Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Brent Behler Manages Bluejay Boys to 58-46 Win over Rockets

With Coach Ryan Madden required to sit out the West Nodaway game under MSHSAA rules, Coach Brent Behler managed the Northeast Nodaway boys to a 58-46 win over West Nodaway as Northeast beat the Rockets for the second time this year. He was assisted by Eric Fairchild as Northeast overcame foul trouble from Bryce Farnan and used a strong third quarter to beat the Rockets. "We played well when we needed to and we held them to five points in the third quarter," said Behler. "Our defense leads to our offense and we were able to pick each other up when Bryce got into foul trouble." Colby Wiederholt led the scoring for Northeast with 21 points as he picked up his game with Bryce seeing limited minutes.

The focus of the game for Northeast was in limiting West Nodaway's two main scorers, post player Health Harris and 3-point shooter Brent Barnett as well as not letting anyone else go off on them. Northeast trailed for much of the first quarter as Bryce Farnan picked up his first two fouls in the first three minutes of the game and West Nodaway used a balanced attack to go up 12-11 after one quarter of play. Colby Wiederholt scored six points for Northeast in the period to pick up the slack including a pair of inside shots and a drive and his patented left handed layup. Kevin Stoll added a steal and drive and Wiederholt found Dalton Welch on the left baseline for a bucket. Dalton picked up some of the scoring slack as he came within one of his career high with nine points on the night.

With Farnan back in, Northeast pushed out to a 17-13 lead as Kevin Stoll got a free throw, Bryce Farnan converted a putback into a 3-point play, and Colby Wiederholt beat the West Nodaway press with 6:20 up. But then foul woes resumed as Dalton Welch picked up his second foul with 5:10 left and Farnan picked up his third with 3:51 left with the team up 19-17. But Northeast actually outplayed the Rockets by two points in the last 3:51 with Farnan on the bench. West Nodaway tied it at 19 and 21, but Colby Wiederholt scored off a drive and Dalton Welch hit from the right wing to go up 25-21; it was a lead they would not relinquish despite a 3-pointer from Barnett that cut it to 25-24. Jason Henggeler came off the bench to hit a free throw and Colby Wiederholt scored off a fast break to make it 28-24 at halftime.

Farnan came back in at the start of the third; Heath Harris cut it to 28-26 but then Bryce found Dalton Welch on a back door cut to start Northeast's third quarter. Colby Wiederholt scored from the high post and then blocked a shot and then went coast to coast to make it 34-26 as Northeast started taking control. Harris scored again off a spin move, but Colby Wiederholt found Kevin Stoll open on the baseline for a 3-pointer; Farnan then jumped a pass at midcourt and went in for a layup. Kevin Stoll added a putback, followed by a drive down the left baseline by Bryce Farnan as he beat a double team to make it 43-28. Brandon Whittington hit a free throw to make it 43-29, but Kevin Stoll got a putback, Dalton Welch hit a free throw off a drive, and then Colby Wiederholt rebounded his second free throw and drove to make it 47-29 after three. Kevin Stoll's putback with 7:31 left in the game made it 49-29, Northeast's biggest lead of the night.

West Nodaway, which had been pressing on and off all night, went full court in the fourth quarter and the press worked as Northeast sped up the game and rushed shots instead of trying to slow down and take time off the clock. On the defensive end, the hacking and fouling resumed, resulting in frequent stoppages of play. However, Northeast had built up enough of a cushion and made enough buckets in the fourth quarter that West Nodaway never got closer than the final score. Brent Barnett scored five points and a 3-pointer in an 8-2 run that made it 51-37 with 5:03 left. Bryce Farnan countered with a putback, but then picked up his fifth foul as Heath Harris hit two free throws and Brandon Whittington slipped inside to make it 53-41. But then Dalton Welch hit a free throw, rebounded his own miss, and got another chance at the line, hitting another free throw to make it 55-41. Colby Wiederholt and Aaron Patton hit free throws down the stretch and West Nodaway did not get to within 12 again until the closing seconds.

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