North Miami Tops Whitko Boys

July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.

By Cliff Tanner-

DENVER - The Whitko Wildcats travelled to North Miami with the idea of taking sole possession of first place in the Three Rivers Conference, but the home team had other plans.

The North Miami Warriors rode a 33-point effort by junior Greg Miller to take the 76-65 win.[[In-content Ad]]Miller scored 22 in the first half and finished the game 13-for-16 shooting from the field, while also hauling in 18 rebounds.

"I haven't seen Miller shoot like that before," Whitko coach Rob Irwin said. "It is hard to stop Miller one-on-one, and we didn't stop him. He hit some key buckets for them to give them the momentum."

Whitko stayed close until the fourth quarter, as other players for N orth Miami stepped up to give the Warriors control of the game.

The Warriors used a 6-0 run to start the fourth, to immediately put Whitko down by seven at 55-48.

North Miami's Nolan Haynes scored six of his 12 points in the fourth quarter, most coming on easy lay-ups. He finished with 4-for-7 shooting from the floor, while also posting six rebounds.

"Haynes is hard to contain one-on-one," Irwin said. "We just didn't get it done tonight."

Coach Irwin was called for a technical foul late in the fourth quarter when it appeared Miller swung an elbow towards Whitko freshman Logan Irwin. As Irwin went to the floor, he was whistled for the foul.

Miller hit the two free throws to give the Warriors a 65-53 lead with 3:27 left in the game.

Whitko never got closer than 10 points down the rest of the game.

North Miami finished the game on 28-for-50 shooting from the field including 11-for-12 in the final quarter.

"We got into some foul trouble early in the second half and we had to spread ourselves out," Irwin said. "They took us out of our game."

Both teams played mostly mistake-free basketball, with each team only committing six turnovers each. The difference in the game was the shooting in the second half.

Whitko received balanced scoring from the starting five, as Irwin, sophomore Zac VanDeWater and junior Travis Lepper each scored 14 points.

Senior Nick Metzger was held to 11 points on the night with six of them coming in the fourth quarter. Senior Kaden Krull finished with eight points.

Whitko can still get a share of the TRC title with wins in their final two conference games. The Wildcats dropped to 9-4 on the season over all and 3-1 in conference play.

"All we have to do is win our final two games to gain a share of the title," Irwin said. "The guys have to decide how bad they want it. Or we can just give the title to North Miami and Rochester."

NORTH MIAMI 76, WHITKO 65

W 20 10 18 17 - 65

NM 16 18 15 27 - 76

Whitko - Irwin 5 3-4 14, VanDeWater 5 2-2 14, Metzger 3 3-3 11, Lepper 6 2-2 14, Krull 3 2-2 8, Reed 2 0-0 4. Totals 24 12-13 65

NM - Linn 2 0-1 4, Black 2 0-1 7, Moore 3 1-2 8, Duncan 4 0-0 12, Haynes 4 4-7 12, Miller 13 6-7 33. Totals 28 1-18 76.

Three-point goals - Whitko 5-11(Metzger 2, VanDeWater 2, Irwin), NM 7-17 (Duncan 4 Black, Moore, Miller); Rebounds - Whitko 22 (Irwin 6, Metzger 6, Lepper 6), NM 29 (Miller 18, Haynes 6); Turnovers - Whitko 6, NM 6; Team Fouls (fouled out) - Whitko 19 (Irwin), N. Miami16; Records - Whitko 10-4 (4-1 TRC), NM 11-3 (4-1 TRC)

DENVER - The Whitko Wildcats travelled to North Miami with the idea of taking sole possession of first place in the Three Rivers Conference, but the home team had other plans.

The North Miami Warriors rode a 33-point effort by junior Greg Miller to take the 76-65 win.[[In-content Ad]]Miller scored 22 in the first half and finished the game 13-for-16 shooting from the field, while also hauling in 18 rebounds.

"I haven't seen Miller shoot like that before," Whitko coach Rob Irwin said. "It is hard to stop Miller one-on-one, and we didn't stop him. He hit some key buckets for them to give them the momentum."

Whitko stayed close until the fourth quarter, as other players for N orth Miami stepped up to give the Warriors control of the game.

The Warriors used a 6-0 run to start the fourth, to immediately put Whitko down by seven at 55-48.

North Miami's Nolan Haynes scored six of his 12 points in the fourth quarter, most coming on easy lay-ups. He finished with 4-for-7 shooting from the floor, while also posting six rebounds.

"Haynes is hard to contain one-on-one," Irwin said. "We just didn't get it done tonight."

Coach Irwin was called for a technical foul late in the fourth quarter when it appeared Miller swung an elbow towards Whitko freshman Logan Irwin. As Irwin went to the floor, he was whistled for the foul.

Miller hit the two free throws to give the Warriors a 65-53 lead with 3:27 left in the game.

Whitko never got closer than 10 points down the rest of the game.

North Miami finished the game on 28-for-50 shooting from the field including 11-for-12 in the final quarter.

"We got into some foul trouble early in the second half and we had to spread ourselves out," Irwin said. "They took us out of our game."

Both teams played mostly mistake-free basketball, with each team only committing six turnovers each. The difference in the game was the shooting in the second half.

Whitko received balanced scoring from the starting five, as Irwin, sophomore Zac VanDeWater and junior Travis Lepper each scored 14 points.

Senior Nick Metzger was held to 11 points on the night with six of them coming in the fourth quarter. Senior Kaden Krull finished with eight points.

Whitko can still get a share of the TRC title with wins in their final two conference games. The Wildcats dropped to 9-4 on the season over all and 3-1 in conference play.

"All we have to do is win our final two games to gain a share of the title," Irwin said. "The guys have to decide how bad they want it. Or we can just give the title to North Miami and Rochester."

NORTH MIAMI 76, WHITKO 65

W 20 10 18 17 - 65

NM 16 18 15 27 - 76

Whitko - Irwin 5 3-4 14, VanDeWater 5 2-2 14, Metzger 3 3-3 11, Lepper 6 2-2 14, Krull 3 2-2 8, Reed 2 0-0 4. Totals 24 12-13 65

NM - Linn 2 0-1 4, Black 2 0-1 7, Moore 3 1-2 8, Duncan 4 0-0 12, Haynes 4 4-7 12, Miller 13 6-7 33. Totals 28 1-18 76.

Three-point goals - Whitko 5-11(Metzger 2, VanDeWater 2, Irwin), NM 7-17 (Duncan 4 Black, Moore, Miller); Rebounds - Whitko 22 (Irwin 6, Metzger 6, Lepper 6), NM 29 (Miller 18, Haynes 6); Turnovers - Whitko 6, NM 6; Team Fouls (fouled out) - Whitko 19 (Irwin), N. Miami16; Records - Whitko 10-4 (4-1 TRC), NM 11-3 (4-1 TRC)
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