It seemed like it would be another win for the Bluejay boys; they were cruising along against Trenton, working the inside at will, and getting stops on the other end in the opening round game of the South Harrison Tournament last Tuesday. But all of a sudden, in a reversal of fortune, Northeast suffered a shocking collapse in the third quarter, giving up 31 points to Trenton in the period and falling to the Bulldogs 69-54.
Garth Griswold opened the scoring with a 3-pointer from the left corner for Trenton, but Bryce Farnan hit a free throw, Chad Messner score from inside, and Tyler Davis scored after a putback to put Northeast up 5-3 at the 5:47 mark. Dakota Banks grabbed a putback to tie it at 5, but Josh Wideman cleaned up after a missed layup following a steal and converted a 3-point play and Colby Wiederholt followed with a steal and drive with 4:32 left to put Northeast up for a long time. Trenton was bothered by Northeast's press and the Bluejays were stealing the ball off the press similar to what the girls have done all year. The lead grew to seven as Bryce Farnan and Colby Wiederholt added free throws before Austin Norris hit a 3-pointer with 43 seconds to close to within 13-9 after one period.
Nothing was dropping for Northeast for long stretches in the second quarter, but they were able to maintain their lead by getting to the line and playing strong defense. The teams traded buckets through most of the period before Bobby Welch hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key to make it 23-16. Bryce Farnan hit with a free throw and a cut inside to give Northeast its biggest lead of the night at 26-16. Austin Norris got a putback for Trenton, but Tyler Davis scored from the short corner against Trenton's zone to put Northeast back up 28-18 at the break.
Trenton started off the third quarter with a 9-2 run that cut Northeast's lead to 30-27. Bryce Farnan stepped through two defenders to put Northeast back up 32-27, but then Colby Wiederholt picked up his third foul and sat down. That seemed to open up the floodgates for Trenton and all hell broke loose as Northeast would stand around on offense and not run their plays and throw up a quick shot that would not go in. Trenton would push the ball down and get a 3-pointer from one of their many shooters and then the cycle would repeat itself. The problem was made worse by the fact that the Bluejays were not matching up on defense, leaving people all alone. The Bulldogs used a 10-0 run to go up 37-32 before Tyler Davis broke the run with a putback to make it 37-34. Colby Wiederholt checked back in, but promptly picked up his fourth foul and the dam burst again as the Bulldogs continued to rain 3-pointers and fast breaks on Northeast until they were able to take a 49-36 lead.
Finally, Bryce Farnan hit a 3-pointer with 13 seconds left in the disastrous fourth quarter to bring Northeast back to within ten. Northeast switched to a 1-3-1 to start the fourth quarter which seemed to throw Trenton off balance enough to let them back in the game. James Burns opened the scoring with an inside shot, followed by a 3-pointer from the wing from Chad Messner. James Burns cut inside and Bryce Farnan fed him a long pass from clear in the backcourt for a layup; Tyler Davis hit a 3-pointer from the right baseline to cap the 13-0 run and tie the game at 49. Dakota Banks hit a free throw for Trenton, but Tyler Davis answered with a free throw of his own to tie it up again at 50.
But then nobody matched up on 3-point shooter Garth Griswold, whose 3-pointer from the left baseline put Trenton up for good at 53-50. Colby Wiederholt countered with a pair of free throws to make it 53-52, but the defensive lapses down the stretch proved fatal as nobody was paying attention to Brennon Vandevender, who hit a pair of inside shots, or helping on defense, leading to a backdoor layup by Dakota Banks. These buckets put Trenton up 59-52 and the Bulldogs made a ton of free throws down the stretch to account for the final score.
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