Bath at Laingsburg – – Boys Basketball – – The Bleacher Denizen – – December 5, 2025 – – by Chuck Krafft

Tonight, the Bleacher Denizen is off to Laingsburg, where the Wolfpack will host the Bees from Bath. Both teams have played one game so far this season. Laingsburg is coming off a loss to Olivet while Bath beat Napoleon in its first game.

Of course, even though I forgot to include it in the title (and am too lazy to delete the whole article and start over), this is this year’s first CMAC Game of the Week!! I always enjoy covering games in this rugged conference. Last year, they put two boys basketball teams in the final four, Pewamo-Westphalia and Fowler!!

It is now time to look at this game through the somewhat alert eyes of an Aging Bleacher Denizen who was never able to escape church league when he attempted to hoop in the ancient times when at least some people considered him to be “young.” Your Bleacher Denizen never completely understood that his assignment was to stay between his man and the basket.

Bath Coach Nick Duflo provided me with this information about his Bee players. Connor VanEss is a tough on the ball defender who brings energy to the Bee defense. Aiden Wolf is a tall guard who can defend the perimeter or the post. He is excellent timing cuts to get into position to score. Sam Dunckel is a good perimeter defender who can slash to the basket. Brady Smith is a strong post defender and rebounder who blocks a lot of shots.

Luke Wallace may be the only freshman on the varsity, but he may be the team’s best shooter. He has an excellent three point shot and the Basketball IQ to know how to get open to shoot it. Aden Briggs is a good scorer who knows how and when to cut to get open. Max DeLeon is one of the fastest Bees. He gets a lot of points in transition. He is an energetic perimeter defender. Calvin Smith is a good three point shooter and perimeter defender.

Wolfpack Coach Tim Beebe provided this information about his players. Landon Freeman is a quick, persistent perimeter defender who is a big threat from the three point line. Collin Logghe is a good rebounder and defender in the post; he also has a strong basketball IQ. Colton Heaton can hit shots from the three point line. Waylon Rowley always hustles and is a tough interior defender and rebounder.

Kollin Bentley-Barr gives the Wolfpack and accurate three point shot. Leandro Dolega-Caceres is a quick, dogged perimeter defender whose athletic ability and speed helps to get a lot of fast break scores. Cash Heaton defends, rebounds and scores well in the post. Jake Rivet runs the point for the Wolfpack. He is an excellent leader and perimeter defender who is also a threat from the three point line.

I got to the gym in time to catch a lot of the JV game. Bath got off to a 12-9 first quarter lead and extended it to 24-19 at halftime. The teams battled pretty evenly in the third quarter and Bath led 33-27 going into the final quarter. Bath scored six unanswered points in the first minute and ten seconds of the fourth quarter to take a twelve point lead. Laingsburg did not get closer than seven points after that. Bath won the JV game by the final score of 52-45.

Julian Smith led the Laingsburg JVs with 18 points. Paxton Rodriquez supported him with 9 points. Caiden Nidefski contributed 5 points. Quintin Garcia and Eli Morr each chipped in with 4 points. Ethan Smith and Logan Potter each added 2 points. Ryan Park tallied 1 point.

Sam Fritz led the victorious Bee JVs with 11 points. Apolo Wolfe joined his teammate in double figures with 10 points. Owen Poppema contributed 8 points. Mario Baker and Jayden Silva each added 7 points. Elijah Davis scored 6 points. Xander Horan put in 3 points.

He felt that this took away his autonomy regarding where to stand. His coach pointed out that frequently this might make it easier for his man to score. In Basketball World, the coach’s philosophy tends to dominate things, so the Bleacher Denizen had to spend more and more of his time watching those who listened better play basketball.

Bath wins the opening tap. Jake Rivet knocks the ball away from the Bees and Landon Freeman picks it up for the Wolfpack. Laingsburg misses a three point shot from the wing. Waylon Rowley taps the ball away from Bath and Jake Rivet picks it up for Laingsburg. Laingsburg misses a driving layup. Bath misses a fast break six footer in the lane. Laingsburg misses a threeball from the side. Jake Rivet gets the offensive rebound for the Wolfpack.

Laingsburg misses a layup; the rebound goes out of bounds and the Wolfpack gets another opportunity. Connor VanEss steals the ball and passes to Andy Wonch, who hits a fast break layup to give the Bees the first two points of the game. Landon Freeman is fouled on a driving ten foot banked shot and hits two free throws to tie the game at 2-2 with 5:51 remaining in the opening quarter.

Landon Freeman gets his hand on the ball, but Bath is able to recover. Landon Freeman steals the ball for Laingsburg and draws a foul from Bath in the process. Laingsburg misses a three pointer from the wing. Jake Rivet pulls down the offensive rebound for the Wolfpack. Laingsburg is whistled for a traveling violation. Bath loses a pass out of bounds. Jake Rivet passes to Collin Heaton, who hits a layup to give the Wolfpack a 4-2 lead.

Bath misses a three point shot from the side. Aiden Wolf grabs the offensive rebound for the Bees. Connor Van Ess is fouled on a driving layup and hits one of his two free throws for Bath. Brady Smith grabs the offensive rebound for the Bees. Jake Rivet blocks a Bath layup. Laingsburg misfires on a triple try from the top of the key. Aiden Wolf passes to Brady Smith, who is fouled on a layup and hits two free throws to boost Bath to a 5-4 lead with 3:53 left in the quarter.

Aiden Wolf steals the ball for the Bees. Bath misses a driving layup. Max DeLeon steals the ball for Bath. Aden Briggs saves a loose ball to prevent a Bath turnover. Collin Logghe steals the ball for the Wolfpack. Leandro Delega-Caceres steals the ball for the Wolfpack and is fouled on a fast break layup. He hits one of his two free throws to tie the game at 5-5.

The Wolfpack gets the offensive rebound from the missed free throw. Laingsburg misses a three point shot from the wing. Bath reciprocates and misses a three point shot from the wing. Max DeLeon snags the offensive rebound for the Bees. Bath misses a ten foot shot from the side. Laingsburg misses a driving layup. Kollin Bentley-Barr steals the ball for the Wolfpack. Max DeLeon steals the ball for Bath. The Bees misfire on a three pointer from the corner.

Laingsburg loses the ball out of bounds. Bath misses an eight foot shot from the baseline. Kollin Bentley-Barr hits a six foot shot from the baseline for Laingsburg. Luke Wallace hits a sixteen foot two point shot from the wing for Bath to tie the game. Collin Logghe passes to Jake Rivet, who is fouled on a layup and hits two free throws to give Laingsburg a 9-7 lead with 58 seconds remaining in the opening quarter.

Collin Logghe knocks the ball away from Bath, but the Bees recover. Kollin Bentley-Barr blocks a Bath reverse layup. The loose ball goes out of bounds and the Bees get another possession. Bath misses a layup. Collin Logghe tosses the ball to Landon Freeman, who is cutting to the basket and hits a layup. Bath does not shoot until a second after the buzzer. While it is not an official statistic, Collin Logghe made a great block of this shot.

After one quarter, Laingsburg has an 11-7 lead.

Laingsburg inbounds the ball to open the second quarter. Collin Logghe passes to Leandro Dolega-Caceres, who hits a layup for the Wolfpack. Bath misses a three point shot from the wing. Laingsburg misses a ten foot turnaround banked shot. Bath misses a twelve foot shot. Sam Dunckel steals the ball for the Bees. Bath misses a threeball from the side. Luke Wallace pulls down the offensive rebound for the Bees. Bath misses a six foot banked shot.

The rebound goes out of bounds and Bath gets another opportunity. Landon Freeman gets into the lane, spins and hits an eight foot jump shot for the Wolfpack. Cash Heaton knocks the ball away from Bath and Landon Freeman picks it up for Laingsburg. Max DeLeon steals the ball for Bath. The Bees miss a ten foot shot from the side of the lane. Laingsburg is whistled for a traveling violation.

Bath throws a pass out of bounds. Laingsburg misses a three point attempt from the wing. Collin Heaton grabs the offensive rebound for the Wolfpack and passes to Kollin Bentley-Barr, who hits a three point shot to give Laingsburg an 18-7 lead.

Kollin Bentley-Barr gets a hand on the ball and a Bath dribbler loses it out of bounds. Laingsburg throws a pass out of bounds. Bath fumbles a path out of bounds. There is a collision that results in a technical foul being called on Laingsburg. Aiden Wolf hits the technical free throws to trim the Bath lead to 18-9 with 3:40 left in the half.

Bath inbounds the ball after the technical. Kollin Bentley-Barr’s tough defense force Bath to commit a traveling violation. Bath is fouled on a driving layup, but misses two free throws. Laingsburg misses a twelve foot shot form the baseline. Cash Heaton is fouled on a shot and hits two free throws to give his Wolfpack a 20-9 lead with 2:36 left in the half.

Bath misses a layup. Calvin Smith gets the offensive rebound for the Bees. Bath misses six foot shot. Laingsburg misses a ten foot shot from the side. Calvin Smith drives and hits an eight foot banked shot for Bath. Landon Freeman drives and hits a six foot banked shot for the Wolfpack. Connor VanEss hits an underhanded layup to trim the Laingsburg lead to 22-13.

Luke Wallace steals the ball for the Bees and passes to Connor VanEss, who hits a fast break layup for the Bees. Laingsburg misses a threeball from the side. Bath misses a threeball from the top of the key. Hudson Holbrook gets the offensive rebound for the Bees. Bath misses a layup. Laingsburg misses a layup and Bath’s Hudson Holbrook is fouled on the rebound. Hudson Holbrook hits one of his two free throws to trim the Wolfpack lead to 22-16 with 19.7 seconds remaining in the half.

Max DeLeon steals the ball and hits a layup for Bath. Landon Freeman hits a three point shot off the dribble from the side just as the halftime buzzer decides to make its presence known.

At halftime Laingsburg holds a 25-18 lead.

Connor VanEss leads the eight Bath players who have already scored with 5 points.

Landon Freeman has 11 points and Kollin Bentley-Barr has 5 points for Laingsburg.

Laingsburg inbounds the ball to get quarter number three underway. Leandro Dolega-Carceres hits an eight foot jumper off the dribble for the Wolfpack. Aiden Wolf hits a two point basket for the Bees. Laingsburg commits and offensive foul. Bath misses a jump shot. Laingsburg reciprocates and misses a jump shot. Bath misses a layup. Andy Wonch knocks the ball away from Laingsburg and Calvin Smith picks it up for Bath.

The Bees throw a pass out of bounds. Laingsburg misses a threeball from the wing. Leandro Dolega-Carceres gets the offensive rebound for the Wolfpack. Hunter Tolliver knocks the ball away from Laingsburg and Aden Briggs picks it up for Bath. Bath turns the ball over. Laingsburg is issued a traveling citation. Andy Wonch drives and hits a layup for Bath to trim the Laingsburg lead to 27-22.

Laingsburg throws a pass out of bounds. Calvin Smith passes to Aiden Wolf, who hits a layup to bring Bath within three points. Leandro Dolega-Carceres drives and hits a layup for Laingsburg. Waylon Rowley and Landon Freeman double team a Bath ball handler and force Bath to call time out to prevent a turnover. Bath misses a three point shot from the top of the key. Laingsburg misses a three point shot from the wing. Collin Heaton hits a putback to give Laingsburg a 31-24 lead.

Bath misses a layup. Leandro Dolega-Caceres spins and hits a twelve foot shot in the lane for Laingsburg. Bath loses the ball out of bounds. Laingsburg spins and misses a layup. Landon Freeman knocks the ball away from the Bees, but Bath recovers. Bath misses an eight foot shot from the side. Max DeLeon snares the offensive rebound for the Bees. Luke Wallace throws in a threeball from the side to shave the Laingsburg lead to 33-27.

Luke Wallace steals the ball for the Bees and hits a threeball from the wing to chop the Laingsburg lead to three points. Max DeLeon steals the ball and hits a fast break layup for Bath. Laingsburg misses a threeball from the wing just before the buzzer announces the closing of quarter number three.

With three quarters in the books, Laingsburg holds a 33-32 lead.

Laingsburg inbounds the ball to open the fourth quarter. Landon Freeman tosses the ball to Jake Rivet, who throws in a threeball from the top of the key to give Laingsburg some breathing room. Landon Freeman steals the ball for the Wolfpack. Laingsburg misfires on a triple try from the corner. Collin Heaton knocks the ball out of bounds; Bath retains possession. Laingsburg’s intense defense forces Bath to turn the ball over when they fail to inbound the ball in five seconds.

Laingsburg misses a threeball from the top of the key. Bath fouls on the rebound. Collin Heaton inbounds the ball to Leandro Dolega-Caceres, who hits a six foot banked shot from the side for the Wolfpack. Max DeLeon is fouled on a layup and hits one of his two free throws to shave the Laingsburg lead down to 38-33 with 6:12 remaining in the game.

Waylon Rowley passes to Landon Freeman, who hits a twelve foot shot from the side for the Wolfpack. Bath misses a layup. Aden Briggs ties up the rebound. The Possession Arrow and its Christmas Party Committee love Mr. Briggs’ hustle and award the ball to Bath. Luke Wallace hits a three point shot from the wing to cut the Laingsburg lead to 40-36.

Bath misses a driving layup. Bath is fouled on a putback, but misses two free throws. Max DeLeon pulls down the offensive rebound for the Bees. Jake Rivet steals the ball for Laingsburg. The Wolfpack misses a fast break layup. Collin Logghe steals the ball for the Wolfpack and Kollin Bentley-Barr hits a fast break layup to boost the Wolfpack lead to 42-36.

Aden Briggs banks in a turnaround twelve foot shot shot for Bath. Laingsburg misses a shot. Kollin Bentley-Barr steals the ball for the Wolfpack. The Bleacher Denizen discovers that his pen is not ready for the stress and excitement of varsity basketball and has to change pens. (It’s funny! The pen worked fine when I did the JV game. However, the varsity game was too much for its fragile psyche.)

Laingsburg ignores the Bleacher Denizen’s drama with the pens and misses a three pointer from the top of the key. Luke Wallace hits a two point shot with his toe barely on the three point line to cut the Laingsburg lead to 42-40.

Laingsburg commits a traveling violation. Leandro Dolega-Caceres steals a Bath pass. Laingsburg misses a driving layup. Collin Logghe blocks a Bath fast break layup. Bath recovers the ball, but misses another layup. Max DeLeon knocks the ball away from Laingsburg and Aden Briggs picks it up for Bath. The Bees misfire on a triple try from the side. Aden Briggs steals the ball for Bath. Collin Heaton blocks a Bath fast break layup. The loose ball goes out of bounds and Bath gets another opportunity.

Bath misses a three point shot from the wing. Laingsburg misses a layup. Collin Logghe is fouled on a layup and hits one of his two free throws for Laingsburg. Bath misses a driving layup. Jake Rivet is fouled and hits one of his two free throws to boost Laingsburg to a 44-40 lead with 38.8 seconds left on the clock.

Bath misses a three pointer from the side. Jake Rivet is fouled and hits two free throws for the Wolfpack with 24.3 seconds to play. Bath misses a three point shot from the wing. The rebound goes out of bounds and Bath takes possession. Laingsburg turns down a layup and is fouled with 5.4 seconds to go, but misses two layup. Bath misses a three point shot from the wing as time expires.

Laingsburg wins the first CMAC Game of the Week of the 2025-26 season by the final score of 46-40.

Freshman Luke Wallace led the Bath scoring with 13 points. Aiden Wolf tossed in 6 points. Connor VanEss and Max DeLeon each contributed 5 points. Andy Wonch added 4 points. Brady Smith, Aden Briggs and Calvin Smith each tossed in 2 points. Hudson Holbrook tallied 1 point.

Landon Freeman led the Laingsburg scoring with 13 points. Leandro Dolega-Caceres joined his teammate in double figures with 11 points. Jake Rivet scored 8 points. Kollin Bentley-Barr contributed 7 points. Collin Heaton added 4 points. Cash Heaton scored 2 points. Collin Logghe had 1 point.