Many Shelby County Tournament games have been won over the years with players stepping up and contributing on a big stage.
On Friday at Southwestern, Morristown sophomore Owen Rinzel scored nine first-half points – triple his season scoring average – to get the one-win Yellow Jackets off to a strong start against winless Southwestern in the second semifinal game of the Shelby County Tournament.
In the second half, Colin Kieninger (photo) scored eight of his 10 points – and his team’s final six points of the game – to get Morristown past the Spartans, 34-30, and into tonight’s championship game against Class 2A, No. 10 Triton Central (8-3).
“It was not pretty by any means but a win is a win,” said Morristown head coach Cory Kreiger. “For us, we will take it because it’s two wins in a row, and especially in a meaningful game like a county tourney game and getting a chance to go play for a championship.”
Rinzel finished with 11 points and four rebounds.
“Owen has stepped into a really big role for us,” said Kreiger. “These past couple of weeks he has really come on for us and for him to kind of get us going, especially in the first quarter when he had seven points, that was big for us. He does a good job rebounding the basketball but it is good to get those contributions especially being a sophomore and getting those meaningful minutes.”
Kieninger, a junior, had 10 points, including a key 3-pointer with 4:42 left in the fourth quarter, and pulled down seven rebounds.
“Colin doesn’t always score in the most graceful ways but he is pretty good, especially using his body around the basket,” said Kreiger. “He crashes the boards for us and that’s what we need. He has been great for us this year. He is fun to watch. He is fun to work with because he works hard.”
Both teams struggled offensively and shot a combined 20% (8 of 40) from the 3-point arc but Kieninger’s trifecta came after Southwestern’s Ben Kahler and Carter Snepp each hit 3s to cut Morristown’s lead to 28-27.
Kahler followed with another 3 with 2:15 to go but it was as close as Southwestern got to the lead.
Kieninger and freshman Kellen Crim hit 3 of 4 free throws in the game’s final 21 seconds to improve Morristown to 2-8 this season.
Crim finished with eight points and four assists.
Kahler and Snepp (photo) were the only Spartans (0-9) to score.
Kahler had a game-high 18 points and 11 rebounds. Snepp finished with 12 points, four rebounds and two blocked shots.
Steve Bush photo
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