Northeast Nodaway's boys built up a big lead and then had to withstand a frantic Nodaway-Holt rally before advancing to the championship round of the Northwest Missouri Tournament Wednesday. The Trojans, who scored 38 against North Nodaway in the opening round of the tournament, scored 34 in the fourth quarter against Northeast, but could not erase a 20-point deficit against the Bluejays. Coach Charley Burch said that the difference was that in the first three quarters, Northeast played to win. "In the fourth quarter, we played not to lose," he said. "But we'll take the win and we'll give CFX our best shot in the championship round."
Tyler Davis staked Northeast out to a 5-2 lead in the first three minutes as he had all five of Northeast's points, knocking a shot down from the high post and scoring from inside and hitting a free throw. But the defensive rebounding broke down during the next stretch as Nodaway-Holt went ahead 10-5 as they got baskets from Zach Lemar, Blake Shamberger, and Marc Rosenbohm during the run. One of the plays that symbolized that stretch was one where the Trojans got five chances at the basket and converted as Patrick O'Riley hit two free throws. This lack of rebounding would kill Northeast in their championship tilt with CFX. Northeast finally got untracked on the other end as Tyler Davis hit from the top of the key and scored off a drive and James Burns cut inside to put Northeast up 11-10. O'Riley scored off a backdoor cut to put Nodaway-Holt up 12-11 after one quarter.
The first five minutes of the second quarter featured two ties as both teams kept the game close. O'Riley went coast to coast to start the scoring for Nodaway-Holt, but Bobby Welch countered with a 3-pointer and Josh Wideman had a drive to make it 16-14. Michael Brown, one of the main weapons of the Nodaway-Holt team, answered with a free throw but then came out with an injury, which seemed to hurt the Trojans. Shamberger's inside shot tied it at 19-19, but then James Burns converted a 3-point play, Chad Messner scored from the top of the key, and Colby Wiederholt scored off a Josh Wideman steal as Northeast started taking control in the absence of Brown. Burns' free throw gave Northeast a 28-19 lead at the break.
With Brown out with his injury, Bryce Farnan took over the third quarter for Northeast. He opened the scoring with a fingertip grab and putback, took a lob pass and scored off a hook shot, and knocked down a 3-pointer from the top of the key. Colby Wiederholt added a steal and then Farnan added another 3-pointer from the top of the key to make it 40-22 with 4:55 left in the period.
Brown came back in at that point to knock down a 3-pointer and O'Riley followed with a shot from the right side to make it 40-27. The lead stayed between 13 and 16 before Tyler Davis scored from the right wing and Bryce Farnan was hammered while shooting from the high post and converted the three-point play to make it 51-31 going into the fourth quarter.
But then Northeast started playing not to lose, throwing the ball away against the press on offense and hacking and fouling on defense. The hacking and fouling started right off the bat as Brown was hammered right off the bat while attempting a 3-pointer and hit all three free throws. Northeast threw a half-court lob to James Burns, but Brown was hammered on a drive to the basket and converted two free throws to make it 53-37.
Northeast managed to keep the lead around 16 for a while. Tyler Davis hit a pair of free throws, Josh Wideman drove down the left side, and Colby Wiederholt beat Brown down the court for a layup to make it 59-42. But then the Trojan comeback bid gained steam as Patrick O'Riley hit a free throw, Brandon Saxton got a fast break, and Zach Lemar hit a long 3-pointer to make it 59-48 with 2:34 left. Wiederholt scored off a fast break and Tyler Davis hit two free throws to make it 63-50 with under two minutes left, but then Carson Long began driving at will to the basket, hitting a pair of layups to make it 63-54 with 1:28 left. Colby Wiederholt beat the press and got a layup. Cody Ridler hit a 3-pointer, but Bobby Welch hit a free throw to seemingly leave Northeast in control at 66-57 with 1:08 left.
However, the fun was just beginning. Northeast could not buy a defensive board on the next possession and Long grabbed a putback with 38 seconds left to make it 66-59. Northeast then threw the ball away against the press and Michael Brown hit a 3-pointer with 30 seconds left to make it 66-62. The Trojans nearly stole the ensuing inbounds pass, but then Tyler Davis hit two critical free throws with 21.9 seconds left to make it 68-62. But then things got interesting again as Northeast fouled Brown on a 3-point attempt and he made all three free throws to make it 68-65 with 11.3 seconds left. But Chad Messner hit the back end of a double bonus to clinch the win for Northeast with 7.3 seconds.
No comments:
Post a Comment