Chiefs end weekend unbeaten
RONAN — Ronan knocked off two opponents this past weekend, crushing Mission on the road 59-15 in a game where a mercy rule was needed, and then gunning down Hamilton 53-46 in Ronan.
A game between two cross-county teams started on a historic note, first-year Chief head coach Steve Woll returning to the doghouse for the first time since he left his coaching position of several years at Mission.
“It was difficult coming out of the visitors locker room, “ he said. “It felt like a homecoming a little but it was a little different being on the other side.”
It was a no-less emotional night for the Mission players, who faced a run-and-gun Chiefs attack that showed no mercy and embarrassed the Bulldogs in their home barn.
The Chiefs started quick and didn’t slow down. It was clear the Bulldogs had a long night ahead of them when Mission scored it’s first basket.
It was 19-2 and the Chiefs were just getting started.
Things continued on about the same pace, the Chiefs continuing to play hard and the Bulldogs fighting to stay in the game.
Woll said his team targeted Mission’s top player and set a tough defensive stance for the landslide win,
“I just thought we started off with good defensive intensity … we wanted to make sure Jorren didn’t get away from us and wanted to play good team defense,” Woll said.
Senior Nolan Harris lead the onslaught with 16, using senior Mike Fisher on fast breaks for nonstop scoring. Fisher finished with nine and senior Eddie Ness scored ten.
The Chiefs went 22-43, shooting 51% and netting eight threes in the win,
Senior Dallas Cordier, another transfer from Mission to Ronan, led with five assists.
Woll said the competitive spirit of his seniors kept his team lit from start to finish.
“A lot of that enthusiasm trickles down from Mike and Dallas. They feed off each other and feed off each other’s intensity,” Woll said.
The Chiefs got the job done the following night against Hamilton, but it didn’t come nearly as easy,
“Well I was hoping to take off where we left off on Friday night and our energy on defense wasn’t there,” Woll said.
The team, which had found fifth or maybe sixth gear the night before, had to slow it down as Hamilton directed the tempo.
The Broncs backed the Chiefs out of their fast-break ways with ball control, spending a lot of time moving the ball around in half-court play.
“Of course every team in America would like to run and gun for 32 minutes but sometimes you can’t always do that,” Woll said.
The Chiefs were down 15 at half, but good play by bench players cut the lead to nine with two quarters remaining.
The Chiefs managed to contain Hamilton’s ball movement as the time began to run out in the third quarter.
Winning the period, the Chiefs were only down seven with a fourth to go and Woll said his leaders began to take charge.
“I think when they looked at the scoreboard, we have five seniors on the team, and saw that we were down, they said, ‘hey we don’t want to lose,’” Woll said.
An offense reminiscent of the night before showed its face then, and the Chiefs found the team chemistry they needed to put on a fourth quarter show.
A 17-5 quarter gave the Chiefs the win and sent them into the new year undefeated.
Senior Kyle Hendrickx led with 13 points, Cordier put up 12 and Harris scored 11 in the win, Fisher, Cordier and Harris each had six rebounds during the lengthy comeback.
The Chiefs play next on Friday, Jan. 2, at Valley Christian.
Ronan 21 28 18 5 F- 59
Mission 2 4 2 7 F- 15
Ronan 16 9 9 17 F- 53
Hamilton 17 17 7 5 F- 46