Holthaus, Bombers finish hometown tournament on strong note, win third-place game

MACOMB, Ill. — Macomb senior guard Braden Holthaus was unusually tired after the first quarter of Saturday’s Macomb-Western Holiday Tournament third place game against No. 2 seed Peoria Christian.

“I was exhausted,” Holthaus said. “That usually doesn’t happen.”

The fourth-seeded Bombers playing their fourth game in 48 hours likely had something to do with that exhaustion, but Holthaus and the Bombers found enough reserve in the tank to defeat the Chargers 43-28 and finish in the top three for the third time in the last four years at their hometown tournament.

On Thursday, the Bombers pulled away from Canton (Ill.) to win 46-32 then dispatched of Mercer County 58-30 on Friday to advance to the semifinals. In that semifinal game, West Hancock beat Macomb 55-37, sending the Bombers to the third-place game just four hours later.

“Playing four games in three days is pretty hard,” Holthaus said. “We probably had the hardest route of anybody in the tournament.”

Holthaus will gladly take a victory in the final game.

“Winning the last game and going out on a good note feels pretty good,” Holthaus said. “Obviously we want to make it to the championship, but we didn’t play very well against West Hancock and didn’t make it. I’m proud of the guys for finishing the last game out.”

The Bombers led Peoria Christian 19-18 at halftime. After that lead had stretched to 29-22, Holthaus’ 3-pointer to beat the third quarter buzzer gave the Bombers their first double-digit cushion. Holthaus ran the baseline and came off a Nick Elbe screen to spring free in front of the Bombers’ bench. Holthaus caught a bounce pass from Drew Watson at his knees, took a dribble to his right, stepped back and hoisted a 3-pointer over Peoria Christian’s Malachi Persinger with four seconds on the clock.

The ball took the rest of the third quarter clock to rattle around the rim, off the backboard and in.

“I was happy to have that bounce in because typically those bounce in against us, so we’ll take that,” Bombers coach Jeremy Anderson said.

Holthaus, who finished with a game-high 18 points, admitted he got a slow start on his cut.

“We honestly didn’t even execute it right,” Holthaus said. “I was supposed to go to the corner quicker, and I don’t know why but I delayed like two seconds, so I caught it kind of late. I kind of just chucked it up and it went in.”

While Holthaus’ shot-making abilities catapulted the Bombers into the fourth quarter — one in which they outscored the Chargers 11-6 — the Bombers hung their hat on their defense to go 3-1 in the tournament, and Anderson said success will follow if they continue to grind other teams to a halt.

“I think that has to be our mantra,” Anderson said. “That’s going to be what keeps us in games. What’s going to keep us hanging around good teams is we’re going to have to be very solid in the halfcourt.”