HEBRON -- Late in the fourth quarter Friday, with Kouts holding a big lead over Hebron, Mustangs coach Kevin Duzan called Cale Wireman over from free throw line for a quick message.
"Get Cole six more." Cole Wireman was sitting on 44 points, six shy of Ricky Hise's school record for a game. A couple buckets later, Wireman was a hoop away when he got the ball on the right wing and splashed a 25-footer at the 2:11 mark to give him 51.
"I didn't know 'til about three minutes left," Wireman said after the 90-63 blowout. "I wasn't really thinking about it, then Cale came over to me and said I'll get you six more. It's an honor. I've dreamed about it for four years because I've always loved scoring the ball. Last year, I was close to it in one game. I've heard great things about (Hise). It's nice to be up there with one of the best players in Kouts history."
Wireman's shooting line read 22 of 31 from the field, 6 for 11 from the arc and 1 of 1 at the free throw line.
"He had 46 at Rensselaer last year and fouled out," Duzan said. "Cole's been a heck of a player for us. Ricky was an outstanding player. He has the (career) school record, the county record. Yeah, it was a blowout, but early on, he carried us. It wasn't like he was shooting the ball every time he had it. He tried to get the ball to his teammates. When the jump shots go in, you look pretty good. I'm proud of him, but I'm proud of all the guys. It takes his brother to pass it to him. It takes Hunter and Parker (Kneifel) to help him get it, it takes Cooper (Schoon) and Matthew (Watson). It's a team record. Yeah, his name's going to go up there, but if it wasn't for the other guys, he couldn't do that kind of stuff." Wireman was on pace after each quarter, scoring 14 in the first, 16 in the second and 11 in the third. The only question was whether he'd be in long enough to get nine in the fourth.
"You never want to embarrass a team, embarrass a conference school," Duzan said. "They kept playing hard, they kept making shots. It wasn't like we were full-court pressing to get points. We were just playing."
The points breakdown was markedly different than Wireman's 30-point outing Tuesday against Marquette, when he had no 3s and shot more free throws. He had at least one triple in each quarter, spotting up deep in his happy spot on the right wing. "I really like the right side. I always play it in practice. I'm more comfortable there," Wireman said. "(Hebron) tried to slow us down. They were in a 2-3 and a 3-2. It opened up a lot of skip passes as opposed to the other day when we were trying to run up and down. I think we were more relaxed, especially me with my jump shot. I didn't really think about it as much. My teammates got me open a lot. They knew I was feeling it, so I give a lot of props to them. (Cale) finds me wherever I am. He's the best point guard I've ever played with. He hits me in rhythm."
Cole Wireman broke the Kouts' single-game record for points (50 by Ricky Hise), scoring 51 on Friday at Hebron. Wireman shot 22 of 31 overall and 6 of 11 from the 3-point line.
Cale Wireman's 16 points, nine assists, five rebounds and three steals would've made him the star of the game on most nights. Schoon snagged 11 rebounds as Kouts (2-0) also controlled the glass and forced 19 turnovers, leading to a bunch of runouts.
"I thought we played hard," Duzan said. "We got out and ran, which we have to do against zones so they can't slow the pace down. Overall, I thought it was a much better sustained effort than against Marquette. As much as we like to play offense, the first half of practice every day is dedicated to defense because, when push comes to shove, that's where you've got to make your living, by getting stops. When you've got four guys like Kneifels and Wiremans who get out and get after ya', it wears on ya'." Cole Wireman actually had Hebron outscored by four points through three quarters before the Hawks hit five 3s of their own in the fourth, four of them by Drew Grennes. Reece Marrs has 21 points with four treys for Hebron with Grifffin Moore scoring 16. "We knew this was going to be a tough one," coach Mike Grennes said. "This is a really good Kouts team they've been waiting for three, four years. We knew we were going against five seniors and we have two. They're a match-up problem for us because they're long, they jump well, they push the ball extremely well. They get out and guard you, force you to do things. We didn't finish, then they're streaking down the floor. We preached all week get back, get back, get back. They do it well. It goes on and on. They do a lot of things well."
With 81 points in two games, Wireman stands at 1,393 for his career, just 20 short of Greg Yergler (1982) for third. He needs 177 to catch Josh Cain (1996) for second. Hise (2003) totaled 2,022, which is also the most in Porter County and PCC history.
"He would like to chase down Ricky, but let's just play next weekend and see what happens," Duzan said. "That's all we can do. You just don't know."
The scoring aside, Wireman was glad to get the PCC schedule off with a bang.
"Our goal was to come out and do our damage against Hebron," he said, "send a message to the PCC, we're still here."
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