Saturday, March 27, 1999

Moeller rallies into championship game

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Crusaders score 13 straight in last 3:45

BY CAREY HOFFMAN
Enquirer contributor

Mike Monserez high-fives fans. (Michael Snyder photo) | ZOOM |

        COLUMBUS — Who knows what Mansfield's players thought they were seeing when the looked in the eyes of their Moeller opponents with 3:45 standing between them and a berth in the state title game.

        Mansfield led 43-36. Moeller had been there before and it showed in their eyes.

        “So many people talk about it, the will to win, but it's special on this team,” said Moeller senior guard Jeremy Duncan. “It's there, a look in our eyes, a kind of twinkle you really can't describe.”

        Indescribable is a word that comes to mind to describe what happened next.

Jeremy Duncan on defense. (Michael Snyder photo) | ZOOM |

        Moeller reeled off the next 13 points in a row — the final 13 points in the game — to stun Mansfield Senior 49-43 and advance to the Division I state championship game today at 8:30 p.m. against Shaker Heights.

        A crowd of 16,690 at Ohio State's Value City Arena watched Moeller, making its first-ever appearance at state, pull out its third improbable victory in its last four games.

        “The last couple of weeks have been a lot like that,” said Moeller senior guard Mike Monserez, who scored Moeller's final six points. “I think this senior class and this team have a never-say-die attitude. I don't know what (tonight) will entail, but I know we'll go down fighting.”

        Moeller overcame the most serious foul trouble Monserez, its all-state point guard, faced all year and a nearly five-minute scoring drought in the third quarter.

Matt Sylvester wrestles for the ball. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        Sophomore Matt Sylvester hit a layup to cut the lead to 43-38 with 3:29 left. No one scored again until Sylvester hit another layup with 1:46 to play that cut the lead to three.

        Then came the game's key sequence. Mansfield tried to advance the ball quickly down the middle of the court, but Moeller senior Michael Currin stepped in front of the pass and intercepted inside of midcourt. He tossed to Sylvester, who was standing at the three-point line and turned and calmly swished a game-tying three-pointer.

        “As soon as I shot it, I said, "I can't believe I shot that,'” Sylvester laughed after the game. “It was just such a relief when it went in.”

Brad Hutzel (Michael Snyder photo) | ZOOM |

        Mansfield then turned the ball over on a fast break at its end, and then the 6-foot-5 Monserez penetrated and used his size edge to go to the basket for a go-ahead layup. Mansfield's second-team all-state guard, Marquis Sykes, missed an acrobatic jump shot, and Moeller's Brad Hutzel made a great tap of the ball as it was going out of bounds to save it for Moeller. Monserez was fouled with 34 seconds left. He made four straight foul shots down the stretch to close out the game.

        Duncan was the key figure in helping Moeller survive to have a chance at the end, leading Moeller with 15 points and three steals, the most he has scored since December after enduring a senior year filled with personal problems.

Scott Byrnes (Michael Snyder photo) | ZOOM |

        “Our team has faced so much adversity and someone has always stepped up,” said Duncan, who averaged 17.5 points per game as a junior. “There was no better time to do it than on the biggest stage in the state.”

        Duncan hit a pair of 15-foot jumpers off the dribble to put Moeller ahead 20-19 at half. He also had five points in the first two minutes of the fourth quarter to help Moeller gets its offense restarted. The Crusaders had only scored nine points in the half to that point.

        Monserez and Sylvester both added 13 points for Moeller.

        MANSFIELD (22-4) — Hilliard 2-6 0-1 4, Burtin 1-8 0-0 2, Sykes 2-11 0-0 5, Thompson 3-8 0-2 6, Butts 2-5 1-2 6, Wolf 0-3 0-0 0, Minard 2-7 5-12 10, Davis 4-5 0-0 8, Hood 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 17-55 6-17 43.

        MOELLER (20-6) — Duncan 6-14 3-4 15, Welsch 0-3 0-0 0, Mouserez 2-10 9-11 13, Sylvester 6-11 0-0 13, Hutzel 3-5 0-0 6, Byrnes 0-1 0-0 0, Currin 1-1 0-0 2, Shurts 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-45 12-15 49.

        Mansfield Sr. 6 13 16 8—43

        Moeller 12 8 7 22—49

        3-point goals— Mansfield 3-17 (Hilliard 0-1, Burtin 0-5, Sykes 1-4, Thompson 0-1, Butts 1-2, Wolf 0-1, Minard 1-3), Moeller 1-9 (Duncan 0-1, Welsch 0-1, Mouserez 0-5, Sylvester 1-2). Fouled out— None. Rebounds—Mansfield 34 (Sykes 7, Butts 7), Moeller 33 (Sylvester 9). Assists— Mansfield 9 (Minard 3), Moeller 6 (Mouserez 4). Total fouls— Mansfield 14, Moeller 16. A—16,690.

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