Jimtown High School

Bremen too much as Jimmies fall in Sectional final By Red Williams Freelance Sportswriter LAKEVILLE - It was just way too much divine power. Make that Devine power, as in Chase Devine, the hot-shot junior guard for Bremen High School’s Lions. He nailed five three-point baskets to lead Bremen to a 53-43 victory Saturday night (3.7.26) to capture the LaVille Sectional crown before several hundred fans. “His threes were the deciding factor,” said Jimtown Coach Ryan Varga. “I thought we defended him pretty well, but he even hit the contested shots.” Varga had two of his best defenders guarding him, Will Spurgeon and Zander Whitaker. “We challenged him, but he’s a special player with a great change of pace. It seemed like every time we’d make a little run, Devine or someone else would make a three.” It was especially telling in the second period. After Spurgeon helped the Jimmies to a 13-12 lead following the first-quarter buzzer, Devine hit three treys in a row to blast a one-point deficit to a nine-point lead, 25-16. “Mentally, we were out of it,” Varga explained. “We had trouble handling their physicality, and our youth showed.” In this first season under Varga’s tutelage, there were just two seniors returning, and he made do with three sophomores in the starting lineup. These sophs are dynamic players, and other teams will be shaking in their boots when they take the floor next season. Spurgeon, one of the seniors, played like his hair was on fire, scoring 23 points to lead all scorers, but as a team, the Jimmies only hit 35 percent of their shots (just 33 beyond the arc), while the Lions blazed away at 50 percent (56 from long range). Jimtown tried to make a game of it with a rally in the third period, outscoring Bremen, 12-6, and cutting the deficit to three points. 36-33, on a trey by Soph Dom Fey. But early in the fourth stanza, Devine, Riley Tener and Harley Mitole hit three straight treys to put the Lions out of reach. Devine finished with 21 points, netting five-of-seven from beyond the arc. Tener had 17 and also hit four key three-pointers. Jimtown’s other senior, Tre Baldwin, was a giant on the boards, grabbing nine rebounds to lead all players, many of them by sheer force. (The Lions had a slim 27-26 edge in rebounding.) Bremen, now 19-4, advances to the regional contest, but the opponent was unknown at press time. The Jimmies finish at 15-9. Score by quarters: Bremen 12 18 6 17 53 Jimtown 13 8 12 10 43 Officials: Jeff Rhody, Bob Amber, Brett Patrick.