Moeller Basketball Opening Week
The 2024 Moeller Basketball season is officially underway with a fast start. Their first game was November 30th where they matched up against Chaminade Julienne in a big battle. It was a battle between Dayton and Cincinnati, Marianist vs Marianist. This game meant a lot for many people. Moeller got off to a slow start, going down 8-7 at the end of the first quarter. The second quarter they stepped it up and took the lead 22-17 going into the break. The third quarter was more of the same, Moeller took a 10-point lead going into the 4th and held it down for the win on opening day. A big key to victory was the shooting efficiency, the Crusaders shot 65% from the field and 45% from 3. A place that needs work is free throws, the Crusaders shot 8-13 for 61% which needs to come up. The scoring was led by senior forward Alex Kazanecki, where we scored 22 points on 9/10 shooting. He also led the team in rebounds with 6, assists with 3, steals with 2, and blocks with 3. Kazanecki had a truly dominant performance on opening day and will look forward to keeping it up for the rest of the season.
The next game was against Dayton Stivers, this game went much differently than Chaminade Julienne. The Crusaders got off to another slow start ending the first quarter tied 6-6, and the second quarter was not much better. At the end of the first half, it was 16-21 in the favor of Stivers. The Crusaders needed to step up in the second half and they did. They outscored Stivers 19-8 in the 3rd quarter, taking the 6-point lead heading into the 4th quarter. They kept this up for the rest of the game and it ended 49-38 with the Crusaders on top. This game, Moeller shot far less efficient than the first game, shooting 44% from the field, 13% from 3, and 63% from the free throw line. Kazanecki led the scoring with 15 points, with Brady Franz behind him with 13 points. Franz led the team in rebounding with 8.
The first local matchup of the year was Withrow, in which the Crusaders made a statement. Unlike the other games, Moeller got off to a hot start taking the lead 14-4 in the first quarter. At this point, they never looked back. Into the halftime break, Moeller was up 31-10, after the 3rd quarter the score was 50-16, the Crusaders cleared the bench and got everybody active. The final score was 56-22. The key to victory this game was turnovers. Moeller limited their turnover to 7, while Withrow had 22. We shot a respectable 53% from the field, 33% from 3, and 80% from the free throw line. The Crusaders finally got a better free throw percentage, shooting 20-25 which is a necessity for the long run ahead to state. Kazanecki led the scoring once again with 20.
The Crusaders have started the season 3-0 and will look to keep it up. Kazanecki is averaging 19 points, 2.7 assists, 4.7 rebounds, 3.3 steals, and 2.3 blocks per game on some incredible shooting splits, leading the team in every single category. He is looking to repeat as the GCL Player of the Year this year. Moeller’s next 3 matchups include Hughes, Gamble Montessori, and St. Vincent-St. Mary, before their tournament down in Myrtle Beath, South Carolina. Moeller has been missing 2 star players in Roman Mason and Cooper McCutchen due to the football state championship run. They are expected to return next week. Another player the Crusaders are missing is Kingston Land, who is out with an injury and his return is undetermined. When everybody returns, I believe that the Crusaders will be unstoppable. Three things that they need to do is to get off to hot starts because when they do, they keep it up for the rest of the game causing blowouts. Secondly is they need to shoot better at the free throw line to finish off those close games that will be inevitable on this difficult schedule. Lastly, they need to continue to let Kazanecki do his thing and get the shots he needs. All in all, this could be a historic season with the talent and chemistry on this roster.
Photo Courtesy of Moeller Athletics