Giesting poured in a career-high 19 points Friday night as the Rams held off visiting Carroll 43-42 in front of a standing-room-only crowd at Mulcahey Gym.
FRIDAY NIGHT BASKETBALL COVERAGE
» CCS too strong for New Miami, remains perfect in MVC
» Nick Graham’s photo gallery from CCS-New Miami
» Short-handed Madison cruises past Carlisle in SWBL
» Nick Graham’s photo gallery from Carlisle-Madison
It was career win No. 300 for the veteran coach, who couldn’t hide his smile while drying off from the water dumped on him by his triumphant team.
“I have earned a lot of them,” Weisgerber said when asked about how hard this one was to get. “This just goes to show our kids and what we have here at this school. Three hundred wins and there weren’t many that were runaways. We had to gut them out, and this team did that tonight.”
The Rams improved to 5-0 for the first time since 1987-88, another memorable year as Badin went 28-0 and claimed the Division III state championship.
“It’s been a long time,” Weisgerber said of the start. “We have a couple of tough ones coming up. I don’t think offensively we have played our best yet. That’s what I like about this team. Even though we are not playing our best offensively, we are doing the job defensively.”
It wasn’t easy Friday as the hosts fell behind 8-0, but behind their defense and the some hot free-throw shooting in the second quarter, the Rams grabbed a 23-20 halftime lead.
The third quarter was “The Giesting Show” as the junior forward poured in 10 of the Rams’ 12 points.
“I knew I had to get some confidence back,” Giesting said. “I was just feeling it a little bit. When I get my confidence back, they will go down. It was a tough game.”
Giesting said the Rams are a total team right now with all the players buying in to play as one unit, and that is why Badin is off to such a good start.
“It’s crazy,” Giesting said about being 5-0. “It’s great, it’s crazy. These guys are crazy. We have the toughest guys. These are the best teammates you could ask for. Our student section is the best. They are crazy. Every home game our student section is ridiculous, and we feed off that.”
Giesting hit three triples in the second half, including one that gave the Rams the lead (38-36) seconds after Carroll had gone ahead on a Simon Jefferson trey.
Weisgerber joked he knew Giesting was hot, at one point just yielding to fate after a Giesting bucket to end the third quarter.
“The last one he made I was hollering, ‘No, no, no,’ ” Weisgerber said. “I wanted to get the last shot of the quarter, and he just drives in there and scores. Sometimes when you holler that it goes in, so I kept hollering it to make sure it went in.”
Badin trailed 11-7 after the first period, but hit 10-of-12 from the line in the second quarter, led by Josh Hegemann’s 6-of-6 effort.
“(Hegemann) was big, but that’s what I like about this team this year,” Weisgerber said. “I like our bench. We have a number of kids who can come in and contribute in different ways.”
Badin led 35-28 entering the final stanza, but Carroll (2-3, 0-2 Greater Catholic League Coed North Division) rattled off eight straight points to grab a 36-35 lead with six minutes left. Giesting nailed his clutch shot seconds later, and the fans settled in for an intense final five minutes..
Seth Hargis (four points, seven rebounds) nailed a three to put the Rams up 41-36. Gavin Kinney (11 points) hit back-to back 3s to give the Patriots a 42-41 advantage with 1:56 left, but Badin’s defense anchored in from there.
Justin Pappas,who had eight points and eight rebounds in a foul-plagued night, gave the Rams the lead for good on a putback with 55 seconds left.
The Patriots worked the ball around and got a good look for a possible game-winning shot, but Hargis snared the miss with two seconds left to secure a 2-0 start in GCLC Central play.
The Rams were 14-of-33 from the field and 10-of-13 from the line. Jefferson had 11 points — Jaden Dahm had six points and nine rebounds — for the Patriots, who hit 13-of-34 field goals.
Carroll plays at Stebbins on Saturday night. Badin visits Purcell Marian next Friday.
Carroll 11-9-8-14—42
Badin 7-16-12-8—43
CARROLL (2-3, 0-2 GCLC North): Jaden Dahm 2 2 6; Simon Jefferson 4 2 11; Will Severt 0 2 2; Matt Cogan 0 2 2; Gavin Kinney 4 0 11; Austin Schafer 2 2 8; Johnny Deep 1 0 2. Totals: 13-10-42
BADIN (5-0, 2-0 GCLC Central): Joseph Walsh 1 0 2; Seth Hargis 1 1 4; Zach Switzer 1 0 2; Spencer Giesting 7 1 19; Justin Pappas 3 2 8; Josh Hegemann 1 6 8. Totals: 14-10-43
3-pointers: C 6 (Kinney 3, Schafer 2, Jefferson), B 5 (Giesting 4, Hargis)
About the Author