Heatherly, Cavemen toe the line

HS BASKETBALL
By AL LESAR
Tribune Staff Writer

MISHAWAKA — Ten toes to the basket. Sounds simple, huh?

He certainly wasn't the fastest guy on the floor. At 6-foot-2 and a very slender-looking 180 pounds, Steven Heatherly wasn't the biggest or the strongest.

Then, what was his secret for scoring 27 points (9-of-11 shooting, seven 3-pointers) in the Mishawaka basketball team's 70-54 Northern Indiana Conference win over Marian Friday night?

"Ten toes to the basket," Heatherly said. "My brother taught me that."

The Knights (3-12, 1-6 NIC) had trouble keeping track of Heatherly's toes all night. They were constantly in motion.

"What helps Steven so much is that he does such a good job of moving without the ball," said Mishawaka coach Ryan Watson, his Cavemen 11-4 (3-3 NIC). "When you've got a guy who looks like he's throwing it in the ocean (shooting well), you make sure you get him the ball.

"Give all our kids credit. The toughest thing to do is not to be selfish." Count Heatherly in the legion of the unselfish. He didn't force a thing. Every shot he put up was a product of Mishawaka's motion offense.

His only misses were 3-point tries on which he failed to set his feet."We all feed off our opponent's defense," Heatherly said. "Keep the ball moving 'til someone's open."

Heatherly hit four 3-pointers in the first quarter, then had his assignment change. When Watson went to a small lineup, Heatherly, who had 18 at halftime as the Cavemen led 43-29, got a couple buckets posting up.

"We got lost on defense too many times (in the first quarter) and let (Heatherly) get into a rhythm," Marian coach Tim Barwick said. "Once that happened, we were in trouble."

Add 11 points and six offensive rebounds from Ryan Benner and 10 points by Javonte Young and the Cavemen had quite an arsenal.

Matt Neuhoff and Chris Schweizer scored 12 each for Marian. Schweizer collected 11 rebounds and showed some of the "nasty" Barwick would like to see on a regular basis.

MARIAN (54): Nick Fitzpatrick 2 0-0 4, Coley Schultheis 2 1-2 7, Adam Sumrall 3 0-0 9, Pat Julien 0 0-0 0, Robert Mischler 1 2-2 5, Dylan LeBlanc 1 0-0 3, Matt Neuhoff 5 1-1 12, Tim Fulnecky 0 0-0 0, Chris Schweizer 5 2-3 12, Ben Brier 0 0-0 0, Sean Penny 0 0-0 0, Anthony Rice
1 0-0 2. TOTALS: 20 6-8 54.

MISHAWAKA (70): Cortez Lee 2 2-2 6, Steven Heatherly 9 2-3 27, Javonte Young 4 0-0 10, Frank Kuespert 0 0-0 0, Ryan Benner 3 4-4 11, B.J. VanderZwaag 0 0-0 0, Adam Wojtysiak 1 1-2 4, Mike Curtis 0 2-2 2, Preston Tracy 2 0-1 4, Joey Schuster 2 1-2 6, Justin Reiter 0 0-0 0, Justin
Frazier 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 23 12-16 70.

Marian 14 29 39 54
Mishawaka 20 43 60 70

Shooting: Marian 20 of 46 (44 percent), Mishawaka 23 of 47 (49 percent). 3-point goals: Marian 8 (Sumrall 3, Schultheis 2, Neuhoff 1, Mischler 1, LeBlanc 1), Mishawaka 12 (Heatherly 7, Young 2, Benner 1, Wojtysiak 1, Schuster 1). Rebounds: Marian 27 (Schweizer 11), Mishawaka 26
(Benner 7, Heatherly 7); Turnovers: Marian 17, Mishawaka 9. Total fouls (fouled out): Marian 16 (none), Mishawaka 15 (none). JV score: Marian 42 (Drew Hasler 8), Mishawaka 39 (Justin Reiter 13, Mike Curtis 13). Varsity records: Marian 3-12 (1-6 NIC), Mishawaka 11-4 (3-3). Officials:
Chris Cortier, Steve Chamness, Steve Arko.