Colby Wiederholt went out on top while Bryce Farnan's team finished third on the men's side in a tournament which could have been won by any of the four teams playing. All of the games were decided by two possessions or less for the day. In the championship game Colby Wiederholt's Gold team held off a late rally by the White team to win 76-70. The Gold team was led by Hamilton products Keegan Prather and Josh Pickrell and they were able to make use of their athletic ability throughout the contest. They fell behind 25-10 in the early going before fighting back and winning.
Colby Wiederholt did not score much during either one of the games, but that was fine with him. "I was focusing on defense," he said; he did well in that department. Colby was one of the main scorers for Northeast Nodaway, but NEN coach Ryan Madden said that one of his biggest strengths was his ability and willingness to do whatever was asked of him during the athletic banquet earlier this year. Colby said that he learned a lot from the Stanberry and DeKalb boys coaches during the course of the classic.
The White team, which was led by Cameron's Trace Naylor, Jefferson's Norbert Henry, Maryville product Tyler Peve, and Mid Buchanan's Brandon Wyatt, among others, jumped out to the lead as Naylor was hitting from downtown at will and Peve was getting to the basket and getting to the boards at will during the run.
But then the Hamilton kids began to make use of their superior athletic ability after Heath Harris of West Nodaway got a putback. Nick Wilson of Gilman City got a 3-pointer and then Tyler McQuinn of Stanberry hit a 3-pointer to get it back under double digits. Josh Pickrell got a steal and drive and then Putnam County's Brody Heidenwith got a long outlet from Pickrell to make it 27-22.
Trace Naylor scored off a backdoor pass, but then Keegan Prather hit some free throws and then Jake Ewigman got a putback to make it a one possession game at 29-27 with 4:24 left. Keegan Prather then hit a free throw following a steal and then added a 3-pointer to make it 31-29 with 3:35 left in the half to put White in the lead. But then Tina Avalon's Zach Grossman took over for the rest of the half, hitting a couple of shots and Norbert Henry added a 3-pointer to put White back in front 39-34 at the break.
The lead grew to as much as 45-36 off a Michael Burton (East Buchanan) 3-pointer, but then Tyler McQuinn got a drive and pullup to spark the Gold team. Heidenwith added a drive and then Pickrell added a drive and then a breakaway dunk as Keegan Prather threw a long outlet to him to make it 45-44. Grossman countered for White but then Nick Wilson countered from the top of the key and then Austin Springer of Salisbury got a putback to put Gold back in the lead at 49-48.
Tyler Peve hit a pair of free throws to put White back in front, but then Gold began to take control as Springer hit a shot from the free throw line, Jake Ewigman got a nice spin move in transition in the post to score, and then Colby Wiederholt got behind the White defense to make it 55-50 with 10:39 left.
White hung around for a while but then Tyler McQuinn got a pullup from the free throw line and Keegan Prather got a steal and converted it into free throws to make it 64-54 to get the Gold lead into double digits. Naylor hit two free throws for White, but then Nick Wilson of Gilman City got a drive and pullup and Ewigman got a steal and turned it into a free throw. Keegan Prather set to take a charge at midcourt and forced a walk; Heidenwith converted that turnover into a basket. Prather continued to dominate that stretch of the game as he found Springer open on the baseline following a drive and then got a long outlet from Springer to make it 73-56.
In the last two minutes, White did all they could to come back as they used a balanced attack to make a 9-0 run to get it back under double digits as four different players scored in under a minute to make it 73-65. Keegan Prather got a backdoor layup to make it 10 again, but Burton hit a 3-pointer off a steal for White with 19.5 seconds left and then they got another steal off the press. With the score 75-68 and 10.2 seconds left, Naylor was mugged on a 3-pointer as his shot went in and out; had that shot gone in and Naylor converted the 4-point play, that would have made it a one possession game. Heidenwith hit one out of two free throws with 7.8 seconds left and Peve missed a 3-pointer that would have kept it going as time ran out.
Colby's team led by as much as 27-12 in the first half of their game against the Purple team, headed up by point guard Tim Nelson of Lafayette and skyscrapers Mitch Haaten of Cameron and Kyle Livengood of Tarkio. They raised it to as much as 30-14 before Purple began to make use of their height and come back in the second half. Nelson's NBA 3-pointer from the left wing got it under double digits again and they continued to claw away, cutting it to 39-33 with 11:40 left. The lead stayed between 4 and 10 before Hatten's 3-point play made it 55-52 with 3:23 left. Nelson then drove and kicked it out to Jordan Whitney of Grundy County for a 3-pointer to tie it with 1:08 left. Keegan Prather hit a 3-pointer from the right side with 55.4 seconds left and added a free throw with 30.4 seconds left. Nelson scored off a drive and then Gold made one out of two free throws with 7.4 seconds left to make it 60-57. Nelson's toughly guarded 3-pointer missed at the buzzer and Gold got the win to advance to the finals.
Bryce Farnan's Black team lost 81-76 to the White team in the opening round, but came back to win the third place medal. In the first game, neither team was able to take control until late in the first half, when Trace Naylor's 3-pointer put White up 31-24 with just over two minutes left. They led by as much as eight, but Logan Holmer of Tina-Avalon hit two free throws, Billy Wendt hit two more and then added a steal to make it 34-32. But Naylor countered with a 3-pointer to make it 37-32 for the White team at the break.
Tyler Peve sparked the White team to a lead of as much as 45-32 early in the second half, but then Wendt and the Black squad came back and came to within two at 47-45. Then Bryce Farnan, who did not play much in the first half, finally got going as he got a free throw and a putback as Caleb Mitchell of East Buchanan added a steal and Billy Wendt scored off a fast break to put Black in front at 56-54 with 8:52 left. The lead swung back and forth until Logan Holmer of Tina-Avalon hit a 3-pointer for Black to make it 67-62. But then Naylor countered with a 3-pointer for White and they came back to take the lead at 72-71 with under three minutes left. The lead continued to change hands until Peve took over in the last minute to make it 77-76. Black missed two close shots that would have put them back in front and then Wyatt got a putback to put White up 79-76. White then got a steal and Naylor hit two free throws with 18 seconds to clinch it.
Farnan's Black team got off to a quick start, lost the lead late, but got a last second shot to beat Purple 81-79 to take third place. Caleb Mitchell (East Buchanan), Cameron Richardson (Benton), and Dillon Craig of Keytesville connected for Black to put them up 8-0. Farnan backed down a defender and scored; Richardson, whose green soles seemingly brought good luck, hit his second 3-pointer, and Billy Wendt (South Harrison) hit a free throw to make it 14-4. Going up against 6'7" Kyle Livengood and 6'9" Mitch Hatten of Cameron was no problem for Farnan as he finished with 10 points for the night playing in the low post for the most part.
Jordan Whitney of Grundy County threatened to take over for Purple as they fought back to within 19-15, but Logan Holmer of Tina-Avalon countered with a Tim Duncan style bank shot. Hatten snatched a ball off the rim and dunked it, but Craig got a free throw and Billy Wendt got the next five points for Black, getting a driving layup against three defenders that he turned into a free throw, scoring from inside, and then getting a tipin to make it 27-21.
Jacob Stoll of Jefferson hit a 3-pointer from the left wing off a Tim Nelson kickout to make it 31-29 with 3:18 left, but Japheth Busick of Newtown-Harris hit a 3-pointer and then Bryce Farnan got a leaping steal that he turned into free throws to make it 36-29. Taylor Eoff of Gilman City countered with a shot to make it 36-31, but Kameron Cool got a fast break and then Bryce Farnan faked a 3-pointer and drove down the left side of the lane to make it 40-31 with 52 seconds left before Hatten's drive at the buzzer made it 40-33 at the break.
Billy Wendt tried to take over for Black, getting a putback, a putback 3-pointer, and two free throws off a putback to make it 47-38 with 16:29 left. But Purple used a balanced attack in a 10-2 run to get back in it, getting a steal and drive from Tim Nelson to make it 49-48 with 12:52 left. Hatten's putback with 11:07 left put Purple in the lead and then Nelson's steal with 9:52 left made it 55-52. But then Japheth Busick answered with a 3-pointer to tie it at 55 with 9:40 left.
Bryce Farnan put his team back in front as he made his patented move, splitting two defenders to make it 61-60. He added another inside shot to make it 63-62. But then Jordan Whitney hit a 3-pointer and later added a free throw to put Purple back in front and the lead went back and forth for the next few minutes. But then Dillon Craig cut inside with 3:41 left to spark a run and then Billy Wendt scored on a fast break after Logan Holmer pushed it up the floor. Holmer did all he could during that stretch as he followed with a long pass to Busick for a layup and then scored on another with 2:43 left to make it 75-68.
But then Taylor Eoff (Gilman City) countered again for Purple with a 3-pointer and then hit two free throws off a steal to make it 75-73 with 1:58 left. Mitch Hatten then got a block and that set up Dillon Craig going coast to coast the other way to draw a foul with 1:22 with a chance to tie. But his second shot went in and out and the score stayed at 75-74. Billy Wnedt then took Hatten to the rim and got a free throw to make it 76-74 with 45 seconds left. But Tim Nelson countered with a floater to tie it at 76.
With 29 seconds left, Purple tried to trap Billy Wendt to get the ball out of his hands, but they fouled him and he went to the line and hit one out of two to make it 77-76. He missed the second, but Dillon Craig got the offensive board and drew the foul, hitting two free throws to make it 79-76. But then Purple got the ball to Nelson in the corner. Billy Wendt leaped high in the air to block his tying 3-pointer, but Nelson put a lot of arch on the shot and made it to tie the game at 79. But then Billy Wendt obviously had a short memory as he pushed it right down the court and down the right baseline, drawing a double team. He passed it out to Dillon Craig, whose shot at the buzzer was good as it did not even draw net and Black had won the third place medal.
No comments:
Post a Comment