Game 1 of the 2019 Macomb-Western Holiday Tournament was a tale of two halves. The Eagles of Liberty (9-3) led the Hornets of Brown County (5-5) by scores of 12-10 after the first quarter and 24-18 at the half. The rest of the boxscore was also one-sided in favor of the Hornets in the first half. Brown County shot 11-22 (50%) compared to LIberty’s 5-18 (28%).
The second half was an entirely different matter, however. Liberty’s shooting absolutely caught fire and they shot 19-25 (76%) in the final two quarters. On the other side of the ball, Brown County had less luck and shot 9-28 (32%), including 0-7 from behind the arc in the second half. Perhaps Western Hall’s eastern basket has just the right bounce?
Liberty was led by a trio of double figure scorers: Landon Obert (17 points), Nolton Klingele (17 points), and Breiton Klingele (14 points). Nolton Klingele’s all-around game was impressive. He led all rebounders with eight, tied the team assists lead with five, and team steals lead with three. Obert was the other Eagle with five assists. Also notable were Devin Klauser’s three blocks.
Brown County was led in scoring by Nathan Hendricker’s 10. Hendricker also contributed three assists, three blocks, and three steals. The Hornets also had notable scoring from Brody Woodward (nine points), Gavin Miller (nine points), and Chance Fuqua (eight points).
Liberty advances to Game 13 (tomorrow 5:00pm), where they will play the winner of Rockridge and Canton. Brown County moves onto the Consolation side of the bracket to Game 9 (tomorrow 9:00am), where they will play the loser of Rockridge and Canton.
Chris Derry
December 26, 2019