It’s not easy to enter a seventh-place game, and some tournaments don’t have them because of the challenges.

However, Fatima boys’ coach Matt Baker didn’t leave anything to chance, and the result was a 62-39 win over New Haven on Saturday at the Montgomery County tournament. “We came in at noon, shot, and talked about that exact situation,” said Baker. “Obviously, we don’t want to be on the left side of the bracket, let alone in the seventh-place game.”

It came down to motivation. “You can go up there and hang your head, or you can realize that a district title isn’t won or lost in early December,” said Baker. “It was another opportunity to get on the floor and fix some of the things we’ve been struggling with and improve. I thought they did a really good job. We put a different press in this morning to try to speed the game up and get some tempo.”

Baker added that the team’s first two games in the tournament came against opponents and officials the Comets don’t typically experience. “It’s not the style of basketball we’re used to playing,” he explained. “It’s very methodical in a way, but it’s almost like methodical pickup basketball. They attack you, and then they’ll walk it out to half-court and kind of breathe, and then they’re coming at you again. There’s no rhythm to the game, if you will. So we just decided, you know me and Cooper (Kleffner) talking, and we were going to try to force rhythm for us, not that we needed to necessarily press to turn them over.”

The approach worked as Fatima scored 23 points off 20 turnovers while holding NH to four points on 10 turnovers. The team also dominated the paint, winning the scoring battle 38-18.

From the start, it was a mismatch as the Comets jumped to a 23-9 first-quarter lead. The remainder of the game followed suit, with Fatima controlling the tempo throughout the contest. “We just wanted to get our kids moving, get the intensity up, and try to dictate that rhythm for our benefit more than anything.”

Overall, the Comets shot 43.6%, while covering 9-12 from the FT line, and converting five three-point attempts.

Xavier “Chet” Stuecken (4-4 FT) scored a team-high 22 points and grabbed eight rebounds, while adding four assists and five steals.

Henry Robertson (2 treys) and Devin Luebbert added 10 points apiece, as Evan Klouzek (2 treys) put in eight, and Ty Brandt (trey), Blake Kliethermes, and Bryce Wieberg finished with four points each.

Luebbert, Klouzek, and Jackson Crede each snagged five rebounds, Kliethermes added four, Brandt had two, and Robertson, Cash Mengwasser, and Wieberg posted one apiece.

On the defensive end, Kliethermes counted four steals, Klouzek and Wieberg each had two, and Luebbert finished with one to go with a block. Mengwasser had the team’s other block.

Overall, Baker is pleased with the effort. “You’ve got to keep the end game in mind, especially with a young team,” said Baker. “Games are games, and staying positive with them is imperative. They gotta keep their heads up and learn. Whether you’re playing for a championship or playing on the other end, you get to play three teams that we don’t see very often, and learn a little bit about who we are and find ways to improve.”

In the consolation semifinals, Fatima lost 46-45 in a double-OT contest against Hermann, with the Bearcats winning on a buzzer-beating three-pointer.

Fatima led most of the way, holding a 20-13 lead at intermission. The Comets still led by nine in the fourth, when things started to go awry.

“We got some tough breaks on calls; I’m not talking about officials, just tough breaks that got us rattled,” said Baker. “Then, we had a technical that put their best shooter on the line, who hadn’t made a shot yet, and then he made two free throws, and I think he scored 14 points after that. “Defensively, we played 10 extra minutes and still only gave up 46 points, so I’m proud of the defensive effort,” Baker added. “We changed some stuff coming into today. Offensively, we were standing too much. We weren’t going to the offensive glass, and today, the boys did a much better job of that. We just looked young in that Hermann game late.”

Three Fatima starters fouled out going into overtime, but the Comets led by two with 10 seconds to go, and Hermann hit the bank shot for the win. Down the stretch, Fatima missed some free throws that would have put the game out of reach. “We left a couple of points on the board that could have been the difference,” said Baker, the Comets going 7-11 on the night. “But, as I said, this group’s going to continue to get better and better just because of how young they are. They play hard, but you see our youth in stretches. The more minutes they get, and the more comfortable they get, and the more I get a feel for them, we’ll get there.”

Kliethermes led the team with 17 points, including three treys and a 2-2 mark at the line. Wieberg (2 treys) added 10, Robertson (trey) put in seven, Stuecken (3-4 FT) scored five, Luebbert added five, and Mengwasser finished with one. Stuecken also had a team-high three assists.

On the rebounding front, Luebbert led with six, followed by Stuecken (5), Robertson and Kliethermes (4 each), and Wieberg (2).

Kliethermes counted four steals, Stuecken had three, and Luebbert, Klouzek, and Wieberg added one apiece. Stuecken (3) and Kliethermes (2) led in the blocks department.

Fatima opened the tournament with a 60-42 loss to host Montgomery County.

“Tournaments are weird,” said Baker. “We seeded this thing, but nobody had played a game yet. Montgomery County graduated everybody off a quarterfinal team, but they have 10 seniors. They ended up with a six seed, and now they’re in the championship game. They’re a lot better than we thought they were.”

Fatima didn’t convert three layups in their first six possessions, and the Wildcats jumped to an early 14-6 lead. The Comets cut it to three points but trailed 17-10 at the start of the second, when Fatima posted four points to face a 29-14 halftime deficit. “I think that game could have gone a lot differently if we had made the easy shots,” said Baker.

While the second half was much better for Fatima, the gap was too wide. The Comets shot 40.5% from the field, with four three-pointers and a 4-8 FT performance.

Kliethermes (2 treys) led the team with 14 points, as Stuecken added 12, followed by Robertson (5), Luebbert (4), Klouzek (3), and Mengwasser and Wieberg (2 each).

Luebbert led rebounding with five, as Kliethermes added four, and Stuecken grabbed three.

Defensively, Stuecken counted three steals and two blocks, as Kliethermes posted a steal and a block, and Robertson, Luebbert, Brandt, and Wieberg had a steal each.