got out to an 8-6 lead early against Adair-Casey on the strength of three baskets from Wyatt Hensley.
But, the Bombers got back-to-back 3-pointers from Spencer Rochholz and Emitt Wheatly to take a 12-8 lead, and following a baseline jumper from Jacob Caviness, the Bombers went on an 8-0 run to quickly take a 10-point lead.
“They hit a couple of threes back-to-back and that extends the game,” head coach Drew Dornack said. “Then we had a couple of turnovers. We got down 10 and then it was 12, and then it just kind of spiraled from there.”
Coming in, the Bulldogs knew they had to contain Rochholz, a senior averaging 23.3 points per game for the season and averaging 26.3 points per game over his last four games.
Orient-Macksburg held Rochholz to 18 points, which Dornack felt good about, but it was senior Alex Umbaugh, averaging 9.8 points per game this season, who did the most damage with 20 points.
Umbaugh scored 16 of his 20 points in the first half. And of those 16, 12 came in the second quarter to help Adair-Casey pull away.
“Umbaugh, in that first half was what got us, realistically,” Dornack said. “We were guarding him man-to-man, and he had 16 points in the first half, so he was the main factor. We kind of kept Rochholz in check, which was nice, due to the games that he had been having. I was pretty proud of our effort defensively. Offensively, we had pretty good looks, and they just didn’t go in.”
Sophomore Jordan Thompson led the way for the Bulldogs, scoring eight points. Hensley and Chantz Davidson scored six points. Jesse Johnson, Ty Stucker and Caviness all scored four points for the Bulldogs. Tom Walter added two points.
Caviness left the game late in the first half after rolling an ankle. Dornack expects him to be available for the team’s games Friday and Saturday.
For Dornack, though, the game was secondary to the events surrounding the game, as part of Orient-Macksburg’s “Be Bold, Go Gold” fundraiser for children’s cancer.
“Realistically, it’s more about the events surrounding the game. The game wasn’t that important,” Dornack said. “We got better tonight, but it was more about community coming together, and with Creston coming up, it was just a fun thing to be a part of.”
In all, the school raised $7,252 for the American Childhood Cancer Organization.
The event was put on by the Orient-Macksburg Talented and Gifted program and TAG coordinator Katie Geidel.
“It was great to see,” Dornack said. “With the season we’re having, sometimes people find other things to do, but it was nice to have people come out and have the gym full. It was cool. It was a good atmosphere that I know my kids really haven’t experienced coming into a packed gym because we are so inexperienced. A lot of kids got playing time. I got everybody in, and the second half they all worked hard, and that’s all I can ask for.”
Orient-Macksburg (1-16) travels to Glidden-Ralston on Friday, before hosting Mormon Trail on Saturday.
ADAIR-CASEY (66) — Alex Umbaugh 9 2-4 20, Spencer Rochholz 7 2-2 18, Emitt Wheatly 4 0-0 10, Logan Dinkla 3 1-2 7, Jake Reed 1 1-1 4, Cole Reha 1 1-2 3, James Grubbs 0 2-2 2, Wyatt Vias 1 0-2 2.Team fouls — 13. Fouled out — None.
ORIENT-MACKSBURG (32) —Jordan Thompson 2 3-4 8, Chantz Davidson 3 0-0 6, Wyatt Hensley 3 0-0 6, Jesse Johnson 2 0-0 4, Jacob Caviness 2 0-0 4, Ty Stucker 2 0-0 4, Tom Walter 1 0-0 2. 3-point goals — 1 (Thompson). Team fouls — 15. Fouled out — None.
A-C — 20 40 57 66
O-M — 12 16 27 32