Plymouth Takes Panthers
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
PLYMOUTH- Friday night's matchup between Plymouth and Northwood was a game of spurts, with each team battling for the final spurt that would decide the game.
Plymouth was able to get that final spurt and come away with a 50-36 victory.
Northwood coach Dan Gunn wanted to shut down Mr. Basketball-candidate Brian Wray and make the rest of the Plymouth team score.
The Panthers were able to shut down Wray early, but they couldn't stop Plymouth guard Brian Davis. Davis hit 3 of 3 shots from behind the arc in the first quarter. He helped Plymouth jump out to an 18-9 first quarter. Wray came slowly out of the gate. He was 2-for-5 shooting in the first and finished the quarter with just five points.
Northwood struggled in the first half shooting hitting only 5 of 17 shots from the field. Jake Yoder hit three of those five shots. Senior forward Bobby Brown, who leads Northwood in scoring with nearly 16 points a game, had one point in the first half. The Panthers also had seven first-quarter turnovers.
Despite poor shooting and turnovers, Northwood was able to keep pace with the Pilgrims in the second quarter. The Panthers kept Wray from getting into a rthymn. Northwood was able to rotate players on Wray and keep him from getting open on screens or cutting to the basket. A three-pointer was the only basket Wray made from the field in the second quarter.
Northwood was poised to go into halftime down by 12 when a series of strange events occurred.
With 59 seconds left in the first half, Wray went up for a three-pointer and initiated contact with Panther guard Aaron Huber. Huber was called for the foul, and then proceeded to get a technical foul for arguing the call with the referee.
Wray went to the charity stripe for five straight free throws and connected on four. With the technical, Plymouth got the ball back. After Wray then missed a layup, Northwood grabbed the rebound. It was immediately stolen by Plymouth guard Nick Chaney, who laid it in. Two Brian Davis free throws extended the Plymouth lead to 20.
Being down by 20 and having the threat of a Brian Wray offensive explosion didn't phase Northwood as it came into the second half. Northwood was beginning to get contributions from more players than just Yoder. Eric Zell overcame foul trouble to score three big points in the third quarter.
The Panthers' defense was what put them back in the game.
Plymouth had four straight possessions where it didn't get past halfcourt. Two steals by Norhwood guard Nic Bradley and offensive fouls by Plymouth's Chaney and Joel Grindle allowed the Panthers to creep back into the game.
When Plymouth was able to get off shots, they couldn't hit them. Wray was unable to score in the third quarter. The Pilgrims as a team were 1 of 5 from the field and scored only two points in the quarter. Northwood finished the quarter on an 8-0 run, and a Plymouth lead which was once 22 was now down to nine going into the final stanza..
The Panthers and the Pilgrims exchanged baskets to start the fourth. Neither team was able to take over the game. Then with 4:18 left in the game, Chad Martin's layup cut the Northwood deficit to seven. Huber then stole the ball, but Northwood turned the ball right back over, and Wray made Northwood pay with a three-pointer.
On Northwood's next possession, Cam Collins stripped the ball from Northwood's Charlie Roeder and dished it to Wray, who laid it in and extended Plymouth's lead to 12. Northwood was unable to recover from that spurt.
After the game, Gunn wasn't talking about the two spurts of Plymouth but his team's slow start.
"We got off to a lousy start, and this is a poor place to get off to a rotten start," Gunn said.
Northwood only shot 36 percent from the field for the game. Most of those missed shots came in the first half.
Gunn was pleased, however, at how his team handled Wray. Even though Wray had 25 points, he shot only 6 of 16 from the field.
"I still think we did a good job on Wray. We wanted to stay close to him and I thought we did," Gunn said.
Northwood moves to 9-4 and 2-2 in the Northern Lakes Conference. The Panthers' next game is tonight at home against LaVille. [[In-content Ad]]
PLYMOUTH- Friday night's matchup between Plymouth and Northwood was a game of spurts, with each team battling for the final spurt that would decide the game.
Plymouth was able to get that final spurt and come away with a 50-36 victory.
Northwood coach Dan Gunn wanted to shut down Mr. Basketball-candidate Brian Wray and make the rest of the Plymouth team score.
The Panthers were able to shut down Wray early, but they couldn't stop Plymouth guard Brian Davis. Davis hit 3 of 3 shots from behind the arc in the first quarter. He helped Plymouth jump out to an 18-9 first quarter. Wray came slowly out of the gate. He was 2-for-5 shooting in the first and finished the quarter with just five points.
Northwood struggled in the first half shooting hitting only 5 of 17 shots from the field. Jake Yoder hit three of those five shots. Senior forward Bobby Brown, who leads Northwood in scoring with nearly 16 points a game, had one point in the first half. The Panthers also had seven first-quarter turnovers.
Despite poor shooting and turnovers, Northwood was able to keep pace with the Pilgrims in the second quarter. The Panthers kept Wray from getting into a rthymn. Northwood was able to rotate players on Wray and keep him from getting open on screens or cutting to the basket. A three-pointer was the only basket Wray made from the field in the second quarter.
Northwood was poised to go into halftime down by 12 when a series of strange events occurred.
With 59 seconds left in the first half, Wray went up for a three-pointer and initiated contact with Panther guard Aaron Huber. Huber was called for the foul, and then proceeded to get a technical foul for arguing the call with the referee.
Wray went to the charity stripe for five straight free throws and connected on four. With the technical, Plymouth got the ball back. After Wray then missed a layup, Northwood grabbed the rebound. It was immediately stolen by Plymouth guard Nick Chaney, who laid it in. Two Brian Davis free throws extended the Plymouth lead to 20.
Being down by 20 and having the threat of a Brian Wray offensive explosion didn't phase Northwood as it came into the second half. Northwood was beginning to get contributions from more players than just Yoder. Eric Zell overcame foul trouble to score three big points in the third quarter.
The Panthers' defense was what put them back in the game.
Plymouth had four straight possessions where it didn't get past halfcourt. Two steals by Norhwood guard Nic Bradley and offensive fouls by Plymouth's Chaney and Joel Grindle allowed the Panthers to creep back into the game.
When Plymouth was able to get off shots, they couldn't hit them. Wray was unable to score in the third quarter. The Pilgrims as a team were 1 of 5 from the field and scored only two points in the quarter. Northwood finished the quarter on an 8-0 run, and a Plymouth lead which was once 22 was now down to nine going into the final stanza..
The Panthers and the Pilgrims exchanged baskets to start the fourth. Neither team was able to take over the game. Then with 4:18 left in the game, Chad Martin's layup cut the Northwood deficit to seven. Huber then stole the ball, but Northwood turned the ball right back over, and Wray made Northwood pay with a three-pointer.
On Northwood's next possession, Cam Collins stripped the ball from Northwood's Charlie Roeder and dished it to Wray, who laid it in and extended Plymouth's lead to 12. Northwood was unable to recover from that spurt.
After the game, Gunn wasn't talking about the two spurts of Plymouth but his team's slow start.
"We got off to a lousy start, and this is a poor place to get off to a rotten start," Gunn said.
Northwood only shot 36 percent from the field for the game. Most of those missed shots came in the first half.
Gunn was pleased, however, at how his team handled Wray. Even though Wray had 25 points, he shot only 6 of 16 from the field.
"I still think we did a good job on Wray. We wanted to stay close to him and I thought we did," Gunn said.
Northwood moves to 9-4 and 2-2 in the Northern Lakes Conference. The Panthers' next game is tonight at home against LaVille. [[In-content Ad]]