Rangers fall in Arby's debut
By Ivan Sanders
STAR CORRESPONDENT
Unaka had one mission in mind when they
took the court against Urspring, Germany. The mission: To
prove their invitation to the Arby's Classic was well deserved.
Unaka, down by 26 points at one time, stormed
back to put some fright into the team from Urspring. The German
youngsters were able to hold on however, to win 69-59 in the
Arby's Classic at Viking Hall.
"We started the game and lost focus on what the
game of basketball is all about," stated coach Donald Ensor
of Unaka. "We talked to them at the half and told them this
game was not over if they would just start playing the way
they were capable of playing."
The Rangers dug themselves quite a large hole
in the early going, as Urspring vaulted out to a quick 20-6
lead at the end of one quarter. Julius van de Laar did most
of the damage for the German squad as he hit for eight points
in the period.
Rusty Chambers came off the bench for the Rangers,
scoring their first four points of the contest. Ben Cole chipped
in the other two points for the Rangers.
Urspring was back at it in the second period
as they went on a 12-5 scoring spree to up their lead to 32-11
with 3:50 left in the half. Hendrik Feist and Michael Spocker
scored six points each to lead the Germans to a comfortable
40-17 half-time advantage.
Aaron Dugger, held scoreless in the first period,
finally found some success and netted five in the quarter
as did Cole for the Rangers. The Rangers were successful in
drawing no less than five charges in the first half against
Urspring.
"We got a good start to the game, but we were
not use to the charging rules and five second calls that they
use here in the United States," commented German coach Ralph
Junge. "In Germany, we teach our players to go hard at the
defender because those fouls are not called there like they
are here."
The Rangers apparently heeded their coach's advice
at intermission because the second half belonged to the Rangers.
Dugger heated up like a smoking pistol, blistering the nets
for 14 points in the third period.
Meanwhile, Germany became cold as ice, as they
hit for only 11 in the quarter. Spocker once again led his
team with five followed by Vincent Polakovic with four.
"We didn't play very well in the second half,"
stated Junge. "We were fortunate to hold off Unaka to win.
The Rangers once again came out with intensity
in the fourth quarter. Cole would pace the Rangers with 11,
followed by Dugger with seven and Dustin Collins with four.
The Rangers outscored the Germans 42-29 in the second half.
The score was actually 65-59 with :27 left in
the contest after back-to-back treys from Collins and Cole.
The Rangers then were forced to foul, allowing Urspring to
put the game away at the charity stripe.
"When I played over there in the summer, they
played more zone defense than man-to-man," according to Dugger.
"They came out in a tough, man defense, and took us out of
our game. They are a very big, athletic team and they have
a huge wingspan."
The Rangers definitely proved they are a team
deserving to be in one of the nation's premier basketball
tournaments. "We don't want our kids to think this is over,
because we still have some games left in this tournament,"
added Coach Ensor.
"We didn't really know what to expect. This is
a totally different atmosphere and I think we were kind of
in awe at first until we got our feet wet," stated Dugger
after the contest.
Dugger lead all scorers with 26 followed by Cole
with 20. Feist and Spocker led Urspring with 13 apiece.
Ensor was happy with the play of Chambers and
Josh Jones as well: " I thought Rusty and Josh did an extremely
good job of rebounding against them. They didn't score much,
but those rebounds helped plus they played several quality
minutes."
The Rangers will next match up against Gate City,
VA at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday. Gate City was defeated in the
first play-in game by Jack Hayward High School from the Grand
Bahamas.
"We'll come out and play our game," stated Coach
Ensor. "We will be ready to play!"
