Wildcats Come Up Short Against Norwell
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
SOUTH WHITLEY - While the complete story of the 2004-2005 Whitko Wildcats basketball team hasn't been written yet, the first chapter has, and it's not sitting well with first-year head coach Larry Lael.
Norwell overcame Whitko's size advantage to gain the rebounding edge and its quickness to create turnovers en route to a 54-43 win over the host Wildcats Friday.
"We've got two areas we just can't seem to shore up. One is turning the ball over offensively and second is giving up offensive rebounds on defense. That's been our story these first three games," Lael said.
The Knights strung together a 10-2 run late in the second quarter to take the lead and never looked back.
Leading the way for Norwell was 6-foot-3 forward Chandler Harnish. Harnish finished with 17 points on 6 of 10 shooting to go along with eight rebounds.
Harnish was accompanied, in a balanced attack, by guard Clay Dafforn. Dafforn scored nine third quarter points as the Knights began to pull away and finished with 14 points.
Matt Terhune also finished in double digits for the Knights with 10 points.
This year Whitko is a team in transition with Lael coming in at the beginning of the school year to replace Don Zawlocki, who stepped down.
While the Wildcats adjust to Lael's defensive style of play he knows they may take their lumps.
"We're making improvements. I just hope they're coming quick enough that the kids stick with it. You're usually judged on wins and losses. I'm not really big into moral victories, but we are improving," said Lael.
One area where his team showed strides was in the intangible department. Despite trailing by double-digits most of the second half and lacking any offensive continuity, Whitko fought to within 10 points late in the fourth quarter. The Wildcats looked dead in the water midway through the quarter as offensive rebounds for Norwell pushed the Knights' lead to 49-33.
Junior guard Brad Smith, who is playing with a foot injury, hit two three-pointers late in the contest to put the Wildcats to within striking distance at 53-43 with two minutes left to play.
What hurt the Wildcats in part was that due to a loose officiating game, Whitko had committed just its second personal foul of the second half with 6:53 left in the fourth quarter.
By the time the Wildcats forced Norwell to the free throw line, it was all but said and done.
Whitko never closed inside the 10-point mark in the final period.
The Wildcats were led in scoring by Erich Schlicht with 12 points, while Woods had 10 points and eight rebounds.
Schlicht, Corey Spangle and Smith are currently playing with foot injures which is forcing Lael to go deep into his bench. Nine Wildcats saw the court against Norwell Friday night.
Spangle had six points and four rebounds for Whitko.
The physical nature of Friday's contest against Norwell, a team formerly coached by Lael, benefited the Knights, who unlike Whitko, weren't sporting an outbreak of injury. Friday was the season opener for Norwell.
"Norwell has always been known as a physical team," said Lael of his former squad. "A lot of those kids just came off the football field, so give them credit. They did what they had to do."
The Wildcats, 0-3 overall, host Central Noble Tuesday. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.
NORWELL 54, WHITKO 43
Norwell 11 15 15 13 - 54
Whitko 8 12 7 16 - 43
Norwell FG FT R S Pts.
*Imel 1-6 0-1 4 2 2
*Harnish 6-10 5-6 8 4 17
*Diehl 1-3 0-0 2 0 2
*Dafforn 4-11 4-8 0 0 14
*Terhune 5-9 0-0 9 1 10
Baker 1-1 0-0 1 0 2
Shaw 0-0 0-0 1 1 0
Mygrant 3-4 0-0 1 0 7
Totals 21-44 9-15 26 8 54
Whitko FG FT R S Pts.
*Schlicht 4-9 2-3 2 1 12
*Woods 2-11 5-6 8 3 10
*Alspaugh 2-5 0-0 3 0 4
*Smith 2-7 0-0 1 0 6
*Spangle 1-6 4-6 4 2 6
Rupley 1-4 3-5 2 1 5
Kurtz 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
Coats 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
Totals 12-42 14-20 22 7 43
Three-point goals - Norwell 3-6 (Clay Dafforn 2-4, Shawn Mygrant 1-1) Whitko 6-18 (Brad Smith 2-6, Schlicht 3-4, Woods 1-2) Turnovers - Norwell 17, Whitko 17. Fouls - Norwell 17, Whitko 14 . Fouled out - None.
JV - Norwell 37, Whitko 17
Whitko scoring - Cameron Walter 6, Andrew Warner 4, Kaleb Swender 4, Patrick Carroll 3 [[In-content Ad]]
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SOUTH WHITLEY - While the complete story of the 2004-2005 Whitko Wildcats basketball team hasn't been written yet, the first chapter has, and it's not sitting well with first-year head coach Larry Lael.
Norwell overcame Whitko's size advantage to gain the rebounding edge and its quickness to create turnovers en route to a 54-43 win over the host Wildcats Friday.
"We've got two areas we just can't seem to shore up. One is turning the ball over offensively and second is giving up offensive rebounds on defense. That's been our story these first three games," Lael said.
The Knights strung together a 10-2 run late in the second quarter to take the lead and never looked back.
Leading the way for Norwell was 6-foot-3 forward Chandler Harnish. Harnish finished with 17 points on 6 of 10 shooting to go along with eight rebounds.
Harnish was accompanied, in a balanced attack, by guard Clay Dafforn. Dafforn scored nine third quarter points as the Knights began to pull away and finished with 14 points.
Matt Terhune also finished in double digits for the Knights with 10 points.
This year Whitko is a team in transition with Lael coming in at the beginning of the school year to replace Don Zawlocki, who stepped down.
While the Wildcats adjust to Lael's defensive style of play he knows they may take their lumps.
"We're making improvements. I just hope they're coming quick enough that the kids stick with it. You're usually judged on wins and losses. I'm not really big into moral victories, but we are improving," said Lael.
One area where his team showed strides was in the intangible department. Despite trailing by double-digits most of the second half and lacking any offensive continuity, Whitko fought to within 10 points late in the fourth quarter. The Wildcats looked dead in the water midway through the quarter as offensive rebounds for Norwell pushed the Knights' lead to 49-33.
Junior guard Brad Smith, who is playing with a foot injury, hit two three-pointers late in the contest to put the Wildcats to within striking distance at 53-43 with two minutes left to play.
What hurt the Wildcats in part was that due to a loose officiating game, Whitko had committed just its second personal foul of the second half with 6:53 left in the fourth quarter.
By the time the Wildcats forced Norwell to the free throw line, it was all but said and done.
Whitko never closed inside the 10-point mark in the final period.
The Wildcats were led in scoring by Erich Schlicht with 12 points, while Woods had 10 points and eight rebounds.
Schlicht, Corey Spangle and Smith are currently playing with foot injures which is forcing Lael to go deep into his bench. Nine Wildcats saw the court against Norwell Friday night.
Spangle had six points and four rebounds for Whitko.
The physical nature of Friday's contest against Norwell, a team formerly coached by Lael, benefited the Knights, who unlike Whitko, weren't sporting an outbreak of injury. Friday was the season opener for Norwell.
"Norwell has always been known as a physical team," said Lael of his former squad. "A lot of those kids just came off the football field, so give them credit. They did what they had to do."
The Wildcats, 0-3 overall, host Central Noble Tuesday. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.
NORWELL 54, WHITKO 43
Norwell 11 15 15 13 - 54
Whitko 8 12 7 16 - 43
Norwell FG FT R S Pts.
*Imel 1-6 0-1 4 2 2
*Harnish 6-10 5-6 8 4 17
*Diehl 1-3 0-0 2 0 2
*Dafforn 4-11 4-8 0 0 14
*Terhune 5-9 0-0 9 1 10
Baker 1-1 0-0 1 0 2
Shaw 0-0 0-0 1 1 0
Mygrant 3-4 0-0 1 0 7
Totals 21-44 9-15 26 8 54
Whitko FG FT R S Pts.
*Schlicht 4-9 2-3 2 1 12
*Woods 2-11 5-6 8 3 10
*Alspaugh 2-5 0-0 3 0 4
*Smith 2-7 0-0 1 0 6
*Spangle 1-6 4-6 4 2 6
Rupley 1-4 3-5 2 1 5
Kurtz 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
Coats 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
Totals 12-42 14-20 22 7 43
Three-point goals - Norwell 3-6 (Clay Dafforn 2-4, Shawn Mygrant 1-1) Whitko 6-18 (Brad Smith 2-6, Schlicht 3-4, Woods 1-2) Turnovers - Norwell 17, Whitko 17. Fouls - Norwell 17, Whitko 14 . Fouled out - None.
JV - Norwell 37, Whitko 17
Whitko scoring - Cameron Walter 6, Andrew Warner 4, Kaleb Swender 4, Patrick Carroll 3 [[In-content Ad]]