Panthers Arrive For Second Half
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
NAPPANEE - The NorthWood Panthers have had an outstanding boys basketball season. They are the Northern Lakes Conference champions, the first time in school history that the Panthers have won the title by themselves, They finished the regular season at 14-6, only losing one home game all year.
After all the positives for the Panthers, they were very excited to host their own sectional. Coming into the Class 3A NorthWood Sectional on Tuesday, this sectional was rated the seventh toughest sectional in the state according to Jeff Sagarin's ratings.
In order for the Panthers to move on to Friday's semi-final game, they would have to beat NLC rival Wawasee first. The Panthers, who beat Wawasee 70-41 during the regular season had a lot at stake.
After playing sloppy basketball the first half, the Panthers picked up their intensity and ended the Warriors' season winning 62-48.
"Wawasee outplayed us in the first half, no question about that,' NorthWood coach Dan Gunn said. "We started out a little slow on defense, but we picked it up in the second half.'
The Warriors, who went 1-21 a year ago, came out like they had nothing to lose. The Warriors played an even first quarter with the host school.
NorthWood got on the board first with a rebound basket by Rory Clouse. Clouse was fouled on the play and hit the free throw to take a 3-0 lead. The Panthers held their biggest lead of the half at 11-4 when Charlie Roeder hit a lay-up with 3:15 left.
But the Warriors crept back thanks to senior Jeremy High. High scored seven points in the quarter, and the score was even at 13 after the first.
"We really came out fired up and ready to play,' Wawasee coach Rob Berger said. "We had a lot of intensity and we really hustled all over the court.'
The Warriors kept the pressure on the Panthers in the second half. In the second there were four ties and five lead changes. Travis Klenke put the Warriors ahead 17-15 with 4:54 left. After NorthWood tied the score at 17, the Warriors went on a quick 4-0 run thanks to a Klenke three-pointer with 2:55 left.
After playing tight for the majority of the half, the Warriors got the final bucket of the half when Curtis Farrell drove the length of the floor for the go ahead lay-up to give the Warriors a 25-23 halftime lead.
The NorthWood gym was very stunned.
"Wawasee really did a lot of things to get us out of our game,' Gunn added. "We struggled shooting the basketball and we didn't take care of the ball like we should have.'
After the Warriors came out fired up in the first, the Panthers did more than match their opponent's intensity in the second half.
The Panthers scored the first four points of the quarter to take a 27-25 lead. After a Andrew Packer jumper that tied the game for the Warriors, the Panthers used a big 14-2 run to up their lead to 41-29 with 1:44 to play.
Turnovers killed the Warriors comeback. The Warriors turned the ball over nine times in the quarter, and they only scored nine points.
"We really were never able to recover from their big run,' Berger added. "We basically just ran out of gas. They are a very good basketball team and their intensity was too much for us to handle.'
The Panthers finished the third quarter with a 44-34 lead. Ian Reed had a big third quarter, scoring eight of his team-high 22 points.
"We really played a lot better in the second half," said Gunn. We had a lot of good defensive pressure and it turned our offense around also.'
The fourth quarter still belonged to the NLC champions. The Panther lead was between ten and fourteen points most of the quarter. Reed added seven in the fourth and Charlie Roeder contributed five in the final frame.
"We really came out and layed it on the line,' Berger said. "We just have to learn to play consistant basketball for 32 minutes.'
Reed led the winners with 22 points and six rebounds. Roeder added 19 points and 10 rebounds. Jeremy High led the Warriors with 17 points and six rebounds. Curtis Farrell added nine points.
After going only 1-21 a year ago, the Warriors finished the 99-00 year with a 6-15 record, five more wins than last year.
"I really thought we improved a lot from a year ago,' Berger added. "We just need to learn to go from here and start at a higher level next year.'
With the win, the Panthers move on to Friday's semifinal game against Angola, an upset winner over Lakeland 42-39.
"Angola is a hard nosed team,' Gunn said. "They play good pressure defense. We need to rise to the challenge on Friday.'
NORTHWOOD 62 WAWASEE 48
NorthWood (15-6) 13 10 21 18 - 62
Wawasee (6-15) 13 12 9 14 - 48
NorthWood FG FT A S R Pts.
Will (F) 1-4 1-2 5 1 5 3
Reed (F) 8-15 2-7 0 2 6 22
Doty (G) 3-11 0-1 2 2 3 7
Bradley 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 0
Roeder (G) 9-14 1-1 4 1 10 19
Clouse (C) 3-9 1-2 1 3 4 7
Shepherd 1-2 2-2 0 0 0 4
Clem 0-0 0-0 0 0 1 0
Blosser 0-0 0-1 0 0 1 0
Totals 25-55 7-16 12 10 30 62
Wawasee FG FT A S R Pts.
Farrell (G) 2-3 4-6 2 2 2 9
Doty 1-2 0-0 0 1 2 3
Wilson (G) 0-3 0-0 1 0 1 0
Klenke 3-7 0-0 2 1 1 7
Gradle 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0
Adkins 2-12 0-0 2 0 3 4
Custer 0-0 0-0 0 0 1 0
Speicher (F) 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
High (F) 7-11 0-0 0 1 6 17
Packer (C) 4-9 0-0 0 0 8 8
Totals 19-48 4-6 7 5 24 48
Three-point goals - NorthWood (3-14): Will 0-1, Reed 2-5, Doty 1-6, Roeder 0-1, Shepherd 0-1; Wawasee (6-15): Farrell 1-2, Doty 1-2, Wilson 0-1, Klenke 1-2, Adkins 0-3, High 3-5 . Turnovers - NorthWood 15, Wawasee 23Ê. Total fouls - NorthWood 10, Wawasee 19 . Fouled out -ÊNone.
Other sectional game score:
Game One: Angola 42, Lakeland 39 [[In-content Ad]]
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NAPPANEE - The NorthWood Panthers have had an outstanding boys basketball season. They are the Northern Lakes Conference champions, the first time in school history that the Panthers have won the title by themselves, They finished the regular season at 14-6, only losing one home game all year.
After all the positives for the Panthers, they were very excited to host their own sectional. Coming into the Class 3A NorthWood Sectional on Tuesday, this sectional was rated the seventh toughest sectional in the state according to Jeff Sagarin's ratings.
In order for the Panthers to move on to Friday's semi-final game, they would have to beat NLC rival Wawasee first. The Panthers, who beat Wawasee 70-41 during the regular season had a lot at stake.
After playing sloppy basketball the first half, the Panthers picked up their intensity and ended the Warriors' season winning 62-48.
"Wawasee outplayed us in the first half, no question about that,' NorthWood coach Dan Gunn said. "We started out a little slow on defense, but we picked it up in the second half.'
The Warriors, who went 1-21 a year ago, came out like they had nothing to lose. The Warriors played an even first quarter with the host school.
NorthWood got on the board first with a rebound basket by Rory Clouse. Clouse was fouled on the play and hit the free throw to take a 3-0 lead. The Panthers held their biggest lead of the half at 11-4 when Charlie Roeder hit a lay-up with 3:15 left.
But the Warriors crept back thanks to senior Jeremy High. High scored seven points in the quarter, and the score was even at 13 after the first.
"We really came out fired up and ready to play,' Wawasee coach Rob Berger said. "We had a lot of intensity and we really hustled all over the court.'
The Warriors kept the pressure on the Panthers in the second half. In the second there were four ties and five lead changes. Travis Klenke put the Warriors ahead 17-15 with 4:54 left. After NorthWood tied the score at 17, the Warriors went on a quick 4-0 run thanks to a Klenke three-pointer with 2:55 left.
After playing tight for the majority of the half, the Warriors got the final bucket of the half when Curtis Farrell drove the length of the floor for the go ahead lay-up to give the Warriors a 25-23 halftime lead.
The NorthWood gym was very stunned.
"Wawasee really did a lot of things to get us out of our game,' Gunn added. "We struggled shooting the basketball and we didn't take care of the ball like we should have.'
After the Warriors came out fired up in the first, the Panthers did more than match their opponent's intensity in the second half.
The Panthers scored the first four points of the quarter to take a 27-25 lead. After a Andrew Packer jumper that tied the game for the Warriors, the Panthers used a big 14-2 run to up their lead to 41-29 with 1:44 to play.
Turnovers killed the Warriors comeback. The Warriors turned the ball over nine times in the quarter, and they only scored nine points.
"We really were never able to recover from their big run,' Berger added. "We basically just ran out of gas. They are a very good basketball team and their intensity was too much for us to handle.'
The Panthers finished the third quarter with a 44-34 lead. Ian Reed had a big third quarter, scoring eight of his team-high 22 points.
"We really played a lot better in the second half," said Gunn. We had a lot of good defensive pressure and it turned our offense around also.'
The fourth quarter still belonged to the NLC champions. The Panther lead was between ten and fourteen points most of the quarter. Reed added seven in the fourth and Charlie Roeder contributed five in the final frame.
"We really came out and layed it on the line,' Berger said. "We just have to learn to play consistant basketball for 32 minutes.'
Reed led the winners with 22 points and six rebounds. Roeder added 19 points and 10 rebounds. Jeremy High led the Warriors with 17 points and six rebounds. Curtis Farrell added nine points.
After going only 1-21 a year ago, the Warriors finished the 99-00 year with a 6-15 record, five more wins than last year.
"I really thought we improved a lot from a year ago,' Berger added. "We just need to learn to go from here and start at a higher level next year.'
With the win, the Panthers move on to Friday's semifinal game against Angola, an upset winner over Lakeland 42-39.
"Angola is a hard nosed team,' Gunn said. "They play good pressure defense. We need to rise to the challenge on Friday.'
NORTHWOOD 62 WAWASEE 48
NorthWood (15-6) 13 10 21 18 - 62
Wawasee (6-15) 13 12 9 14 - 48
NorthWood FG FT A S R Pts.
Will (F) 1-4 1-2 5 1 5 3
Reed (F) 8-15 2-7 0 2 6 22
Doty (G) 3-11 0-1 2 2 3 7
Bradley 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 0
Roeder (G) 9-14 1-1 4 1 10 19
Clouse (C) 3-9 1-2 1 3 4 7
Shepherd 1-2 2-2 0 0 0 4
Clem 0-0 0-0 0 0 1 0
Blosser 0-0 0-1 0 0 1 0
Totals 25-55 7-16 12 10 30 62
Wawasee FG FT A S R Pts.
Farrell (G) 2-3 4-6 2 2 2 9
Doty 1-2 0-0 0 1 2 3
Wilson (G) 0-3 0-0 1 0 1 0
Klenke 3-7 0-0 2 1 1 7
Gradle 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0
Adkins 2-12 0-0 2 0 3 4
Custer 0-0 0-0 0 0 1 0
Speicher (F) 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
High (F) 7-11 0-0 0 1 6 17
Packer (C) 4-9 0-0 0 0 8 8
Totals 19-48 4-6 7 5 24 48
Three-point goals - NorthWood (3-14): Will 0-1, Reed 2-5, Doty 1-6, Roeder 0-1, Shepherd 0-1; Wawasee (6-15): Farrell 1-2, Doty 1-2, Wilson 0-1, Klenke 1-2, Adkins 0-3, High 3-5 . Turnovers - NorthWood 15, Wawasee 23Ê. Total fouls - NorthWood 10, Wawasee 19 . Fouled out -ÊNone.
Other sectional game score:
Game One: Angola 42, Lakeland 39 [[In-content Ad]]