By DELBERT PETERS

Staff writer

It was a disappointing 70-63 overtime loss for Goessel’s boys Thursday night in Class 1A’s substate semifinal at Marysville.

There were seven lead changes in the first half, but the Bluebirds never trailed St. John (Beloit) in the second half.

It appeared that Goessel’s defense surprised the Blujays at the beginning of the game after trailing 7-4. The Bluebirds scored seven consecutive points thanks to out-sprinting the opponent for layups.

Nathaniel Zogleman dropped in six points in the first quarter, as Goessel led 13-11.

Against a 6-foot-8 player, Goessel’s defense held strong. St. John took a 21-20 lead in the second quarter, but Caiden Duerksen responded with six points in the second quarter, and Goessel went into halftime up 29-25.

Goessel scored first in the second half with a Duerksen basket and Jerah Schmidt arced a “tear-drop floater” over the opponents’ heads, securing a 35-29 lead.

Jacob Hagewood hit the only Bluebird 3-pointer giving the Bluebirds their biggest lead 42-35 with 2:27 left in the third quarter.

The Bluebirds led by six points early in the fourth quarter, but later missed two of three free throws, and St. John tied the game 51-51.

Free-throws were hard to find in the closing minutes. Goessel missed four of five free-throws as the Blujays tied the game 56-56 with 42 seconds to play. Lindeman hit a jumper, but the tallest player on the floor banked in a shot to end regulation tied 58-58.

The Bluebirds connected on five of six free-throws in overtime but could not find a field goal.

The loss dropped them to 15-8, signaling the last game for seniors Hagewood, Lindeman and Schmidt. Goessel’s defense picked up 13 steals, and it was the Bluebirds’ highest scoring game on the season.

Scoring summary: Lindeman, 20; Duerksen, 13; Hagewood, 11; Schmidt, 8; Zogleman, 8; and Skyler Wuest, 3.