Ten Best: Martensdale-St. Marys 72 vs Bedford 68
Martensdale — Things got interesting late, thanks to Brennan Sefrit’s 20 fourth quarter points, but the Blue Devils were able to stave off Bedford and come away with a relatively comfortable Pride of Iowa Conference win.
Sefrit, a junior Bulldogs guard, was impressive in the loss, scoring a game-high 36 points, nine of those came in the first quarter, when he spurred his team to an 18-14 advantage. But then the Blue Devils came alive, thanks in large part to sophomore Carson Elbert’s 11 second quarter points. And they went into the half with a 38-28 lead.
Elbert stayed hot in the second half, and fellow sophomore Trey Baker got into the mix, helping to push the Blue Devils lead 18. The four points Bedford lost by was the smallest deficit they faced since the second quarter.
Martensdale-St. Marys improves to 11-2 with the win, it’ll try and keep it going Monday at Clarke, Osceola. Bedford drops to 11-4 and will play at Nodaway Valley next Tuesday.
Team Scoring
Bedford — 18 10 10 30 — 68
MSTM — 14 24 12 22 — 72
Individual Scoring
Bedford: Brennan Sefrit 36, Cooper Nally 21, Abraham Weed 6, Damien Henry 6, Nick Whipple 3, Jordan Perkins 2.
MSTM: Carson Elbert 23, Trey Baker 17, Jack Franey 11, Hogan Franey 10, Issac Gavin 5. Esa Johanson 4, Troy Holt 2.
Ten Best
Best Player: Brennan Sefrit (Bedford)
He scored 36 points which is fantastic. And his 20 fourth quarter points were not only the most we’ve seen in a quarter since as long as we can remember, but it got his team right back into the game late, despite being down 18 points at one point in the second half.
Best College Prospect: Trey Baker (MSTM)
The sophomore wing is 6-foot-4 and was best at scoring at the rim off the bounce. He’s a long, lean wing who can handle it, shoots it well and rebounds. His size and ability are what D2/D3 and NAIA college coaches will be noticing very soon.
Best Handles: Brennan Sefrit (Bedford)
He’s a skilled guard who has all the moves. His speed pairs well with the tight handle and he was able to maintain control exceptionally well while routinely blowing by his opponent. Sefrit seldom loses his handle, despite deploying an array of tricks.
Most Versatile: Cooper Nally (Bedford)
We could have either given this to Baker or Nally, but Nally was so good tonight, he deserved to have a category all his won. He’s a lean 6’6 post, who is stronger than he looks and can finish through contact well. He also was handling it, passing it very well for a bog and showed a nice stroke on his jumper.
Best Shooter: Brennan Sefrit (Bedford)
He canned seven 3-balls in this game, that’s more than the entire total from all other players in the game. So, there’s really no way to not to give Sefrit the honor here. What’s more impressive, is he shot and made several of his 3-balls off the bounce.
Most Clutch: Jack Franey (MSTM)
When the game started to get a little bit dicey late, it was this sophomore point guard who helped keep the Bulldogs at bay. He was sent to foul line often in the final two minutes and he made seven of his eight free-throw tries in the fourth quarter.
Best Surprise: Carson Elbert (MSTM)
We knew Baker would be really good, and we saw that the Blue Devils had plenty of young talent, but we didn’t know exactly what to expect. Turns out this sophomore shooting guard is a bonafide prospect in Iowa’s Class of 2021. He was slicing and shooting and scoring in bunches en route to a team-high 23 points.
Best Energy: Jack Franey (MSTM)
He’s a hyper-aware point guard, which is exactly what you want out of your floor general. He was aware enough to be the one that let the refs know about the bonus free-throws coming for his teammate in the first half, seemingly before the refs were even aware. And he was active and vocal all night long as the emotional leader of this Blue Devils squad.
Best Moment: Franey Fixes Poster (MSTM)
We thought this was a funny thing that happened
Katelyn Amfahr’s senior day poster was knocked off the wall by a ball flying out of bounds. MSTM point guard Jack Franey took the time — in the heat of battle mind you — to put it back on its hook before he inbounded the ball . The Blue Devils Crowd applauded #iahsbkb
— TJ Rushing (@TjRushing) January 26, 2019
Best Freshman: Hogan Franey (MSTM)
Technically, he was the only freshman that played in this game, but if there was a lot of freshman playing, we’re willing to bet he’d still have been the most impressive. Franey was poised and confident while scoring 10 points. He started off great, scoring four in the first quarter, and saved some scoring for the end, putting in four more in the fourth.