Bluejay Boys Celebrate Senior Night with 60-44 Win

Northeast Nodaway's boys, who played without Bryce Farnan for much of the night due to foul trouble, pulled away for a 60-44 win over Albany as the game snowballed out of control late in the second and early in the third quarter. Northeast managed to get plenty of production from the rest of its cast as they were still able to outplay Albany as the Bluejays celebrated their senior night with a win. Playing their last game at home were Clayton Judd, Colby Wiederholt, and Bryce Farnan, who improved on their record from last year and have won 19 games following their win over West Nodaway in the first round of districts.

Bryce Farnan tipped the opening tip to Colby for the first score and then added a putback with 7:17 left as Northeast went up 4-0. Drew Bain countered with a 3-pointer for Albany, but then Aaron Patton hit Colby on a backdoor pass and then got a drive that turned into two free throws to make it 8-3 with 5:45 left.

Kevin Paul's 3-pointer with 4:15 tied it up at 8, but Bryce Farnan hit from the right side and the Colby Wiederholt added a steal to put Northeast back in front. Colby's drive with 2 minutes left put Northeast up 16-10 before Farnan picked up his second foul and Rudy Sagun hit two free throws to make it 16-12 after one quarter.

Bryce Farnan picked up his third foul and sat out for the rest of the half on a questionable call as the referee blew the whistle before the play even happened. Albany closed to within two, but with Farnan out, everybody else started to step up offensively as Jason Henggeler hit Kevin Stoll for a 3-pointer and then Kevin blocked a shot, caught it, and aired it out to Colby for a fast break to make it 21-14. Sagun's fast break and Drew Bain's 3-pointer closed it back to within 24-20, but then Kevin Stoll followed his own missed 3-pointer and hit two free throws and then Jason Henggeler saved it to Aaron Patton on the left wing to make it 28-20 at the half.

Farnan picked up his fourth foul, but it didn't seem to matter as Aaron Patton hit a free throw and then Dalton Welch got a putback for Northeast. Colby Wiederholt got a fast break to make it 33-20. With the game slipping away, the Albany coach then got a technical foul for protesting a non-call of a foul and Kevin Stoll hit the free throws for Northeast. Aaron Patton then got a drive and pullup to make it 37-20 with 5:20 left in the third.

Albany came back, helped along by the officials. Caleb Newman hit an inside shot and then Rudy Sagun hit a 3-pointer from the right wing to make it 37-25. Then, the referee called a foul on Northeast before the play happened again and Sagun got a free throw to make it 37-26. Then, Jason Henggeler was straight up while trying to guard Tyler Lupfer, but they called him for a foul anyway and Lupfer's free throw made it 37-27. But Northeast was able to play through the interference from the officials as Jason Henggeler hit Kevin Stoll for his third 3-pointer of the night and then Colby Wiederholt went coast to coast for a fast break and converted it into a 3-point play to make it 43-27.

Kevin Paul hit a 3-pointer for Albany and then the referees made another questionable call as two Albany players were reaching in on one of Northeast's players and the referee signaled a foul, but changed his mind and called a jump ball, giving the ball back to Albany with the possession arrow. Aided by the change in momentum, Paul hit two free throws and then Albany continued to chip away for the next few minutes, putting on a press and getting to within 45-38 with 5:32 left on an inside shot from Caleb Newman.

But then Aaron Patton drove against the press for a layup with 5:18 left and then Bryce Farnan added a putback to make it 49-38 with 4:06 left. Newman hit from inside with 3:31 left to cut it to 9, but then Northeast began running at will against the press with Farnan in as Colby scored six straight points to put it out of reach at 55-40. Bryce Farnan added a putback and a free throw and Colby scored off another fast break before Albany scored two meaningless buckets at the end.