Northeast Nodaway stunned St. Joseph Christian 51-44, and the football boys, Dylan McIntyre and Auston Pride, both played a big role in the Bluejays’ Platte Valley Invitational Title win Friday. Last year, the Lions thumped the same team 69-53; they were streaky, but they peaked at the right time and gave powerhouse team Winston everything they could handle before falling 43-42 in districts. The Lions returned all but one of their starters from that team, while the Bluejays returned all their starters from last year. The Lions were supposed to have the chemistry, with the Bluejays were supposed to struggle integrating their football boys in with the rest of the squad after they had played a tough game at Faurot Field and didn’t get home until 2:30 am.
But somehow, with mostly the same group of kids facing off against each other as last year, it was Northeast who came out on top. With Christian, you pick your poison. Nodaway Valley tried to play man to man against them and neutralize their shooters, only to have the two headed monster of Carson Bowman and Camden Lutz eat them alive in the post; what was supposed to be a good game turned into a running clock blowout for the Lions.
Northeast tried the opposite approach; they played a 2-3 zone the whole game, withstood Christian’s 3-point barrages all night, and hit their free throws at the end to win. Last year, Northeast Nodaway struggled against West Nodaway’s 3-point barrage despite playing man to man before putting up a 32 point fourth quarter and nearly coming back before falling 73-67. This year, they withstood St. Joseph Christian’s missiles from long distance, briefly losing the lead in the third quarter, only for Ben Boswell and Dylan McIntyre to take over after that.
Caleb Carlson hit the first of many triples for the Lions to put them up 5-2, but then Ben Boswell got himself going with a couple of steals as the Bluejays moved back in front. Both McIntyre and Pride showed some rust after having played football the night before, but Pride chipped in with four points. More importantly, he anchored the defense inside and never allowed either Lutz or Bowman to get going.
Boswell scored six in the first quarter as Northeast led 13-10 after one. Lane Dack scored off a drive off a pass from Colton Swalley, Boswell hit a free throw, and then Dylan McIntyre got himself going with a putback and added a cut inside and got a pass from Zach Pride to make it 20-10.
But it was only a matter of time before Christian got going from downtown, and sure enough, they started firing and hitting, with Brad Boyd and Camden Lutz cutting it to 20-16. Ben Boswell scored off a drive, Colton Swalley hit Dylan McIntyre backdoor, and Swalley added a free throw to make it 25-16, only for Boyd to hit two threes and Carlson one to knot it up at 25. Auston Pride’s putback and Ben Boswell’s free throw put Northeast back in front 28-25 at the half.
Lutz hit a triple and Bowman a putback as Christian led for the first time since the first quarter at 30-28 to start the third. But then Ben Boswell took over the rest of the quarter, hitting a 3-pointer from the right side off a pass from Swalley and added a putback. Dylan McIntyre scored off a steal, Colton Swalley hit Boswell in transition, and McIntyre finally got one of his patented coast to coast looks with the left hand to make it 39-30.
But Lutz and Boyd hit threes at the end of the period to cut it to 41-36. Since Christian had no fouls going into the fourth quarter, they could afford to be very aggressive on defense, and Northeast got away from what was working, forcing some passes on offense. But Zach Pride took a charge on Caleb Carlson for his fourth foul and somehow, Northeast was still ahead 41-38 halfway through the fourth.
That was when Dylan McIntyre scored from inside, stuffed Lutz to give Northeast the ball back, and Auston Pride hit Ben Boswell inside to make it 45-38.
Lutz hit a 3-pointer with 1:53 left, but then Northeast finally got into the bonus as Ben Boswell and Colton Swalley each went 2 for 2 from the line to make it 49-42 with 46 seconds left. Bowman slashed to the rim and drew a foul, cutting it to five, but Swalley made one of two, Carlson lost one out of bounds with 29 seconds, and Boswell made it three possessions with another free throw with 20 seconds left. Christian missed two threes at the end, and Northeast was finally able to dribble out the clock.
Ben Boswell had 22 points. Dylan McIntyre had 14, Colton Swalley and Auston Pride 6 each, Lane Dack 2, and Zach Pride 1. Colton Swalley had 7 assists. Ben Boswell and Colton Swalley were named to the All Tournament Team.
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