Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Kevin Stoll Rescues Bluejays Against North Andrew

Northeast Nodaway’s boys won their fourth straight, a 48-43 win over North Andrew as they did their part in crashing the Cardinals’ courtwarming celebration. The Bluejays had struggled to win a squeaker over the 3-8 South Nodaway squad; they needed a late basket by Kevin Stoll to rescue them from that game. Bryce Farnan did all he could to carry Northeast against North Andrew, getting 25 points and 20 boards in the win. Colby Wiederholt added a key bucket. But it was Kevin Stoll who rescued the Bluejays late, getting a pair of blocks to preserve the win.
Cody Edwards did all he could for North Andrew, getting 23 points for his team. He went off early on Northeast, getting a floater in the lane and a 3-pointer from the top of the key; Drew Beggs added a drive against three defenders to make it 7-1 with 4:52 left.
Northeast, which had been slow in attacking the 2-3 zone by North Andrew, finally got going in the last four minutes of the period to tie it up as Aaron Patton drove into the paint for a shot, Colby Wiederholt hit from the left side, and then added a putback to tie it at 7 after one.
Kevin Stoll hit a 3-pointer and Colby Wiederholt hit another one from NBA range as he was trapped just inside the out of bounds line on the left side of the court and bailed himself out by launching a long 3. That made it 13-7, but Northeast proceeded to lose track of Edwards the rest of the quarter and he went off on them, answering with a 3-pointer of his own and getting 9 points in the next four minutes to put his team up 18-17. Kevin Stoll was shaken up during the stretch and came out, which seemed to hurt them defensively during that stretch. Bryce Farnan finally got Northeast back in front at the break as he got a shot from the left side and hit a free throw with 37 seconds left to put Northeast up 20-18 at the break.
Edwards struck again for North Andrew, hitting a 3-pointer from the top of the key to make it 23-20, but then Bryce Farnan began playing with a sense of urgency, hitting a free throw and then saving a ball from going out to Colby, whose two free throws tied it up at 23 with 4:20 left in the third. Nate Atkins slipped behind the defense for a layup, but then Northeast began working the offensive glass at will, getting putbacks from Colby Wiederholt and a free throw after another offensive glass from Farnan. Farnan then connected from the right baseline and then converted a third chance putback; Kevin Stoll added a baseline jumper with 55 seconds left to give Northeast a 32-25 lead.
But Edwards got North Andrew back into the game with a pair of fast breaks in the last 55 seconds to make it 32-29 after three. The North Andrew crowd was screaming their heads off and they got even louder when Chris Roush hit a 3-pointer to tie it up at 34. Bryce Farnan converted an offensive glass into a free throw and then Dalton Welch hit a pair of free throws to put Northeast back up 37-34, but then Blaise Heckman hit a free throw and then Edwards got loose again to tie it up at 37.
The game was tied at 39 and 41 before Farnan’s free throw put Northeast back up 42-41. But then Northeast knocked the ball into the backcourt and then overreached trying to get the steal and Heckman was all alone for the layup to put North Andrew in front 43-42 as the Cardinal crowd went bedlam with time winding down.
But then Colby Wiederholt, who had been stymied all night, all of a sudden found the left side of the baseline open and he went straight down the baseline and put it in with his left hand with 55 seconds left. “That play won the game for us,” said Coach Ryan Madden. “He finally said ‘to heck with it; I’m taking it to the hole.’ If we want to keep getting better, we’re going to need more of that.”
North Andrew had a chance to take the lead again and Zachary Officer had a look on the left baseline, but Kevin Stoll blocked the shot and Bryce Farnan was there for the rebound and was fouled with 14.8 seconds left. His first free throw banked home and his second was nothing but net, leaving North Andrew with one last chance to tie with a 3-pointer. They tried to work it to Cody Edwards for a 3-pointer on the left wing, but Stoll was there again with the blocked shot and once again Farnan was there for the defensive board and he hit both free throws for the final score with 1.5 seconds left.

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