Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
NAPPANEE -ÊAlthough the NorthWood Panthers held the lead for most of the first three quarters of Thursday's game against Angola, the Hornets came out on top 55-51 after four hard-fought quarters of basketball.
The NorthWood squad jumped out to an early lead after Aaron Huber started the game with a three-pointer to give NorthWood the initial advantage in the game. Angola tied the score at five with 3:48 left in the first frame, but the Panthers refused to relinquish the lead as they headed into the second stanza with a slim 10-9 lead.
After Raymond Sterling hit a basket to open the second frame, Angola took a one- point lead, but Charlie Roeder answered with a basket of his own to restore the NorthWood lead.
The Hornets then scored five straight points to take an 18-14 lead with just over five minutes left in the half. Roeder, Huber and Ian Reed combined for six Panther points in the final three minutes to give NorthWood a 21-20 lead at the halftime break.
Reed was the story of the third frame as he scored six of eight NorthWood third-quarter points in the first 2:34 of play. Reed scored his third basket of the quarter with 5:46 left on the clock, and Angola held the Panthers scoreless until just two seconds remained in the stanza, when Roeder hit a basket to make the score 34-29.
In the fourth quarter, Reed and Roeder combined to score the first eight NorthWood points to bring the Panthers to within one, 38-37, with 3:24 left in regulation, but the Hornets were determined to rebuild their lead.
With 1:17 left in the game, Angola had rebuilt their lead to five, 48-43, but the Panthers refused to roll over and play dead.
Huber nailed a three-pointer with 45 ticks on the clock to cut the Hornet lead to three, 49-46, but NorthWood was forced to foul to stop the clock in the waning moments of the fourth quarter.
Angola was perfect in the final 36.7 second of the contest, hitting 6 of 6 baskets from the charity stripe and allowing NorthWood to score just four points.
In the end, Angola came out on top 55-51, and the Panthers' hopes of winning their own sectional had been thrashed.
"We were hurt by our lack of offense," said NorthWood coach Dan Gunn. "We struggled shooting the basketball in both halves of the game. We missed a lot of shots, and you can't win ball games when you miss a lot of shots."
NorthWood finished the season with an 11-10 overall record.
Angola 55, NorthWood 51
NorthWood 10 11 8 22 - 51
Angola 9 11 14 21 - 55
NorthWood FG FT R S Pts.
Huber 4-14 0-0 2 3 10
Nunemaker 2-10 0-0 4 0 10
Bradley 2-7 0-0 1 0 4
Roeder 5-8 0-2 9 0 10
Reed 7-10 3-4 9 3 17
Doty 1-4 0-0 0 0 2
Will 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Hochstetler 0-0 0-0 1 1 0
Clouse 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Miller 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 21-53 3-6 29 7 51
Angola FG FT R S Pts.
Adolph 3-14 5-7 5 1 11
Grill 2-5 0-0 1 0 5
Kersten 3-8 4-4 6 0 10
Seevers 2-7 0-0 1 0 4
Sterling 4-7 0-0 5 3 10
Gilbert 2-4 0-0 2 0 4
Martin 3-5 2-3 4 0 9
Beckman 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Crooks 1-2 0-0 2 0 2
Miller 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Pentice 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 20-45 11-14 25 5 55
Three-point goals -ÊNorthWood 5-19 (Huber 3-6, Nunemaker 1-4, Bradley 2-6, Roeder 0-1, 0-1, Doty 0-1), Angola 3-10 (Adolph 0-4, Sterling 2-5, Martin 1-1). Turnovers - NorthWood 13, Angola 14. Fouled out Huber, Roeder. Total fouls - Angola 8, NorthWood 9.
Officials - Jack Urbin, Kewanna; Ted Garton, Grabill.
