North Nodaway’s boys are stuck at one win this year. After beating DeKalb in their second game of the season, they have come frustratingly close several times, and have seen other games in which they started off well, only to fade after the first or second quarter. Friday’s 56-32 Courtwarming loss to Northeast Nodaway was such a game, but the Mustangs may have found a bright spot in Jeremiah Dobbins, who paced the Mustangs with 11 points.
North Nodaway played for two weeks without Karson Oberhauser; they got him back last week; he showed some rust in the Rock Port game, but showed flashes of his old self against Northeast, scoring 8 and grabbing 12 boards. They also lost Andrew Blackford (knee); they hope to get him back next month; the goal will be to do some damage at the end of the year when they have their full squad back.
Dobbins was sparked when he was hammered at the 5:43 mark of the first quarter while attempting a 3-pointer and knocked down all of his attempts; that put North Nodaway up 8-2. Northeast, seemingly hung over from an ugly blowout loss against Mound City the game before, started off in a funk. But they started recovering behind the play of Dylan McIntyre, who got a fast break and a steal; Ben Boswell added another steal as the visitors tied it up. Auston Pride added a pair of free throws and Colton Swalley hit Ben Boswell for three to put Northeast up 13-8 after one.
As has happened so often to North Nodaway, they have frequently started off the first quarter strong, only to fade the rest of the way and turn a close game into a route. Sure enough, Auston Pride hit two free throws, Dylan McIntyre got a putback and converted off a Colton Swalley steal, and Colton Swalley added a drive as Northeast went up 21-11.
But the Mustangs came back, and it was Dobbins who provided the spark, converting a third chance putback. Aydan Blackford hit Damian Dailey backdoor, and Dobbins connected from three and all of a sudden, it was 21-18 again. Dailey was rejecting Pride’s offerings, Jordan Jenkins was setting himself in perfect position to take charges, taking away a lot of Ben Boswell’s usual drives to the basket. But Dylan McIntyre was the man of the hour for the Bluejays, getting 24 points for the night.
Colton Swalley, who had a strong night for the Bluejays with a career high 8 points, scored at the end of the first half to make it 23-18, but Damian Dailey hit a 3-pointer to make it 23-21.
The score was stuck there, as North Nodaway could not tie it up, and the Bluejays could not get the kind of offensive rhythm they had at South Harrison two weeks before. Finally, Ben Boswell got loose in the paint and Lane Dack hit one free throw and Colton Swalley two, giving the Bluejays some separation at 28-21. Dylan McIntyre, who ran wild on the boards for the Bluejays with 12 boards to go with his 24 points, converted consecutive putbacks, and Lane Dack got on the board with four straight to finally give the Bluejays some breathing room.
Northeast finally took control in the fourth and regained the kind of form they are capable of, as Dylan McIntyre scored 10 points in the period and everybody was getting him the ball. Ben Boswell and Colton Swalley added 4 in the period. Turnovers haunted the Mustangs in the second half; they surrendered it 20 times for the game to ten for Northeast.
For the Bluejays, Dylan McIntyre had 24, Ben Boswell 11, Colton Swalley 8, Lane Dack 7, Auston Pride 4, and Boston Adwell 2.
For the Mustangs, Jeremiah Dobbins had 11 points. Karson Oberhauser and Aydan Blackford had 8 each, and Damian Dailey had 5. Coach Michael Trautz said there was a ton of upside for Dobbins. “He’s a lot better than he thinks,” he said.
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