Clutch free throws lift Jays past Falcon

Gehlen Catholic bounced back from a two-game skid with a 45-36 win on the road at West Sioux Tuesday.

"It was a good game," Gehlen coach Mike Langel said. "We started out a little slow. We had a few turnovers in the first half."

The Jays trailed 12-7 after the opening quarter before outscoring the host Falcons 14-8 in the second quarter to take a 21-20 halftime advantage.

"Things didn't fall into place for us," Langel said of the Jays' play early in the game. "We didn't have some shots drop and we never really got going."

"We had a good second half - we made some adjustments and played a lot better defense," he added.

The Jays led 30-28 after the third quarter and started the fourth on an even pace with the Falcons.

"We used a little full court pressure in the second half and forced a couple of turnovers," Langel said. "That got the momentum going. We held them to eight points in the fourth and pulled away."

The Jays led 36-34 with four minutes to play and closed out the contest with a 9-2 run that was boosted at the free throw line.

"We actually hit some free throws at the end," Langel said, noting that his team has struggled at the charity stripe this season.

Both Taylor Wurth and Drew Kellen hit a pair of free throws as Gehlen sank four straight from the charity stripe.

The Jays also shot well from the field, Langel noted.

Trevor Bouma stepped up and hit a pair of 3's as he led the Jays with 12 points.

Gehlen was 4-for-10 beyond the 3-point arc and 14-of-27 from the field.

"We shot well from the field and the 3-point line," Langel said.

Langel was also impressed with the play of Wurth and Eric Loutsch, who limited the Falcons' leading scorer to just three points.

West Sioux's Mitch Jasper had previously averaged 16 points per game.

"They shared the role of stopping (Jasper)," Langel said.

"Taylor did a great job playing defense on him."

Langel also credited the defense of Alec Mousel and Zach Wurth.

"Alec Mousel came off the bench and did a nice job rebounding defensively," he said. "Zach Wurth scored six points and he had some big rebounds and played some pretty good defense."

Francisco Garcia scored 14 points to lead the Falcons.

Gehlen heads into Christmas break with high morale after losing to Remsen St. Mary's and Sergeant Bluff-Luton in the two previous games.

"We needed to get back in the winning column before Christmas break," Langel said.

"It's always tough at West Sioux, but the kids pulled it together and did a nice job with the lead at the end. They got some good shots and hit the free throws and wrapped up the win."

Gehlen will face Remsen St. Mary's in the first round of the CYO tournament on Saturday, Jan. 2, in Remsen.