NEN Boys Roar to Life in 60-18 Victory Over Nodaway-Holt

Northeast Nodaway’s boys roared to life with a 60-18 win over Nodaway-Holt Tuesday to gain a split in the nightcap. The game was a mismatch, as the Trojans lost nearly everyone from last year and took a major beatdown in the Mound City Tournament. But it was a good breather for the Bluejays, who got off to a 2-2 start for the year and saw every one of their games decided by 10 points or less.

The Bluejays didn’t even press Nodaway-Holt that much except for the occasional half-court trap, but they were able to pressure the ball and get 34 tips and 22 steals for the night. Northeast controlled the defensive glass, not giving up a single offensive board to the Trojans until late in the third quarter, when the game was already decided. All 14 Bluejays who dressed out got at least one board. And they started to buy into sharing the ball on offense; as a team, they had 19 assists for the night.

Seven different blue shirts got in the scoring column in the first quarter, led by Spencer Weir with six; Ben Boswell and Dylan Vore had 5 each. It was close for the first two minutes after Tommy Dye’s drive cut NEN’s lead to 3-2 at the 6:31 mark. But then Mitchell Sherry connected from the baseline, Sherry got one inside to Vore, Spencer Weir scored from inside and added a steal, Vore connected again from inside, and Weir connected from the left wing to make it 15-2.

Nodaway-Holt burned two timeouts in the first five minutes of the game in a futile effort to stop the run as Ben Boswell came off the bench to hit a 3-pointer after Spencer Weir kept a possession alive with an offensive board. Auston Pride hit two free throws, and then Rory Bredlow saw his first extended minutes of the season, getting loose in transition after he got a tip on defense and Nathan Schieber got a steal and got it to Ben Boswell. Boswell then cleaned up on a steal and the Bluejays were up 24-2 at the first quarter buzzer.

Northeast cooled off in the second quarter, but still pulled away slowly as Mitchell Sherry, Dylan Vore, and Reed McIntyre all connected. After Vore got a steal and aired it out to McIntyre to make it 29-2, Nodaway-Holt burned their third timeout. But then Auston Pride got a three-point play and added a putback to get five points in the period as NEN led 34-6 at the break. They scored the first 20 points of the second half, with 16 of those 20 points coming off layups off steals.

Ben Boswell had 13 to lead NEN. Spencer Weir had 12, Dylan Vore 9, Mitchell Sherry and Auston Pride 7 each, Rory Bredlow 6, Ethan Adwell 4, and Reed McIntyre 2.

Mitchell Sherry and Brayden Munns had 1 block each. All 14 Bluejays got at least one board, led by Mitchell Sherry and Ben Boswell with 4. Eight different Bluejays had one or more assist, led by Chet Spire with 5 and Spencer Weir with 4. Eleven different Bluejays had one or more tip, led by Chet Spire and Rory Bredlow with 6 each. Nine different Bluejays had one or more steal, led by Auston Pride, Spencer Weir, and Mitchell Sherry with 4.