Maconaquah Schools

Varsity vs Peru High School Braves finish the season 3-20, 1-8(TRC) Coach Burrus Quotes:"Our season is over. It was a really quick season. The kids made the season go fast. You would think that this would be the longest season, ever. The boys on the team really dug in and made huge strides this year. We had to say good by to Caiden Richards. He really played a key role this year. He handled the ball all season for us. He really took great care of the ball so we could get into offense. He also had a lot of assists. We will miss Caiden and what he brought to the team this year. He played with multiple freshman, sophomores, and juniors. He handled it well! The Peru game came down to a couple of factors. We missed so many opportunities to score. We got plenty of shots and good looks at the basket. We really struggled in the first quarter. Peru came out and tried to knock us out. They led 25-6, after one quarter. We went into halftime down 42-18. I honestly thought we could come back. We just could not hit at key times in the 3rd quarter. Our kids did not quit and finally caught fire in the 4th and won the quarter 25-15. The other main factor was Peru hurt us on the boards. When we did stop them they got too many of those rebounds. When we missed shots, we didn't get enough of those rebounds. Peru had 22 turnovers. We had, 9. The thing that was different about the game was we led at halftime in a lot of games, then the other team would come at us hard. They would catch us, and pull away.- This game was a struggle from the first possession, on. However, this Peru game could have been 80-40. Our team dug in to chop it to 71-50. The effort to chop the lead was something I will always remember. I also wanted to mention a few things about the players coming back. Jack Gochenour-Scored 505 points as a Sophomore. This is probably a school record for his age. Major leader for us. Treson Ambrose- He brought solid defense and prioritized rebounding on both ends. He worked hard for us. Brody Kubly- He brought ball-handling, hustle, and an improving offense. Gritty defender. Cohen Helmuth- Scored over 100 points off the bench. Always a threat from 3. Good mid-range shooter. Improved ball-handling. Marcell Sims- He brought defense, rebounding, screening, ball movement, athleticism, and a strong work ethic. Levi Merritt- He scored over 120 points as a freshman. One of our top percentage shooters. Very flexible defender. Tristyn Herschberger-Improved in a lot of areas. He had some big JV games. He battled every day to make us all, better. Evan Zeiser- He was a great shooter at the JV level. He improved all year. Very fundamental player. Lots of potential. Jude Callane- He improved a lot from last year. He became a much better shooter this year. Big key for the JV success. Jaxon Cole- A Freshman who played great defense all season. He frustrated lots of guards. He always played hard. Big Southwood game. He did extra things. Tyler Adams- He anchored the JV defense. Great supporter of others. Improved his offense, and defense this year. The end of the season felt like a stop for this team. It is the most players I have ever brought back since we had one senior at Southwood in 2009, and 2020! We went through a pretty brutal schedule this year even if we would have had a veteran team. We also were up against it in the TRC. We played 6 of our 9 games on the road. We were close. We were close to upsetting Southwood. That was one of our best efforts of the year. Our kids battled Southwood till the end. They are 20-3. We led most of the game against them. Their senior leadership and veteran coaching got them by us. Another game in the TRC was the Cass game, at home. We lost in overtime. Our kids showed their progress by playing all those seniors of Cass down to the last second. We played great defense at Rochester. These kids forced 25 turnovers. Another great effort was at Wabash early in the season. We lost the game in the 40's by just a few points. We had a possession to tie the game to force overtime but couldn't convert. As I look at the TRC next year we will play 6 TRC games at home. We will play Northwestern, Wabash, Whitko, Manchester, Southwood, and Rochester at home in 2026-27. We will play Cass, Northfield, and Peru on the road next season. We are excited about this challenge next season. What will I remember about this season? I will remember we went through the struggles, together. Players pulled for other players. I just appreciate the sacrifices everyone made. We had players develop at the junior varsity level. Our JV won the Junior Varsity TRC Championship. Our C-Team had a strong season, as well. Congratulations to Mike Kennedy and Graham Stoll for putting together these successful seasons. I have appreciated all they brought to our program this year. We will welcome a very successful 8th grade team into our group next year. We are excited about them and what they can contribute next year. We will start building for next year with our elementary program in April. We will have individual workouts starting in April for incoming grades 9-12. We will have a few open gyms in May to start our summer. The summer for us is the month of June. We will have open gyms, individual workouts, shootouts, and games agaist local teams. We will be at Purdue, June 11th. We play 3 games down there. We also will be going to IWU for another shootout. We will play over 20 games this summer. Thanks to everyone who had a part in this season. People probably thought I was really frustrated this season... I loved coaching these guys. We had a lot of fun and made up a lot of years, size, and general experience. I loved the fight in these kids. You usually don't win a championship every year. I have said this before and I think it fits right here... Winning championships makes people into champions. I disagree. You work and build to a championship. These kids are doing that right now. To me, they are already champions. We haven't won anything with this group as far as championships. We will continue to build. Championships REVEAL Champions. See you next year!!!" Go Braves!!! Coach Burrus Gochenour 29pts 6reb 2ast 4st Richards 9pts 2reb 1st Cole 4pts 2reb 1ast 1st Herschberger 3pts 1reb Ambrose 2pts 4reb 1ast 1st Sims 2pts 6reb 1ast 2st Zeiser 1pt 1reb 1ast Merritt 3reb 2bl Adams 1reb Kubly 1st