Eagles Stun Panthers
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
NAPPANEE -ÊGoing into Wednesday night's NorthWood Regional against the Columbia City Eagles, the Panthers were considered the favorites.
One just had to look at NorthWood's overall record, its senior returners and its record at home to see why.
The Panthers had an 18-5 overall record, while Columbia City was just 12-10.
The Panthers had a core of experienced senior players, while Columbia City had just two seniors on the roster.
The Panthers were undefeated on their home court.
But on any given night, any team can come through for a victory, and Columbia City's boys basketball team did just that
shocking the NorthWood Panthers 52-47.
NorthWood jumped out to the early lead as Robbie Lightfoot drained a three-pointers to open the game. But Columbia City's Ryan Boylan answered with a trey for the Eagles to knot the score at 3-all.
After the Panthers and Eagles traded three-pointers to start the game, they traded turnovers as well.
Then Rory Clouse broke the stalemate with another three-pointer to give NorthWood a 6-3 edge.
NorthWood held the lead until the 1:19 mark in the first frame when Bob Dye hit a basket and the ensuing free throw for a three-point play to give Columbia City its first lead of the game, 14-12.
Clouse drained another three at the 1:05 mark to restore NorthWood's lead (15-14), but Jon Pettigrew and Dye hit the final two baskets of the quarter to give the Eagles a 18-15 advantage going into the second frame.
Eric Reynolds tied the score at 18 with a three-pointer to start the second quarter, and another basket by Ryan Bradley gave the lead back to NorthWood.
NorthWood built a 24-20 lead after Willy Will hit two straight baskets, but after the 3:06 mark, Columbia City went on a 15-5 run to take a 35-29 lead at the half.
Will and Reynolds hit the first two baskets of the third quarter to cut Columbia City's lead to two, 35-33. However, Columbia City outscored NorthWood 8-4 in the final 5:07 of the third to restore its six-point lead.
"I knew the longer we had the ball, the better chance we would have," said Columbia City coach Chris Benedict. "We were very patient but aggressive."
Down 43-47 after three quarters of play, NorthWood fought back again in the fourth. A Clouse three-pointer with 3:45 left in regulation made the score 45-43.
Then a NorthWood foul sent Ian Heuer to the charity stripe for a one-and-bonus opportunity. Heuer missed the first shot, and Clouse reeled in the rebound. NorthWood moved the ball down the court but threw it away and put the ball back into the hands of the Eagles.
At the 2:20 mark, a basket by Will put the Panthers within one, 46-45, but Columbia City hit 6 of 8 free throws in the final 1:19 to get the 52-47 win.
"We just had too many turnovers," said NorthWood coach Dan Gunn. "We had the opportunities, but we couldn't seem to take advantage of them. I thought Columbia City did a good job of taking care of the basketball."
Will led all scorers with 15 points, while Clouse added 12.
"NorthWood is a very good offensive basketball team," said Benedict. "They are a great team, we are very fortunate to get this win."
Columbia City saw three players in double figures as Dye and Pettigrew both finished with 12 points and Trevor Shively had 10.
NorthWood finishes the season 18-6. The Eagles, who started the season 3-8, improve to 13-10 overall. Columbia City advances to the Frankfort Semistate Saturday.
"When we were 3-8, I didn't think much of this being a possibility," said Benedict. "In December, we would have lost this game. These kids had improved greatly and are coming on at the right time."
COLUMBIA CITY 52
NORTHWOOD 47
Columbia City 18 17 8 9 - 52
NorthWood 15 14 8 10 - 47
Columbia City FG FT R S Pts.
*Dye 4-9 4-5 5 1 12
*Shively 3-10 2-2 3 1 10
*Schmitt 2-4 2-4 4 1 8
*Boylan 1-2 1-2 0 1 4
*Pettigrew 5-5 2-6 2 0 12
Heuer 2-2 2-4 2 1 6
M.Moore 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
Sheckler 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Myers 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 17-32 13-23 17 5 52
NorthWood FG FT R S Pts
*Will 6-9 3-3 9 1 15
*Reynolds 3-4 0-0 2 1 7
*Lightfoot 2-5 0-0 0 0 5
*Bradley 2-5 4-4 1 3 8
*Clouse 4-9 1-2 6 1 12
Hill 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Clem 0-1 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 17-33 8-9 18 6 47
Three-point goals -ÊColumbia City 5-12 (Dye 0-2, Shively 2-6, Schmitt 2-3, Boylan 1-1), NorthWood 5-13 (Will 0-1, Reynolds 1-2, Lightfoot 1-4, Bradley 0-1, Clouse 3-5). Fouls -ÊColumbia CIty 8, NorthWood 17. Fouled out -ÊLightfoot. Turnovers -ÊColumbia City 9, NorthWood 12. [[In-content Ad]]
NAPPANEE -ÊGoing into Wednesday night's NorthWood Regional against the Columbia City Eagles, the Panthers were considered the favorites.
One just had to look at NorthWood's overall record, its senior returners and its record at home to see why.
The Panthers had an 18-5 overall record, while Columbia City was just 12-10.
The Panthers had a core of experienced senior players, while Columbia City had just two seniors on the roster.
The Panthers were undefeated on their home court.
But on any given night, any team can come through for a victory, and Columbia City's boys basketball team did just that
shocking the NorthWood Panthers 52-47.
NorthWood jumped out to the early lead as Robbie Lightfoot drained a three-pointers to open the game. But Columbia City's Ryan Boylan answered with a trey for the Eagles to knot the score at 3-all.
After the Panthers and Eagles traded three-pointers to start the game, they traded turnovers as well.
Then Rory Clouse broke the stalemate with another three-pointer to give NorthWood a 6-3 edge.
NorthWood held the lead until the 1:19 mark in the first frame when Bob Dye hit a basket and the ensuing free throw for a three-point play to give Columbia City its first lead of the game, 14-12.
Clouse drained another three at the 1:05 mark to restore NorthWood's lead (15-14), but Jon Pettigrew and Dye hit the final two baskets of the quarter to give the Eagles a 18-15 advantage going into the second frame.
Eric Reynolds tied the score at 18 with a three-pointer to start the second quarter, and another basket by Ryan Bradley gave the lead back to NorthWood.
NorthWood built a 24-20 lead after Willy Will hit two straight baskets, but after the 3:06 mark, Columbia City went on a 15-5 run to take a 35-29 lead at the half.
Will and Reynolds hit the first two baskets of the third quarter to cut Columbia City's lead to two, 35-33. However, Columbia City outscored NorthWood 8-4 in the final 5:07 of the third to restore its six-point lead.
"I knew the longer we had the ball, the better chance we would have," said Columbia City coach Chris Benedict. "We were very patient but aggressive."
Down 43-47 after three quarters of play, NorthWood fought back again in the fourth. A Clouse three-pointer with 3:45 left in regulation made the score 45-43.
Then a NorthWood foul sent Ian Heuer to the charity stripe for a one-and-bonus opportunity. Heuer missed the first shot, and Clouse reeled in the rebound. NorthWood moved the ball down the court but threw it away and put the ball back into the hands of the Eagles.
At the 2:20 mark, a basket by Will put the Panthers within one, 46-45, but Columbia City hit 6 of 8 free throws in the final 1:19 to get the 52-47 win.
"We just had too many turnovers," said NorthWood coach Dan Gunn. "We had the opportunities, but we couldn't seem to take advantage of them. I thought Columbia City did a good job of taking care of the basketball."
Will led all scorers with 15 points, while Clouse added 12.
"NorthWood is a very good offensive basketball team," said Benedict. "They are a great team, we are very fortunate to get this win."
Columbia City saw three players in double figures as Dye and Pettigrew both finished with 12 points and Trevor Shively had 10.
NorthWood finishes the season 18-6. The Eagles, who started the season 3-8, improve to 13-10 overall. Columbia City advances to the Frankfort Semistate Saturday.
"When we were 3-8, I didn't think much of this being a possibility," said Benedict. "In December, we would have lost this game. These kids had improved greatly and are coming on at the right time."
COLUMBIA CITY 52
NORTHWOOD 47
Columbia City 18 17 8 9 - 52
NorthWood 15 14 8 10 - 47
Columbia City FG FT R S Pts.
*Dye 4-9 4-5 5 1 12
*Shively 3-10 2-2 3 1 10
*Schmitt 2-4 2-4 4 1 8
*Boylan 1-2 1-2 0 1 4
*Pettigrew 5-5 2-6 2 0 12
Heuer 2-2 2-4 2 1 6
M.Moore 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
Sheckler 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Myers 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 17-32 13-23 17 5 52
NorthWood FG FT R S Pts
*Will 6-9 3-3 9 1 15
*Reynolds 3-4 0-0 2 1 7
*Lightfoot 2-5 0-0 0 0 5
*Bradley 2-5 4-4 1 3 8
*Clouse 4-9 1-2 6 1 12
Hill 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Clem 0-1 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 17-33 8-9 18 6 47
Three-point goals -ÊColumbia City 5-12 (Dye 0-2, Shively 2-6, Schmitt 2-3, Boylan 1-1), NorthWood 5-13 (Will 0-1, Reynolds 1-2, Lightfoot 1-4, Bradley 0-1, Clouse 3-5). Fouls -ÊColumbia CIty 8, NorthWood 17. Fouled out -ÊLightfoot. Turnovers -ÊColumbia City 9, NorthWood 12. [[In-content Ad]]