The latest Bee to come up lame in the hive was Jon Sutton as he suffered a broken finger the last game of the season against Yellow Springs. His All CCC brethren Scott Mason, who missed several games at the end of the season with a severe ankle sprain, didn’t start this game because he missed several days of school and practice due to the flu. All in all, just another day on the hard court for Head Coach Chris Endres in the Bees 08-09 campaign.

“It was tough not to have Jon Sutton out there tonight leading the offense, but Dan Yates did a tremendous job handling the point today” complimented Endres. "Dan’s a competitor and he did an excellent job tonight.”

Of course it wasn’t like the offense was hitting on all cylinders in the first half as the Bees only scored 14 points with Sutton out and Mason not up to full steam with the ill effects of the flu earlier in the week.

The good news is that the defense was working up to the Bees usual standards and the key on this night was to keep track of the Ambassador’s leading scorer Andrew McNeeley. The Bees held the Ambassadors to 9 points in the first half and kept McNeeley’s offensive production down to two free throws which were Xenia Christian’s first two points of the ball game.

“I thought Cody Kahle, Dan Yates and Ben Schwieterman when he was in there, did a great job defensively on McNeeley today” noted Endres. “They worked hard on denying him the basketball. Our defensive effort was excellent today.”

In the third quarter the offensive found some rhythm and the Bees outscored the Ambassadors 16 – 10 in the quarter.

Xenia Christian cut the margin to 3 points with just 3 minutes in the quarter and the Bees went on a 9 – 1 run that finished with offensive rebounds and stick back buckets by Grant Samuel and Masin that gave them an 11 point lead going into the final quarter.

The Ambassadors responded in the 4th quarter with an 8 – 1 run of their own to get them back into the game, 27 – 31 that forced Endres to burn a 30 second time out with over 6 minutes remaining in the contest.

For the remainder of the game, each time the Ambassadors closed the gap to within 4 the Bees responded with a big bucket to extend the lead back to 6 points.

Dan Yates had two of those big buckets down the stretch and none were bigger than at the two minute mark. In what looked like an impending turnover by the Bees, Yates scrambled for the ball, found the handle and turned it into two points with a drive down the right side of the lane.

Scott Masin who is known more for being a beast in the paint for the Bees had two nice assists to Tim Walters and Grant Samuel that kept the Bee’s lead at a comfortable margin.

Ben Schwieterman topped off the scoring from the field with a nice baseline drive that extended the Bee’s lead to 8 with just over a minute to play.

After a 3 point goal from the Ambassadors and a free throw from Masin at the 37.5 mark, that was all the offensive production that either team could produce for the remainder of the contest as each team missed the front end of the two one and bonus opportunities from the free throw line.

“We’re just happy to get this first win under our belt and move on” noted a relived Coach Endres after the game. “The first tournament game is always a tough one and I thought our kids did a tremendous job.”

Bethel earned rematch with Yellow Springs on Tuesday at 7:30 at the Vandalia Butler Student Activity Center and will try to find redemption from a late season loss. Coach Endres reported that it is unlikely that Sutton will return for the Tuesday night game, but is probable for the Friday night match up if the Bees are able to advance.

Scoring by quarters

Bethel…….7…14…30…44
Xenia Chr…4…9…19…38

Bethel
Yates – 12 (2-5)
Walters – 8
Schwieterman – 2 (0-1)
Kahle – 0 (0-1)
Mason – 10 (2-4)
Samuel – 6 (0-2)
James – 6
Total – 44 (4-13)

Xenia Christian
Demana – 13 (2-3)
Callan - 3 (3-5)
Stock – 1 (1-2)
McNeeley – 12 (4-6)
Nickerson 5 (0-3)
Lowrie – 2
Bouchard – 2
Total 38 (10-19