Thursday, February 22, 2018

NEN Boys Put Away Longhorns to Stay Alive

Northeast Nodaway’s boys had every reason to expect a close game the third time against South Nodaway. The first meeting had gone into overtime, and the second had NEN holding off several charges by the Longhorns before winning 55-42. But the third time turned into their best game of the year as they won handily 65-46.

Cameron Staples put up a near-triple double, getting 13 points, 11 boards, and 9 assists. Spencer Weir had 15, Eli Scroggie had 12, and nine Bluejays got into the scoring column.

Both sides spent the first quarter trying to solve each other’s defenses. South Nodaway came out in a tandem and three, which had them faceguarding Spencer Weir, Dylan Mildfeldt, and Eli Scroggie and keeping two in the paint for help. Northeast came out in a man press which they hadn’t used until the latter part of the season. But NEN shot the Longhorns out of their defense as Cameron Staples hit two shots from behind the arc and Chet Spire hit one as NEN took a 15-11 lead after one.

South Nodaway got two gift free throws from a foul on the other end and C.J. Spies knocked them both down to make it 17-15 at the 5:16 mark, but then Dylan Mildfeldt hit from the left wing off a handoff from Spencer Weir and Dylan Vore hit back to back shots to make it 23-15. By that point, South Nodaway was already in trouble as they burned their third timeout of the half trying to solve NEN’s pressing defense and their own transition defense woes.

Taylar Freemyer, who had 7 of South Nodaway’s 19 points, got loose in transition to make it 25-19 with 1:10 left, but then Northeast finished strongly as Mitchell Sherry scored his fourth point of the quarter after Cameron Staples kept a possession alive with an offensive board and Spencer Weir went coast to coast following an errant Longhorn free throw to make it 29-19 at half, a swing of four points in NEN’s favor.

Despite the strong defensive play, coach Vance Proffitt was still not completely satisfied with NEN’s play, but then Northeast figured out in the second half that they could run on South Nodaway. Despite clanking some free throws early in the third, Northeast had forced South Nodaway into their fourth timeout and then came out strongly out of their timeout as Cameron Staples cut inside for a pass from Mildfeldt, Spencer Weir aired one out to Mildfeldt, and Staples turned a steal into free throws to make it 38-22.

A freshman for South Nodaway, Tanner Davis, tried to rally the Longhorns late in the third quarter, but NEN was strong from the line after the early third, making their last seven after missing three of four to start the second half. They were 13 for 17 from the line for the game. Vore’s free throws put NEN up 47-30 after three.

The worry was that South Nodaway would make a big run on Northeast like they had in the previous game, but after a pair of gift free throws brought the Longhorns to within 49-34, Spencer Weir took over the fourth, getting the first nine points of the period for the Bluejays. Cameron Staples was feeding him at will, and an Eli Scroggie block set up another tally. Scroggie’s free throws and a drive made it 61-39 before both coaches emptied their benches.

Nine Bluejays got into the scoring column. Spencer Weir had 15, Cameron Staples 13, Eli Scroggie 12, Mitchell Sherry, Dylan Vore, and Dylan Mildfeldt each had 6, Chet Spire had 3, and Ethan Adwell and Nathan Schieber each had 2.

Eli Scroggie had 2 blocks, while Dylan Vore and Spencer Weir had 1.

Cameron Staples had 11 boards; Spencer Weir had 7, which fueled Northeast as he always looks to push after getting a defensive board. Eli Scroggie had 6, Brayden Welch 4, Chet Spire and Dylan Mildfeldt 2, and Ethan Adwell and Nathan Schieber had 1 each.

Cameron Staples had 9 assists. Spencer Weir had 6, Dylan Mildfeldt 3, and Brayden Welch and Eli Scroggie had 1.

Dylan Mildfeldt had 4 tips for Northeast. Brayden Welch and Chet Spire had 2, while Cameron Staples, Eli Scroggie, and Spencer Weir had 1 each.

Brayden Welch and Mitchell Sherry had 2 steals, while Dylan Mildfeldt, Cameron Staples, and Chet Spire all had 1.

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