Collegiate boys stay unbeaten by winning at Buhler

BUHLER – Collegiate junior Riley Dick was on the second wave Tuesday of the five-for-five substitutes that have become common through the years for coach Mitch Fiegel.

The unbeaten Spartans never totally pulled away from Buhler using their parade of fresh bodies. But with Dick providing several hustle plays and 14 points off the bench, Collegiate improved to 13-0 with a 69-62 victory.

Collegiate, No. 1 in the Class 4A-II coaches rankings, stretched its winning streak to 28 games by passing a tough test against Buhler, No. 10 in 4A-I. The Spartans got 19 points from Cody McNerney and 15 from Gabe Fisher.

“When we do our waves, it gets us in for a couple minutes and it gets us out and rested,” said Dick, who scored 10 first-half points as Collegiate never trailed. “By the fourth quarter, that’s usually when we’re able to get it going and make our runs.”

Buhler (8-5), which lost for the third time in four games, got 23 points from guard Tanner Lackey and 16 from center Grant Owens. The Crusaders scored 23 points in the fourth quarter, but Collegiate was up to the challenge, posting 24 on 10-of-15 shooting.

“For the most part, we’ve really owned the fourth quarter,” Fiegel said. “We’ve had a couple glitches where we didn’t, but that was partly my fault for not keeping guys fresh for the fourth quarter.

“Tonight, that was my No. 1 goal, to make sure my key guys were fresh.”

Buhler, which trailed 29-23 at halftime, pulled within two points twice in the third quarter. Dalton Smyres scored on a steal and jam to cut the Crusaders’ deficit to 31-29, but Collegiate’s Nate Kelley answered with a three-pointer from the top of the key.

When Jared Smart’s three cut Collegiate’s lead to 37-35, the Spartans’ Cooper Root countered with a putback and the Crusaders never caught Collegiate.

“We just couldn’t get over the hump,” Buhler coach Ryan Swanson said. “I thought they used their depth to their advantage. They’re just a really, really good team that is very deep.”

Buhler trailed 46-38 when Ethan White ended the third quarter with a half-court bank shot. But Dick started the fourth quarter by rebounding his own miss and scoring. After Buhler cut Collegiate’s lead to 50-44, McNerney responded with back-to-back layups and Buhler got no closer.

The cumulative effect of Collegiate’s constant defensive harassment surfaced throughout the game. Buhler missed a couple uncontested layups and committed 16 turnovers, some the result of a quick move into the Crusaders’ passing lanes.

“The biggest thing for us is we just got them running and we’re conditioned well,” Dick said. “We just got after it and made some good runs.”

Coming off its closest game of the season, a 75-72 victory over Circle, Fiegel was pleased with Collegiate’s performance against another upset-minded opponent.

“This was a big game for us,” Fiegel said. “Buhler had four losses against really good people, and they’ve got all the parts. This was one of those games if we could come in and steal one, it really starts to make your season real.”

Collegiate 13 16 17 23 – 69

Buhler 11 12 15 24 – 62

COLLEGIATE: McNerney 19, Fisher 15, Kelley 8, Root 6, Bradley 3, Dick 14, Reddy 1, Ashley 3.

BUHLER: Lackey 23, Smyres 4, D. Brown 6, E. Brown 3, Owens 16, White 7.

This story was originally published January 31, 2017 at 11:06 PM with the headline "Collegiate boys stay unbeaten by winning at Buhler."