Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

WEST BRANCH – Prior to a makeup date with Wilton on Monday Gavin Hierseman and his West Branch teammates were ready for a break.

Monday’s road trip to Wilton was the fourth game in a stretch of five-games in six days for the fresh out of Covid quarantine Bears.

After having its unbeaten season blemished with a 53-52 loss to the Beavers Class 2A fifth-ranked West Branch suddenly couldn’t wait to get back on the court.

West Branch wasted little time getting back on track rolling to a 57-32 win over rival West Liberty (3-10) on Tuesday in a River Valley Conference South Division showdown in West Branch.

“Before (Monday) we kind of wanted a break but after losing we were all ready to get back into a game and prove that we should be ranked and we are a top team in the state,” West Branch senior Gavin Hierseman said. “I think we proved that tonight.”

West Branch broke open a 11-6 game with a 24-point second quarter while improving to 13-1 on the season and in RVC play.

Hierseman had a game-high 13 points to lead three Bears in double figures as West Branch shot 49 percent from the floor.

“I told them right away the best thing about losing tonight is that we have another game tomorrow,” West Branch coach Jason Kern said. “It was a quick turnaround but when you get a win it washes all that out.”

The busy stretch for the Bears started with three wins in three days to close out last week.

West Branch won at Tipton on Thursday in its first game action in 20 days and followed with double-digit wins over Wilton and North Cedar.

“After the Saturday game most of us where aching like old men it seemed like,” Hierseman said. “Having that off day Sunday it seemed like no one really wanted to get out of bed. That’s not a normal thing but then again this isn’t a normal year.”

The first bump of the season for the Bears came on Monday when Wilton used a late 3-pointer to stun pull off a 53-52 win just three days after losing by 21 in West Branch.

West Branch got right back on track on Tuesday.

The Bears closed the first half on a 21-2 run to turn a 14-10 lead into a 35-12 halftime cushion.

“It was good to get back in the gym and see some things go right for us and get a win,” Kern said. “Especially going into a really tough matchup for us on Friday this is what we needed.”

West Branch got contributions from every on Tuesday which is exactly what Kern was hoping for with a leg-weary bunch coming off four games in five days.

Peyton Miller came off the bench to score nine points, all during the 21-2 run to close the first half, and Brady Knoop added six points off the bench.

“Peyton Miller and Brady Knoop all year have come off the bench and given us energy,” Kern said. “Peyton had two quick steals that led to four points and that really kind of ramped our offense up and set the tone for the rest of the game.”

Hierseman had three 3-pointers on his way to a game-high 13 points.

Jeff Bowie added 11 points on 4-of-4 shooting and Simon Palmer had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

“We have eight guys that can put up 20 any given night which is a great because no team can prepare for just one guy,” Hierseman said. “If they look to stop Bowie, we have Simon, if they stop Simon we have guys that can shoot. Every given night someone is going to step up.”

West Branch              11  24  13  9  –  57

West Liberty               6   6   13  7  –  32

West Branch (57) – Peyton Miller 4-8 0-0 9, Holden Arnaman 0-2 0-0 0, Brady Knoop 2-3 0-0 6, Kelby Burger 0-2 0-0 0, Thomas Gould 2-4 0-0 4, Gavin Hierseman 5-10 0-0 13, Drake Berry 1-2 0-0 3, Jeff Bowie 4-4 3-6 11, Cale Fiderlein 0-1 0-0 0, Simon Palmer 5-11 0-0 11, Totals 23-47 3-6 57.

West Liberty (32) – Caleb Wulf 2-7 0-0 4, Jayce McHugh 2-3 0-1 4, Ty Jones 3-12 0-0 6, Hector Adames 1-6 0-0 2, Josh Perez 0-1 0-0 0, Jahsiah Galvan 4-10 2-5 10, Chance Thrasher 2-6 2-2 6, Totals 14-45 4-8 32.

3-point field goals – WB 8-25 (Miller 1-4, Knoop 2-3, Arnaman 0-2, Burger 0-2, Berry 1-2, Hierseman 3-7, Palmer 1-5), WL 0-9 (Wulf 0-4, Jones 0-1, Adames 0-4). Rebounds – WB 25 (Palmer 10), WL 34 (Wulf 12). Turnovers – WB 12, WL 23. Total fouls – WB 13, WL 11. Fouled out – None. Technical fouls – None.

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