Northeast Nodaway's boys came roaring right out of the gate against West Nodaway, seeking to put them away early. Then, they went cold against them for the next two quarters and gave away most of their lead. Then, they won it all over again in the fourth quarter, which has usually been their forte this year, putting away the Rockets 64-43 last Tuesday night. They managed the win without leading scorer Tyler Davis (ankle), but managed to pack enough scoring punch to make up for it.
Chad Messner found Bryce Farnan open inside to open the scoring for Northeast as they opened the game with a 13-0 run. James Burns then found Messner open on the right baseline for a 3-pointer and then followed it up with a blocked shot on the other end. Farnan then got a driving layup, Colby Wiederholt added a pair of free throws and a steal, and Bryce Farnan added a drive and floater in the lane to cap the run at the 4:42 mark.
West Nodaway followed their lead from the first meeting between the two teams, trying to create points off of second-chance opportunities. They kept the game around 13 points for the next four minutes while Northeast continued to work the inside with James Burns; Kevin Stoll came off the bench and contributed some scoring punch inside as well. Finally, Stoll hit a pair of free throws and then Burns found Chad Messner open in the corner to push Northeast's lead up to 27-10 after one. Messner then found Bryce Farnan open inside to make it 29-10 at the start of the second.
But then West Nodaway began chipping away, working the inside themselves and getting a putback to cut it to 29-16. Farnan hit a baseline floater and then worked the high post to put Northeast back up 33-16, but then Northeast went cold for the next four minutes, only managing an inside shot from James Burns as West Nodaway continued to chip away on the boards and at the line, coming to within 35-25 at the half.
The Rockets continued to outwork Northeast for much of the third quarter, cutting it to 37-30 at one point before Josh Wideman got a putback for Northeast and James Burns got a steal and fed Chad Messner to make it 41-32 at the 4:22 mark. But West Nodaway continued to chip away, finally getting to within 41-35 at the 3:35 mark and visions of the epic collapse against Trenton were coming to mind.
In what Coach Charley Burch admitted was a desperation move, he benched both his big men and put in a five-guard lineup, including little-used Alec Scroggie, hoping to capitalize against West Nodaway's weaker guards. The move initially didn't work as West Nodaway stayed within 43-37 entering the final minute of the period. But then Northeast scored 6 points in the last 19 seconds to reestablish control. First, Josh Wideman hit Kevin Stoll on the baseline; following a Rocket turnover, Aaron Patton drove down the right baseline for a layup. Then, Wideman stole the ensuing inbounds pass and made a layup at the buzzer to put Northeast back up 49-37 and kill the momentum.
Burch put James Burns back in at the six-minute mark of the fourth and Bryce Farnan came back in shortly afterwards. West Nodaway stayed within 51-41, but then Northeast used a 3-point play to spark a 13-0 run that put the game away. Colby Wiederholt made the front end of a free throw situation and missed the second, but Bryce Farnan was there for the putback. Farnan then cleaned up on an Aaron Patton miss following a Colby Wiederholt steal. James Burns then found Colby Wiederholt alone inside and then Bryce Farnan lobbed a pass to Burns for a layup. Colby Wiederholt followed with a steal and drive and then Kevin Stoll capped the run with an inside shot with 1:10 left to go.
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