Foul Trouble Claims NEN Boys in 1st Loss

Northeast Nodaway's boys fell victim to foul trouble as they dropped their first game of the year, 55-46 to Stanberry. "This is on me and the team and everyone," said coach Ryan Madden. "We kept them in it with too many stupid fouls and it went downhill from there." He said that they were going to have a Sunday practice to correct their mistakes. He said that it was all about execution and fundamentals and playing defense and knowing where they were supposed to be. Both Bryce Farnan and Colby Wiederholt fouled out in the loss and the rest of the team could not pick up the slack.

The game started off as a slopfest as neither team could get it going and both coaches were burning timeouts trying to get their teams focused. Bryce Farnan's 3-pointer from the right wing gave Northeast the biggest lead in the quarter by either team. Northeast tried to press Stanberry, but the Bulldogs simply had too much team speed for that to work, routinely burning the press for easy layups. The quarter featured four ties, the last one at 10-10 after one quarter.

Stanberry took advantage of the hacking and fouling and jumped out to a 17-12 lead halfway through the second quarter as two free throws from Tyler McQuinn put them up five. Dalton Welch came off the bench to hit a free throw and then Kevin Stoll scored from inside as Tyler Schmitz found him wide open. Kevin Luke burned the press with a layup with 3:06 left, but then Colby Wiederholt hit a pair of free throws and then Bryce Farnan jumped a pass and set off a scramble and got loose for a wide open layup to tie it at 19. But then he went to the bench shortly afterwards with his third foul as Stanberry went back up in front 24-22 with five seconds left.

The lead swung back and forth in the third as Kevin Stoll scored over two defenders and Colby Wiederholt scored off a backdoor cut and a pass from Bryce Farnan and then Farnan hit a free throw to make it 27-26. Stanberry knocked down a couple of shots from the high post, but then Stoll hit a pair of free throws and then Bryce Farnan hit a 3-pointer from the left wing to put Northeast back up 32-20. Stanberry, though, began extending their pressure and scored four straight off a bucket and then a steal off the press that turned into two free throws from Trevor Johnson to go up 34-32. Clayton Judd hit from the right wing with 3:01 left and then Aaron Patton scored off the drive, but then Tyler McQuinn went coast to coast against the press and then Northeast could not get the ball inbounds against the press. That mistake was critical as Bryce Farnan picked up his fourth foul with 3.5 seconds left in the third and Johnson converted at the line to make it 38-36 going into the fourth.

Bryce Farnan picked up his fifth foul right off the bat in the fourth quarter and things went downhill from there. The rebounding disappeared and Colby Wiederholt missed a layup that would have tied it and Northeast would not get another chance. Johnson got a putback for Stanberry and then McQuinn got a fast break bucket to make it 42-36 as Stanberry began to take control. Colby Wiederholt got isolated against the press and took his man to the hole to make it four, but Stanberry continued to work the offensive glass and beat Northeast up and down the court to make it 47-38. Wiederholt attacked the basket and hit three out of four from the line, but then Tyler McQuinn picked up a three point play and then Wiederholt fouled out shortly afterwards to seal Northeast's fate.