St. Louis at Morrice – – Boys Basketball – – The Bleacher Denizen – – November 30, 2023 – – by Chuck Krafft

Tonight, your Bleacher Denizen is heading to Morrice High School to watch the Orioles host the Sharks from St. Louis.

It was a relatively uneventful trip to Morrice this time. I (finally) used my Onstar GPS to take me to the high school instead of trying to remember and then getting confused when I take the main road downtown. This time, the GPS told me to go one block farther and voila!!! In the past, I was afraid that I was going to be starring in a new TV Pilot titled “Lost In Morrice.” Now, I should be able to get here without drama from now on. (Besides, if there is to be a sequel of “Lost In Space”, the powers that be might decide that “Lost In Morrice” while possibly creative might have a difficult time drawing viewers.

While we are waiting for the game to start, I hope you will enjoy this video of “Snoopy’s Christmas”, a 1967 novelty song that I have always loved and finally recorded!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1pZCnDBHL0

I was able to get to Morrice in time to speak with both coaches. After your Bleacher Denizen was writing his notes when he at least could have been paying attention, he managed to take a long rebound off his forehead as he sat in the bottom row of the bleachers. Mercifully, it missed my glasses!! Later I was able to hustle for a long rebound and threw a ball that I hoped would be an assist, but it just led to a missed warmup shot. (Do I get hustle points??)

Oriole Coach Brad Long gave me the following information about his players.

Caden Binkley is a fine three point shooter and perimeter defender. Logan Smith is a versatile scorer that can slash to the basket or shoot the three pointer with accuracy. Travis Smith is a fine rebounder and post defender. Joel Fisher and Wyatt Cartier are quick, tough perimeter defenders. Carter Csaszar is a post player who can step out and shoot the threeball. Austin Gutting is a good three point shooter and perimeter defender.

Shark Coach Nic Gibbons provided me with the following information about his players.

Kaiden Pavlik is a big man who is an excellent scorer and rebounder. He can score near the basket, can drive with the ball and is also a big threat from the three point line. Noah Tripp is a fine slasher to the basket; he also has a solid mid-range shot. He is especially dangerous on the fast break. Bently Inbody is a good three point marksman. Landon Pestrue is a threat slashing to the basket. He can help run the point and is a strong perimeter defender. Josh Dew is an energetic and top notch perimeter defender.

It is now time to look at the events of this game through the somewhat tinted glasses of an aging Bleacher Denizen who was never able to escape church league. As you saw with my account of the drive to Morrice, the Bleacher Denizen can occasionally be directionally challenged.

This led to an awkward situation where your Bleacher Denizen shot at the wrong basket and hit a three pointer. This was an away game; because the crowd cheered so much, I got motivated to put another couple more long bombs into the basket. After my coach invited me to sit by him for some counseling about basketball rules and goals, I thought I learned, but alas, I was never trusted to enter a game again.

Morrice wins the opening tap. Caden Binkley reacts quickly to save a loose ball and thus, the Morrice possession. The Orioles miss a threeball from the wing. Travis Smith hits a putback to give the Orioles the first two points of the game. Caden Binkley steals a Shark pass; he passes to Logan Smith, who sinks a ten footer off the dribble from the baseline to give Morrice a 4-0 lead.

Caden Binkley knocks the ball away from St. Louis and Joel Fisher picks it up for Morrice. Morrice loses the ball out of bounds. St. Louis misfires on a three point attempt from the side. Morrice misses a six footer from the side of the lane. St. Louis misses a three pointer from the side. Kaiden Pavlik grabs the offensive rebound for the Sharks. St. Louis misses a six foot shot from the side. Josh Dew snags the offensive rebound for St. Louis. St. Louis misses a jump shot. Morrice misses a shot; Joel Fisher gets the offensive rebound and hits a three point shot from the side to give his Orioles a 7-0 lead.

Caden Binkley knocks a Shark pass out of bounds. St. Louis misfires on a triple try from the side; the rebound goes out of bounds and Morrice takes possession. Landon Pestrue steals the ball for the Sharks. Noah Tripp alertly keeps the ball in play to prevent a St. Louis over and back turnover. St. Louis misses a twelve foot shot in the lane. Noah Tripp knocks the ball away from Morrice, Bentley Inbody picks it up for St. Louis and takes it in for a fast break layup that trims the Morrice lead to 7-2.

Morrice misses a fifteen foot shot from the side. St. Louis misses a three point attempt from the side. Joel Fisher passes to Travis Smith, who hits a fifteen foot shot from the side for Morrice. St. Louis misses a three point shot from the corner. Joel Fisher passes to Travis Smith, who hits a fifteen foot shot from the side to stretch the Oriole lead to 11-2.

St. Louis misses a twelve foot shot from the side. The rebound goes out of bounds and the Sharks get another possession. St. Louis is assessed with a traveling violation. Xander Brock steals the ball for the Sharks. Landon Pestrue passes the ball to Kaiden Pavlik, who turns and hits a six foot shot in the lane to trim the Oriole lead to 11-4.

Morrice misses a threeball from the corner. St. Louis misses a threeball from the wing. Caden Barkley alertly grabs a loose ball to prevent a Morrice turnover. Morrice misses a three point shot from the side. Austin Gutting steals the ball for Morrice. Landon Pestrue steals the ball for St. Louis. The Sharks miss a three pointer from the wing. Morrice inbounds the ball, but there is only 1.1 seconds, so the buzzer sounds before anyone can shoot.

After one quarter, Morrice has an 11-4 lead.

St. Louis inbounds the ball to open the second quarter. Wyatt Cartier knocks a Shark pass out of bounds; St. Louis retains possession. St. Louis misses a six foot banked shot. Josh Dew ties the ball up. The Possession Arrow consults with its legal team and decides to disregard Mr. Dew’s fine hustle play; the ball is awarded back to Morrice. Morrice misses a layup. St. Louis misses a three point shot from the corner. Morrice throws a pass out of bounds. St. Louis misses a three point shot from the side.

Morrice misses a jump shot from the free throw line. St. Louis misses a layup. Morrice misses a jumper from the free throw line. Travis Smith pulls down the offensive rebound for the Sharks. Kaiden Pavlik blocks a Morrice layup. Morrice recovers the loose ball. The Orioles throw a pass out of bounds. Josh Dew passes to Kaiden Pavlik, who hits a layup for the Sharks. Kaiden Pavlik steals the ball for the Sharks. Landon Pestrue is fouled on a six foot shot and sinks two free throws to trim the Morrice lead to 11-8 with 5:22 remaining in the second quarter.

Josh Dew steals the ball and hits a fast break layup for St. Louis. Morrice misses a twelve foot shot from the side. Noah Tripp gets into the lane and hits and eight foot shot (with help from a friendly rim) to give St. Louis a 12-11 lead.

Josh Dew (who has amazing energy) knocks the ball out of bounds; Morrice retains possession. Morrice misses a layup. St. Louis misses a three pointer from the side. The rebound goes out of bounds and the Orioles take possession. Carter Csaszar is fouled on a fast break layup and hits one of his two free throws. With 4:11 left on the first half clock, the game is tied at 12-12.

Landon Pestrue passes to Bentley Inbody, who hits a three point shot from the side to give the lead to the Sharks. Logan Smith passes to Caden Binkley, who banks in a threeball from the side for Morrice to tie the game. (The shot was at the other end of the court from me, but I think he called “bank”.) Travis Smith knocks a Shark pass out of bounds, but St. Louis gets another possession. Travis Smith steals the ball for Morrice. Travis is fouled on a fast break layup, but misses two free throws. (To be fair, he made the second one, but it was disallowed because of a lane violation.) The game is tied at 15-15 with 3:17 left until halftime.

St. Louis is whistled for being in the lane three seconds. That’s okay, because the dynamo Josh Dew steals the ball back and passes to Landon Pastrue, who is fouled on a layup and sinks two free throws to give St. Louis a 17-15 lead with 2:38 to play in the half.

Morrice misses a three point shot from the corner. St. Louis misses an eight foot shot from the side of the lane. Morrice misfires on a three point shot from the corner. The rebound goes out of bounds and St. Louis takes possession. Logan Smith ties up the ball for Morrice. After a long meeting with its executive committee, the Possession Arrow ignores Mr. Smith’s fine defense and awards the ball to the Sharks. Josh Dew inbounds the ball to Kaiden Pavlik, who hits a three point shot from the side for St. Louis to push the Sharks to a 20-15 lead.

Kaiden Pavlik steals the ball for the Sharks. Travis Smith steals the ball for the Orioles. (I wonder if the authorities need to be informed about this on-court crime wave!) Morrice misses a three pointer from the corner; the rebound hits the basket support strap; the ball is awarded to St. Louis. Caden Binkley steals the ball and hits a fast break layup to trim the St. Louis lead to 20-17.

Caden Binkley knocks the ball away from St. Louis and the Sharks foul while trying to recover it. Travis Smith is fouled on a layup; he hits one of his two free throws to trim the St. Louis lead to 20-18 with 45.2 seconds to go in the first half.

St. Louis misses a three point shot from the wing; the rebound goes out of bounds and the Sharks get another opportunity. Josh Dew inbounds the ball to Noah Tripp, who sinks a three pointer near the top of the key for St. Louis. Morrice misses a threeball from the side and fouls on the rebound. Landon Pestrue hits one of his two free throws to give St. Louis a 24-18 lead with 16.1 seconds to play in the half.

A Morrice driver loses the ball out of bounds. St. Louis misses a three point attempt from the corner as the second quarter buzzer makes its presence known.

St. Louis will take a 24-18 lead into the locker room at halftime. I know there have been some rule changes this year, but I believe the Sharks will still have a 24-18 lead when the third quarter begins.

As there is no halftime entertainment, I hope you will enjoy a couple songs from my You Tube Channel.

The first one is an original rocker featuring the venerated Frog on guitar!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1_qnhfMT2k

For those of you who might like something mellower, here’s a beautiful ballad written in Canada in the 1860s!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUhc4KROlnw

Morrice has the ball to start out quarter number three. The Orioles miss a sixteen foot shot from the side. St. Louis misses a layup. Landon Pestrue steals the ball for the Sharks. St. Louis watches as a three pointer from the wing goes in and out of the basket. Morrice misfires on a triple try from the wing. Josh Dew passes to Kaiden Pavlik, who is fouled on a three point shot from the side. Kaiden Pavlik hits one of three free throws to push the St. Louis lead to 25-18 with 6:52 left in the quarter.

Josh Dew steals an Oriole pass. Kaiden Pavlik hits an eight foot turnaround shot in the lane for St. Louis to extend the Shark lead to nine points. Caden Binkley passes to Travis Smith, who hits two free throws to trim the Shark lead to 27-20 with 6:02 left on the third quarter clock.

St. Louis misses a threeball from the wing. Caden Binkley passes to Austin Gutting, who hits a jump shot from the free throw line for the Orioles. St. Louis misses a three point shot from the side. Logan Smith drives and hits a layup for Morrice. Joel Fisher steals the ball for Morrice. Morrice misses a six foot shot from the side. Logan Smith drives and hits a layup to shave the Shark lead to 27-24.

Joel Fisher steals the ball for the Orioles. Morrice misses a six foot shot from the side. Logan Smith gets the offensive rebound. St. Louis knocks the ball out of bounds. Austin Gutting inbounds a pass to Logan Smith in the lane, who catches it in the air, shoots it before he lands and hits an eight foot shot as he is fouled. He misses the free throw. With 4:39 to go in quarter number three, Morrice has chopped the St. Louis lead to one point.

Caden Binkley knocks the ball away from St. Louis and Logan Smith picks it up for Morrice; Logan Smith passes to Caden Binkley, who hits a fast break layup to give Morrice a one point lead. St. Louis misses a three point shot from the side. Morrice reciprocates and misses a three point shot from the side.

Travis Smith blocks a Shark layup and ties up the ball as he does it. The Possession Arrow ignores his fine defense and after a consultation with its steering committee awards the ball back to St. Louis. The Sharks drive from the side, but miss a layup. Morrice misses a jump shot from the free throw line. Morrice misses a jumper from the free throw line. Caden Binkley grabs the offensive rebound for the Orioles. Austin Gutting makes a short drive and hits a layup to boost the Oriole lead to 30-27.

Landon Pestrue is fouled on a layup and hits two free throws for St. Louis. Morrice misses a fifteen foot shot from the baseline. Travis Smith knocks the ball out of bounds; the Sharks retain possession. Landon Pestrue passes to Kaiden Pavlik, who launches and hits a three point shot from the corner to give the lead back to St. Louis at 32-30.

Logan Smith hits a layup for Morrice to tie the game. Joel Fisher steals the ball for the Orioles. Morrice throws a pass out of bounds. Josh Dew passes to Xander Brock, who hits a layup to retake the lead for the Sharks. Noah Tripp steals the ball for St. Louis. He is fouled on a layup and hits one of his two free throws to give St. Louis a 35-32 lead with 1:13 remaining in the third quarter.

Morrice misses a jump shot from the free throw line. Caden Binkley pulls down the offensive rebound for the Orioles. Morrice misses a driving reverse layup. Caden Binkley blocks a Shark layup and forces a tieup. The Possession Arrow had taken a break from its meeting with the Financial Committee and saw the play. The ball is awarded to Morrice. Austin Gutting passes to Caden Binkley, whose foot is on the three point line when he sinks a shot on the final play of the quarter.

With three quarters in the books, St. Louis holds a 35-34 lead.

St. Louis inbounds the ball to get the final quarter underway. The Sharks miss a three point shot from the side. Morrice misses a three point shot from the wing and fouls on the rebound. Kaiden Pavlik passes to Noah Tripp, who throws in a threeball from the top of the key to give the Sharks a 38-34 lead.

Logan Smith responds with an eight footer from the baseline for Morrice. St. Louis is assessed with a double dribble violation. Landon Pestrue knocks a Morrice pass away, hustles to prevent the ball from going out of bounds and taps the ball to Josh Dew to gain a possession for St. Louis. St. Louis commits a traveling violation.

Morrice misses a layup. Caden Binkley knocks the ball away from the Sharks and Josh Fisher picks it up for the Orioles. Noah Tripp knocks the ball away from Morrice and Landon Pestrue picks it up for the Sharks. Landon Pestrue passes the ball to Noah Tripp, who hits a fast break layup for St. Louis. Morrice drives the baseline and is fouled on a layup, but misses both free throws. With 5:16 left on the clock, St. Louis holds a 40-36 lead.

St. Louis misfires on a three point shot from the side. The rebound goes out of bounds and Morrice takes possession. Logan Smith drives and hits a layup for Morrice. Austin Gutting knocks the ball away from the Sharks and Joel Fisher picks it up for the Orioles. Morrice misses a fast break layup. Joel Fisher steals the ball and hits a layup to for Morrice to tie the game. Caden Binkley gets a hand on the ball and St. Louis loses it out of bounds. Logan Smith hits a jump shot from the free throw line to give Morrice a 42-40 lead.

Caden Binkley knocks the ball away from St. Louis, but Landon Pestrue is able to recover it for the Sharks. St. Louis is fouled on a layup, but misses two free throws. With 3:55 left on the clock, the Morrice lead remains at 42-40.

Morrice misses a fifteen foot shot from the baseline. St. Louis fouls on the rebound. Morrice misses a sixteen foot shot from the side and fouls on the rebound. Caden Binkley knocks the ball away from St. Louis and Joel Fisher picks it up for Morrice. Morrice misses a three pointer from the side. Trais Smith gets the offensive rebound. Logan Smith passes to Travis Smith, who hits a layup to give Morrice a 44-40 lead.

Josh Dew passes to Xander Brock, who hits a layup to trim the Oriole lead to two points. Morrice misses a three point shot from the corner. Noah Tripp passes to Kaiden Pavlik, who hits a three point shot from the corner to give the Sharks a one point lead. Morrice misses a three point shot from the corner and fouls on the rebound. Xander Brock shoots and hits two free throws to extend the Shark lead to 47-44 with 1:32 remaining in the game.

Kaiden Pavlik knocks the ball out of bounds, but Morrice gets the ball back. Logan Smith is fouled and hits one of his two free throws for Morrice. Kaiden Pavlik is fouled and hits one of hits two free throws to give St. Louis a 48-45 lead with 1:04 to go.

The rebound goes out of bounds and Morrice gets the ball. Josh Dew dives and steals the ball for St. Louis. Joel Fisher steals the ball and hits a fast break layup for Morrice. With 22.3 seconds remaining, Morrice calls a timeout; St. Louis holds a one point lead at 48-47.

The Sharks are whistled for an offensive foul. Morrice commits a traveling violation. Josh Dew is fouled and hits two free throws with 11.4 seconds left to give St. Louis a bit of breathing room. Josh Dew steals an Oriole pass and is fouled. He hits one of his two free throws to give St. Louis a 51-47 lead with jut 6.3 seconds left.

Morrice misses a three point shot from the wing at the buzzer.

St. Louis wins the game 51-47 to even its record at 1-1.

Logan Smith led the Morrice scoring with 17 points. Caden Binkley and Travis Smith each contributed 9 points. Joel Fisher added 7 points. Austin Gutting had 4 points and Carter Csaszar tallied 1 point.

Kaiden Pavlik scored 17 points to lead St. Louis. Noah Tripp joined his teammate in double figures with 11 points. Landon Pestrue scored 7 points. Xander Brock tossed in 6 points. Josh Dew and Bentley Inbody each scored 5 points.