Northeast Boys Put Away Improved Mustang Squad

Northeast Nodaway's boys put away an improved North Nodaway squad, beating them 62-33 last Tuesday as they continued their pattern of having a strong second half to win. The Bluejays won their third straight after dropping their game to Elwood and avoided a repeat of last year when a much smaller Mustang squad beat Northeast on their own floor by two. Northeast had beaten North Nodaway 58-15 earlier in the year, but since then North Nodaway had developed a lot more firepower as they were able to keep up with Northeast in the first quarter. There were four ties and four lead changes before Bryce Farnan stepped through two defenders and then Kevin Stoll lobbed the ball to him inside to make it 15-11 with 25 seconds left. But the gunslinging North Nodaway squad answered with a 3-pointer from Dwight Titus to make it 15-14 after one. For the quarter, Farnan had eight in the period and Colby Wiederholt had five more as the much smaller Mustang squad did not have an answer for Northeast's inside game.

Nick Gladman hit a 3-pointer to give North Nodaway its last lead at 17-16 with 7:18 left, but then Colby Wiederholt took over the game, scoring the next 10 points of the game. He got a fast break and pass from Aaron and then followed with a steal to make it 20-17. Colby then added a pair of free throws, another breakaway, and then got a steal off the press to make it 26-17 with 3:23 left. Bryce Farnan picked up his second foul, which slowed Northeast and Trent Coleman's putback was the only score by either team until Farnan got behind the defense and converted it into a free throw to make it 27-19 at the half.

Kevin Stoll twice lobbed the ball into Bryce to get the game into double digits at 31-19. Dwight Titus scored on a fast break but then Dalton Welch 's driving layup made it 33-19. But then Northeast went into a round of hacking and fouling and Bryce Farnan, Colby Wiederholt, and Dalton Welch all picked up their third fouls. Jason Henggeler came off the bench and played some of his best basketball of the year, leaping high for some rebounds and getting a shot from the left side. But North Nodaway took advantage of Northeast's foul trouble to get back to within 35-25 before Colby hit a tough shot inside and converted a 3-point play to make it 38-25 going into the fourth.

Colby's play seemed to break the dam as Northeast would score the first 13 points of the fourth. Bryce Farnan hit a pair of free throws; Kevin Stoll, who had been quiet from the field, hit a 3-pointer from the right side and then Aaron Patton added a drive. Colby Wiederholt got behind the North Nodaway defense and then Bryce Farnan got a putback and Aaron Patton scored off a steal to make it 51-25 with 5:18 left in the game.

North Nodaway hit a pair of free throws, but then Bryce Farnan got a putback and 3-point play; Kevin Stoll added a drive and then scored another one off a Henggeler assist after he had skied for an offensive board; Jason got another offensive board and put it back in to trigger the running clock. Tyler Schmitz got a putback in the closing seconds for the reserves.