Tuesday, February 12, 2019

Cody Wood Scores School Record 41 Points as Mustangs Beat Knights in OT

North Nodaway beat South Holt in overtime Friday for Courtwarming, and Cody Wood scored 11 points in overtime to get 41 for the game as the Mustangs came away with the 77-69 win. The last time North Nodaway had beaten South Holt in a game was in 2015, Coach Jake Shipman’s first year at North Nodaway. Since then, the Mustangs have always come close against South Holt, but have never gotten over the top against the solid black and gold squad until Friday.

Wood’s 41 points beat the mark Peyton Coleman set in 2017, when he had 37 against East Atchison. Since Wood’s points came in overtime, Peyton Coleman still holds the regulation record.

Both teams started off red hot as Cody Wood scored off a drive and hit a three from the left baseline and Arron Coleman added an inside shot to make it 7-3 early. South Holt rallied to score the next nine to go up 12-7 with 4:02 left, but Arron Coleman scored off a drive and Wood kicked one out to Ryan Riley for three to make it tied at 12-12. From there, both sides continued to scorch the nets, with South Holt taking a 20-19 lead after one.

Chanse Barnes put South Holt up in front 24-21 at the seven minute mark of the second, but then Woody scored off a pair of drives and Arron Coleman got a putback to make it 27-24 with 5:16 left. Karson Oberhauser picked up his third foul, but played smart and stayed in the game, not picking up another one until the fourth.

Reagan Morris hit a guarded three for South Holt to put them up 29-27, but a putback by Karson Oberhauser and four from Wood put North Nodaway back in control at 33-31. The focus of the game was on stopping Morris, who could dunk it and who is one of the top guards on the boys side this year. North Nodaway gave him a lot of defensive attention; he got his points, but he didn’t take over the game. The goal defensively for North Nodaway was to make someone else beat them.

North Nodaway nearly put the game away at the start of the third as Ryan Riley hit a 3-pointer and Wood converted a drive into a three-point play to make it 39-31. With Wood slashing to the paint, Coleman rebounding and posting hard, and Ryan Riley clicking for three, it looked like the Mustangs might pull away. But then Coleman picked up his third and fourth fouls and North Nodaway got away from what worked, hacking and fouling defensively and throwing the ball away on offense.

Wood’s shot from the right side put North Nodaway in front 43-33, but then steals from Morris and Chanse Barnes and Drew Quinlin starting to go to the rim at will for the Knights nearly wiped out North Nodaway’s lead. By the 2:32 mark, the lead was down to 43-41 as Coleman watched helplessly from the bench. But North Nodaway fought back as Ryan Riley hit a three at the end of the third to put North Nodaway back up five at 49-44.

The hacking and fouling continued, and South Holt continued to chip away; finally; they got it tied at 49 as Morris’ putback did the trick. But Wood buried a three from the top of the key to put North Nodaway right back in front at 52-49. Arron Coleman came back in, but Eric Ottman’s steal, Coleman’s fifth foul, and Drew Quinlin’s free throws put South Holt back up 54-52 with 5:02 left.
It looked like another valiant effort by North Nodaway against South Holt would come up short as Coleman had fouled out and there didn’t seem to be an answer for either Ottman or Quinlin, both of whom were eating North Nodaway alive. But then Wood stepped through two and tied it back up at 54. Quinlin went to the rim again for South Holt, but Tyler Bix’s putback tied it back up at 56. Morris, bottled up for much of the night, got loose backdoor, but Bix drove and found Ryan Riley inside, and Riley converted a three-point play to put North Nodaway back in front 59-58 with 1:57 left, and Quinlin picked up his fourth foul.

North Nodaway looked to be in control as Eric Ottman finally missed one and Tyler Bix secured the defensive board. But then, with North Nodaway running down the clock, Ottman got a steal and converted a layup with 1:04 left to make it 60-59 South Holt. Wood answered right back as he went down the middle to make it 61-60. But things looked dark for North Nodaway after Ottman made it to the rim yet again to make it 62-61 with 44 seconds left, Wood missed a 1-1, and Reagan Morris hit both free throws with 15.8 seconds left to make it 64-61.

North Nodaway raced up the floor and Cody Wood attempted a guarded three. But he missed, and it seemed like North Nodaway’s chances were going down the drain. But Austin Bird, who had come in for Arron Coleman when he fouled out, got a tieup and the possession arrow pointed North Nodaway’s way to keep their chances alive with 6.2 seconds left.

North Nodaway didn’t use a timeout, but the players knew exactly what to do as Karson Oberhauser inbounded it to Ryan Riley in the left corner and his off-balance three went in with four seconds left to tie it at 64. It was the same spot on the floor where, back in 1997, Grant John hit a 3-pointer with one second left off an inbounds pass to give North Nodaway an 80-79 overtime win over Mound City. It was one of plenty of wild games the Mustangs had during the Doug Mattson years.

Unlike then, there was still basketball to be played, but Ottman couldn’t pull a rabbit out of the hat for South Holt in regulation as his contested half-court shot was well off the mark as time expired in regulation.

Ottman missed a runner to start the extra period and then Wood went to work again, getting a scoop shot layup to go down to make it 66-64 and drawing Quinlin’s fifth foul in the process. The free throw missed, but South Holt went the rest of the game without one of their main weapons.

Ryan Riley stuffed Morris, one of four blocks on the night, but missed a 3-pointer. Riley missed a three and Morris drew Wood’s fourth foul with 2:38 left in the extra period. But Morris only made one of two from the line, and North Nodaway still led 66-65.

Wood drove and scored again with 2:11 left and Ottman missed a three on the other end. There was a mad scramble for the defensive board, but the ball went out off a gold shirt and North Nodaway got the ball back with 2:04 left.

Cody Wood made a rare miscue when he carried one, but then he stole it and turned it into a free throw to make it two possessions at 69-65 with 1:28 left. Wood then stole it from Morris and hit two more free throws with 1:08 left to put North Nodaway seemingly in control at 71-65.

North Nodaway got a stop and the ball back, but then frantic pressure from South Holt almost saved the day for them. Morris got a steal and layup with 50 seconds left, and then Ottman got a steal, missed, but Morris was there for the offensive board. He was hammered and made both free throws with 34 seconds left to make it one possession again at 71-69.

South Holt fouled Bix after he got the ball across halfcourt. Bix only had four up to that point, but he was cold-blooded at the line, hitting both free throws to give North Nodaway breathing room again with a 73-69 lead with 24 seconds left. Reagan Morris finally got open for a good look at a 3-pointer, but he missed and Wood hit both free throws with 13.7 seconds left to go over the record with 39 points. Ottman missed from three and Wood hit two more to break the 40 point barrier. Wood capped off his night by being named Courtwarming King, as Audrey Trimble was named Courtwarming Queen.

Cody Wood had 41 points for North Nodaway. Ryan Riley had 17, Arron Coleman 10, Tyler Bix 6, and Karson Oberhauser 3. “Wood has been doing this in practice all year,” said Coach Jake Shipman. “It’s good to see him come out and do this on the court.”

Ryan Riley had 4 blocks and Arron Coleman 3 for North Nodaway.

Karson Oberhauser had one of his best nights rebounding for the Mustangs, as he had 10 boards. Arron Coleman had 8, Ryan Riley 7, Tyler Bix 6, Cody Wood 4, and Austin Bird 3.

Karson Oberhauser and Cody Wood had 5 assists. Tyler Bix had 3, while Arron Coleman, Ryan Riley, and Austin Bird had 1.

Ryan Riley had 2 tips for North Nodaway. Karson Oberhauser, Cody Wood, Arron Coleman, and Austin Bird all had 1.

Cody Wood had 3 steals. Arron Coleman, Karson Oberhauser, and Austin Bird all had 1.

The JV set the tone before the varsity games, with everyone chipping in and everyone making hustle plays. Adam Crater and Hunter Carlson were cleaning up the boards, everyone was moving the ball well, and exchange students Johnathon Johnny and Pearn Chaijitraut came off the bench, did what they were supposed to, and made some hustle plays. Johnny, who is from Africa, said he has never experienced anything like the weather here in the Midwest this year. North Nodaway’s JV beat the Knights by 20 points.

With the win, North Nodaway’s boys have clinched a winning season as they are 12-8 for the year with three games left on their schedule.

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