Northeast Nodaway’s boys survived the Stewartsville/Osborn Wildcards Wednesday 42-33 to advance to the championship round of the Platte Valley Invitational. Playing shorthanded without the football boys, who were still preparing for the State Title game against Drexel, the Bluejays used a makeshift lineup including Boston Adwell and a freshman, Ethan Gascoigne. While he couldn’t play, Dylan McIntyre couldn’t stay away from his basketball boys, as he was sitting on the end of the bench cheering them on.
They had won handily against Nodaway Valley’s JV squad 53-17 in the first round, but the focus of the game Wednesday was to get someone else to score in addition to Ben Boswell. In the team’s first game, a 42-32 loss against Albany, Ben had a good night scoring, but nobody else stepped up after Albany went to a box and one and shut him down. But against Stewartsville/Osborn, Ethan Gascoigne stepped up and scored 12 points, helping the Bluejays get the semifinal win against their Class 2 rivals. Colton Swalley and Lane Dack also chipped in, with Colton getting 8 and Lane getting 6.
The Bluejays couldn’t buy a stop in the first quarter; first, Colin Sanderson hit a 3-pointer, and then Doran Saunders started working the baseline at will as the orange shirts jumped out to a 7-4 lead halfway through the first quarter. But then Northeast stopped the bleeding and put together nine straight stops spanning from the 2:18 mark of the first quarter to the midway point of the second. In between, Ben Boswell chipped in four points despite box and one pressure and Ethan Gascoigne added three, and Colton Swalley added a steal. By the time the first quarter ended, the deficit had disappeared, and by the midway point of the second quarter, the Bluejays were up 14-8 after scoring nine straight.
Saunders hit a 3-pointer to cut Northeast’s deficit to 16-13 at the 2:20 mark, but then Northeast got three straight stops to end the first half as Gascoigne hit an inside shot and added a triple to make it 21-13 at the half.
Braxton Gibson started off the third quarter with a steal for Stewartsville/Osborn, but then Ben Boswell hit a 3-pointer and added a steal to make it 26-15. But from there, Saunders started willing his team back into the game, working the baseline at will and adding a steal. He got nine points in the period as the Wildcards got as close as 32-30 late in the third. But then Colton Swalley got a putback to stop the bleeding.
Nobody could score for the first 4:46 of the fourth quarter as Northeast bled the clock on offense. Meanwhile, Stewartsville/Osborn had a lot of fouls to give and could afford to be very aggressive on defense. Finally, Gascoigne scored off a drive to break the ice and Northeast forced an over and back call to get the ball back. Gascoigne scored again after Colton Swalley kept a possession alive with an offensive board, and then finally, Northeast was able to get in the bonus in the final minute and Colton Swalley and Zach Pride hit their free throws down the stretch.
Northeast got nine straight stops to start the fourth quarter and didn’t let the Wildcards score until they hit a desperation three at the end. Despite not having their big men, Northeast kept Stewartsville/Osborn off the boards, only allowing three for the night.
Ben Boswell had 14 for the Bluejays. Ethan Gascoigne had 12, Colton Swalley 8, Lane Dack 6, and Zach Pride 2. Lane Dack had 7 boards. Zach Pride had 5 assists, while Colton Swalley had 6 steals.
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