Sunday, January 30, 2022

Bluejay Boys Can’t Complete Hat Trick at KC

Northeast Nodaway couldn’t complete the hat trick and win its third tournament in a year, falling 56-45 to #4 Stanberry Friday in the championship round of the King City Tournament. The Bulldogs were flying to the glass all night, getting 15 offensive boards, as the Schwebach brothers both had a nose for the ball. On the other end, the Schwebach brothers were blocking a good percentage of everything thrown up. Take away five of those offensive boards, however, and Northeast would have been right with one of the top teams in the state.

The Bluejays did better against Stanberry than they did earlier in the year, when they dug themselves into an early 20 point hole that they could not get out of. After an initial surge by the gold shirts which saw them jump out to a 5-0 lead, Northeast found their footing as Ben Boswell scored on a pullup and Colton Swalley found Dylan McIntyre in transition to cut it to 7-6.

But with Stanberry flying to the glass, getting second and third chances, and exploiting the mismatches resulting from having two 6’4 brothers who could handle the ball and dunk, Northeast did not get their usual transition looks they get from getting stops, getting the board, and getting a runout with Dylan McIntyre or Ben Boswell finishing on the other end. And the Schwebach brothers blocked a good percentage of everything thrown up, taking away a lot of the driving opportunities for Boswell and McIntyre that are normally there. 

Stanberry started to take control of the game; by the midpoint of the second quarter, they were up to seven offensive boards and were up 19-8. Northeast had to find other ways to score, and Auston Pride came off a ball screen and hit a 3-pointer to stop the bleeding.

Dylan McIntyre followed with a free throw and then found rare daylight down the left baseline to make it 19-14, but then Tyler Schwebach got to the rim twice and Korbin Fletchall got loose in transition as Stanberry regained control. The Bulldog lead grew to as much as 29-16 before Auston Pride once again came off a ball screen to hit a 3-pointer to cut it to 29-19 at the half.

Stanberry led by as much as 13 early in the third, but then Auston Pride hit two free throws and Lane Dack got untracked with a 3-pointer to give Northeast new life, cutting it down to 34-26. But every time they started to come close, Stanberry would have an answer; Fletchall hit a guarded three to restore order and put Stanberry back up 39-26. They led by as much as 43-28 before Lane Dack scored six in a 1:18 span to cut Northeast’s deficit down to 11 at 47-36. 

Austin Schwebach scored from inside to put Stanberry up 51-37 at the 2:57 mark, only for Dylan McIntyre to get behind the defense and get a pass from Colton Swalley and Ben Boswell to connect to make it 51-41. A pair of defensive lapses led to easy Stanberry baskets to make it 55-41, only for Boswell to connect two more times to cut it to 10 again.

But the next sequence symbolized the futility that Northeast had on the boards that night. With Northeast needing to get the ball back to make a push, they twice put Stanberry on the line in the last minute for a 1-1, and Stanberry missed the front end twice, only for them to get the offensive board both times and keep the possession alive.

Ben Boswell, who had 8 points in the final quarter, had 16 for the night. Auston Pride had 10, Lane Dack 9, Dylan McIntyre 7, and Colton Swalley 3.

Auston Pride had 3 blocks. Zach Pride and Dylan McIntyre had 1 each.

Auston Pride, Dylan McIntyre, and Ben Boswell all had 5 boards. Colton Swalley had 4 and Lane Dack 2.

Colton Swalley had 7 assists. Ben Boswell and Dylan McIntyre had 3, and Auston Pride had 2.

Dylan McIntyre had 5 tips. Auston Pride and Ben Boswell had 4, Lane Dack 3, Colton Swalley 2, and Zach Pride 1.

Ben Boswell had 4 steals. Auston Pride, Colton Swalley, and Dylan McIntyre all had 2.

Northeast had beaten Maysville by 2 to get to the finals. They built up a big lead and then had to hold off a frantic Wolverine rally to get the win. Maysville has lost three games this year, and two of them were to the Bluejays. Northeast was shorthanded against South Holt, but they ground out a win in the first round to make it to the semifinals. 


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