West Noble Charges Past Wawasee
March 4, 2017 at 7:36 a.m.
By Mark [email protected]
Nickolson scored all 12 of West Noble’s points in the fourth quarter, including a 6-of-6 effort that accounted for all of his team’s free throw attempts, and the Chargers came away with a 42-38 win in a 3A Sectional 21 semifinal Friday night.
The Charger senior center finished with a game-high 20 points, mostly from in or near the paint. Nickolson missed just three of his 10 shots from the floor.
Still, Wawasee had an opportunity to play in tonight’s sectional final against Fairfield, who upset No. 2 NorthWood 59-51 in the other semifinal. The Warriors got off to a solid start, taking a five-point lead in the opening minutes.
After sophomore Bennett Hoffert drained a three-pointer at the halftime buzzer, the Warriors held a seven-point lead. Wawasee head coach Jon Everingham decided to slow the pace of the game down; a strategy he said backfired on the Warriors.
Wawasee held the ball for the first 1:18 of the third quarter, but ultimately turned the ball over, and West Noble seized the momentum from there. The Chargers outscored Wawasee 11-4 in the third quarter to tie the game at 30 heading into the final eight minutes.
“We tried to control the tempo, and it didn’t work. I?need to take responsibility for that,” Everingham said. “You know, as a coach you make some good calls and you make some that don’t work out. I felt like that set us back a little bit; it backfired on us. They got a little bit of momentum there.
“We had a huge shot at the end of the second quarter that put us up seven, and I thought we were in a great shape to try and get them to change defenses. Obviously it didn’t work.”
While Nickolson was getting his shots down low, Wawasee scoring leader Trevon Coleman was having to get his work done from the outside. He did manage to hit a pair of three-pointers and record 10 points in the game, but still finished four points short of his average.
“I think it’s fair to say we missed some (defensive) assignments,” Everingham said. We really wanted to front (Nickolson) in a man-to-man, and we failed to do that on about four straight key possessions in the fourth quarter where we allowed him to touch the ball.
“If you really wanted to simplify the game, they got the ball inside to their big man to score, and we didn’t.”
Warrior junior Jairus Boyer helped his team get a lead, with 12 of his team-high 15 points in the first half. He had a chance to help Wawasee tie the game after a pair of Nickolson free throws gave West Noble a 40-37 lead.
Boyer sprinted down the floor and caught a long pass on the left side of the paint. He took two steps back to try a three and was fouled on the play. Boyer’s first charity hit the rim twice before bouncing away, and he canned the second. After a timeout, he intentionally missed the third. Nickolson came out of the ensuing season-on-the-line scrum, was fouled, and his two made free throws with 0.8 seconds left finished off Wawasee’s season.
“I thought Jairus played probably his best game of the year,” Everingham said. “He played a really solid game for us. Obviously with eight seconds or so you can get the two and call timeout. I liked his decision to go out and shoot the three. He got fouled, and if that shot goes it’s even bigger.
“Without him we’re probably not in the game, and he feels bad he missed that first free throw. That’s going to be eating at him for a while, and I think that’s going to fuel him to get better.”
Wawasee finished its season at 6-18.
WEST NOBLE 42, WAWASEE 38
WN 11 8 11 12 – 42
W 12 14 4 8 – 38
West Noble – Takota Weigold 0-1 0-0 0, Mason Stover 2-4 0-0 6, Walker Donley 1-1 0-0 2, Nick Knepper 4-11 0-0 10, Trevor Franklin 2-7 0-0 4, Josh Gross 0-0 0-0 0, Larry Nickolson 7-10 6-6 20. Totals 16-34 6-6 42.
Wawasee – Cayden Wegener 0-0 0-0 0, Cameron Schlabach 1-3 0-2 2, Tyler Smith 1-1 0-0 2, Jairus Boyer 6-9 1-3 15, Jacob Hand 0-0 0-0 0, Bennett Hoffert 3-6 0-0 9, Aaron Evans 0-4 0-0 0, Trevon Coleman 4-9 0-0 10. Totals 15-32 1-3 38.
Three-pointers – West Noble 4 (Stover 2, Knepper 2), Wawasee 7 (Hoffert 3, Boyer 2, Coleman 2); Rebounds – West Noble 19 (Franklin 9), Wawasee 17 (Smith 4, Boyer 4, Evans 4); Turnovers – West Noble 8, Wawasee 11; Fouls – West Noble 9, Wawasee 10; Records: West Noble 9-14, Wawasee 6-18
Nickolson scored all 12 of West Noble’s points in the fourth quarter, including a 6-of-6 effort that accounted for all of his team’s free throw attempts, and the Chargers came away with a 42-38 win in a 3A Sectional 21 semifinal Friday night.
The Charger senior center finished with a game-high 20 points, mostly from in or near the paint. Nickolson missed just three of his 10 shots from the floor.
Still, Wawasee had an opportunity to play in tonight’s sectional final against Fairfield, who upset No. 2 NorthWood 59-51 in the other semifinal. The Warriors got off to a solid start, taking a five-point lead in the opening minutes.
After sophomore Bennett Hoffert drained a three-pointer at the halftime buzzer, the Warriors held a seven-point lead. Wawasee head coach Jon Everingham decided to slow the pace of the game down; a strategy he said backfired on the Warriors.
Wawasee held the ball for the first 1:18 of the third quarter, but ultimately turned the ball over, and West Noble seized the momentum from there. The Chargers outscored Wawasee 11-4 in the third quarter to tie the game at 30 heading into the final eight minutes.
“We tried to control the tempo, and it didn’t work. I?need to take responsibility for that,” Everingham said. “You know, as a coach you make some good calls and you make some that don’t work out. I felt like that set us back a little bit; it backfired on us. They got a little bit of momentum there.
“We had a huge shot at the end of the second quarter that put us up seven, and I thought we were in a great shape to try and get them to change defenses. Obviously it didn’t work.”
While Nickolson was getting his shots down low, Wawasee scoring leader Trevon Coleman was having to get his work done from the outside. He did manage to hit a pair of three-pointers and record 10 points in the game, but still finished four points short of his average.
“I think it’s fair to say we missed some (defensive) assignments,” Everingham said. We really wanted to front (Nickolson) in a man-to-man, and we failed to do that on about four straight key possessions in the fourth quarter where we allowed him to touch the ball.
“If you really wanted to simplify the game, they got the ball inside to their big man to score, and we didn’t.”
Warrior junior Jairus Boyer helped his team get a lead, with 12 of his team-high 15 points in the first half. He had a chance to help Wawasee tie the game after a pair of Nickolson free throws gave West Noble a 40-37 lead.
Boyer sprinted down the floor and caught a long pass on the left side of the paint. He took two steps back to try a three and was fouled on the play. Boyer’s first charity hit the rim twice before bouncing away, and he canned the second. After a timeout, he intentionally missed the third. Nickolson came out of the ensuing season-on-the-line scrum, was fouled, and his two made free throws with 0.8 seconds left finished off Wawasee’s season.
“I thought Jairus played probably his best game of the year,” Everingham said. “He played a really solid game for us. Obviously with eight seconds or so you can get the two and call timeout. I liked his decision to go out and shoot the three. He got fouled, and if that shot goes it’s even bigger.
“Without him we’re probably not in the game, and he feels bad he missed that first free throw. That’s going to be eating at him for a while, and I think that’s going to fuel him to get better.”
Wawasee finished its season at 6-18.
WEST NOBLE 42, WAWASEE 38
WN 11 8 11 12 – 42
W 12 14 4 8 – 38
West Noble – Takota Weigold 0-1 0-0 0, Mason Stover 2-4 0-0 6, Walker Donley 1-1 0-0 2, Nick Knepper 4-11 0-0 10, Trevor Franklin 2-7 0-0 4, Josh Gross 0-0 0-0 0, Larry Nickolson 7-10 6-6 20. Totals 16-34 6-6 42.
Wawasee – Cayden Wegener 0-0 0-0 0, Cameron Schlabach 1-3 0-2 2, Tyler Smith 1-1 0-0 2, Jairus Boyer 6-9 1-3 15, Jacob Hand 0-0 0-0 0, Bennett Hoffert 3-6 0-0 9, Aaron Evans 0-4 0-0 0, Trevon Coleman 4-9 0-0 10. Totals 15-32 1-3 38.
Three-pointers – West Noble 4 (Stover 2, Knepper 2), Wawasee 7 (Hoffert 3, Boyer 2, Coleman 2); Rebounds – West Noble 19 (Franklin 9), Wawasee 17 (Smith 4, Boyer 4, Evans 4); Turnovers – West Noble 8, Wawasee 11; Fouls – West Noble 9, Wawasee 10; Records: West Noble 9-14, Wawasee 6-18
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