Brett Werner had a huge game against Capital City on Friday, scoring 36 points to lead the Comets to a 68-47 win. He also surpassed the 1,000 career scoring mark last week and was to be honored Tuesday of this week at the Fatima game.

“Brett has demonstrated his leadership and scoring ability, and this was a big win for us,” said Coach Ryan Robertson. “The seniors really did a nice job of coming out ready to play in this one. Cole Lehmen gave us a nice lift off of the bench, hitting three treys in the first half. Masan Stuecken continues to do all of the little things. He’s rebounding the ball well and he’s very alert on both ends of the floor.”

Lehmen finished with nine points as Stuecken scored seven. Nathan Brandt added six points to the mix as Lee Verslues scored four, and Jacob Vanderfeltz and Cooper Kleffner each finished with three.

Fatima led at halftime 40-19.

“The guys seem connected on the defensive end in this one,” said Robertson. “Capital City runs tons of ball screens in their offense, and I thought we did a decent job taking that away from them.

When we dig in on the defensive end and we team rebound or ceiling rises.”

In the JV game, Fatima claimed a 66-32 win as Kleffner scored 12 and Tyler Fortson added 11 to go with 10 from Jack Robertson, while Blake Gentges added nine, followed by Nate Lehmen (7) and Jacob Schulte (6).

“Capital City has a great facility, and the kids were ready to go from the tip,” said Coach Jeff Adamson. “Being in a new atmosphere like that, I was eager to see how they would respond. It is a bigger floor, so there was tons of room. They were a much bigger team, so limiting them to one shot and out and pressuring their guards was big for us.”

Against Tuscumbia on Thursday, Fatima won a lopsided game, 67-15.

“Tuscumbia is in a rebuilding stage,” said Robertson. “Our guys took advantage of their zone defense, connecting on 20 three-pointers.”

Yes, you read that right. Fatima converted 20 three-pointers in 70 attempts, while going to the line just once in the contest.

Brandt led with 12 points, all coming from beyond the arc, while Lee Verslues (three treys) and Carter Karst (two treys) added nine points each, followed by Kleffner, Dawson Huhn and Jon Dickneite (two treys apiece, 6 points each), Werner (one trey, 5 points), Vanderfeltz (trey, 3 points), and Luke Boyce (2). Karst led with four assists, as Stuecken and Brandt dished it thrice apiece, and Kleffner added two.

Stuecken and Karst each grabbed six rebounds to lead the way, as Brandt and C. Lehmen each collected five, followed by Vanderfeltz (4) and Verslues (3).

On the defensive end, Verslues snagged four steals to go with three apiece by Werner, Stuecken and Brandt. Werner, Boyce and C. Lehmen each had a block.

There was no JV game.

In last Tuesday’s game, Fatima’s varsity squad fell to St. Elizabeth 81-64. “We were trying to get the tempo and the speed of the game in our favor from the start and it kind of put us behind the eight ball,” said Coach Robertson. “We gave up too many easy buckets to start the game and we played from behind the majority of it.”

The Comets trailed 23-13 after one but outscored the Hornets 24-19 in the second to make it a 42-37 score at the break.

Fatima gained a point in the third, and cut the lead to three points with four minutes to go. “We just couldn’t convert enough shots down the stretch to take the lead,” said Robertson. “Then it became a fouling game. St. Elizabeth is very big, and it’s even harder to deal with their size on the smaller court. Definitely give credit to them though. They are an excellent basketball team and we wish them luck down the stretch.”

Fatima converted 6-8 from three-point range and 10-12 from the FT line, as Verslues scored 19 to lead the Comets. He finished with a trey but hit most of this shots (9-20) from twopoint range. Werner and Brandt each drained two treys on their way to a 16-point performance apiece, followed by C. Lehmen (4), Huhn (3), and Leo Peters, Karst and Stuecken, each of whom put in two points.

On the rebounding front, Brandt claimed a team-high seven as Stuecken grabbed five, Peters had four and Werner finished with three.

Werner’s three steals were tops, with two apiece b y Verslues, Brandt and C. Lehmen. In the JV game, the Comets pulled out a 56-34 win after taking a 30-14 halftime lead.

“This was a nice atmosphere, and the kids were eager to play,” said Adamson. “This was the first time the JV group has been on the floor together for three weeks, and the kids got after it and played hard. I thought our hands were very active and they played very unselfishly. Always nice to get a win at St. Elizabeth, because it’s a tough place to play on the small floor.”

Schulte led with 13 points as Fortson added 11 and Karst scored 10, followed by Jack Robertson (9), Kleffner (8) and Blake Gentges (5).