Sunday, February 4, 2018

NEN Boys Beat South Nodaway; Magic Number for Winning Season is One

Northeast Nodaway’s boys overcame a physical South Nodaway squad to win 55-42 Friday and come within one game of their first winning season since 2010-2011.

NEN had previously beaten South Nodaway in overtime at Northwest Missouri State during the Platte Valley Invitational. Eli Scroggie had carried the Bluejays with a triple double, but this time, South Nodaway went to a diamond and one on him, and he sat down early with two fouls. Neither Spencer Weir nor Dylan Mildfeldt, their two big guns, could do anything against South Nodaway in the first quarter. But Brayden Welch, normally a role player, kept them afloat with four points in the first quarter. Dylan Vore and Cameron Staples had 2, Staples took a charge on defense, and the game was tied after one, with neither team able to take control.

There were several times the game threatened to get out of hand. Northeast was turning the ball over after Scroggie came in as they were staring at the post instead of feeding him the ball as South Nodaway jumped out to a 16-12 lead. But Scroggie got himself going with a putback and an inside shot to tie it back up as South Nodaway’s Jordan Murphy drew a technical foul for slamming the ball.
Brayden Welch’s free throw with 2:18 put Northeast up 18-16, when South Nodaway went into their stall game, trying to draw out Northeast and then attacking the basket when they did. They got it tied up on Taylar Freemyer’s basket, but Spencer Weir hit a free throw to put NEN up 19-18 at halftime.

The scary thing about that half was that Mildfeldt had 2 points and Weir 1 in the half, but Northeast was still up 19-18. It was only a matter of time before they got untracked, and they did in the second half. Eli Scroggie carried the team on his shoulders early in the third before sitting down with four fouls. But then Dylan Mildfeldt got untracked with a three-pointer to finally put Northeast up 28-22. The teams traded buckets until Weir finally got untracked, cutting inside for a pass from Cameron Staples and got a quick outlet to Dylan Mildfeldt for a transition look to make it 38-28. Dylan Vore hit from the right side to make it 40-28 after three.

The lead grew to as much as 46-32 at the 3:43 mark as Dylan Mildfeldt hit Spencer Weir for a drive and a three-point play, but then once again, it all threatened to unravel.

Taylar Freemyer, who had been quiet for much of the game, suddenly got untracked, scoring off a drive and then a fast break basket to make it 46-36. South Nodaway put on the press; Spencer Weir got loose to make it 12 again, but then Freemyer got a triple to make it 48-39. Another three that would have made it six went in and out, but Northeast missed a shot, Cameron Staples committed an unnecessary foul by reaching over Clayton Walker’s back on Northeast’s end, meaning that instead of South Nodaway going the length of the floor to earn a basket, they got a trip to the free throw line since NEN had no more fouls to give.

The situation threatened to unravel at that point as Coach Vance Proffitt slammed his water bottle in frustration over the miscue and got a technical foul from Referee Tom Seipel. Walker made one of two for South Nodaway, Cade Henggeler hit both technical shots, and South Nodaway got the ball back down 48-42 with a chance to cut it to three.

But Freemyer missed a 3-pointer, and Walker picked up his fifth foul. Northeast missed the ensuing one and one and the next sequence was a battle of wills. Brayden Welch got a steal, but Dylan Mildfeldt missed a layup. He stole the ball back on a tieup, but Spencer Weir lost the ball in the backcourt for a violation. C.J. Sipes missed an attempt to make it one possession with a three, Cameron Staples threw away a pass, but Freemyer missed a shot. On that miss, Staples atoned for his previous mistakes by saving a ball from going out off Northeast to Spencer Weir, who pushed it ahead and got it to Dylan Mildfeldt to finally give Northeast some breathing room at 50-42.

After Freemyer missed another one, South Nodaway had to start fouling and Mildfeldt hit both free throws with 54.9 seconds as Henggeler picked up his fifth foul. Freemyer picked up his fifth foul on the next series as Weir hit both free throws, and Brayden Welch added one more at the end.

Eli Scroggie, playing for much of the game with foul trouble, still led the scoring with 15 points. Dylan Mildfeldt had 13, Spencer Weir 9, Dylan Vore and Brayden Welch 8 each, and Cameron Staples 2.

Eli Scroggie, Dylan Vore, and Mitchell Sherry each had 1 block.

Cameron Staples had 8 boards to lead Northeast. Brayden Welch and Eli Scroggie had 6, Spencer Weir 4, Dylan Mildfeldt 3, and Mitchell Sherry and Dylan Vore 2.

Cameron Staples had 5 assists for Northeast. Spencer Weir had 4, Dylan Mildfeldt and Dylan Vore 3 each, and Mitchell Sherry had 2.

Dylan Mildfeldt had 5 tips for Northeast. Spencer Weir had 3, Cameron Staples 2, and Brayden Welch 1.

Brayden Welch had 4 steals for NEN. Dylan Mildfeldt had 3, Spencer Weir had 2, and Cameron Staples, Chet Spire, and Eli Scroggie had 1.

No comments: