SOUTH WHITLEY -ÊAfter a one-point loss to Bremen last Thursday, the NorthWood Panthers were on a mission Tuesday night in South Whitley when they played the Whitko Wildcats.

The Panthers boys basketball team beat the Whitko Wildcats in a decisive victory, 95-66.

NorthWood's Ian Reed and Charlie Roeder combined for the first two baskets of the game to take a 4-0 lead that the Panthers would not relinquish throughout the game.

Shane Henderson scored Whitko's first points of the contest when he connected on a two-point basket at the 6:52 mark of the first frame to make the score 4-2 in NorthWood's favor.

Through the quarter, the Panthers scored two baskets for every Wildcat bucket, and by the end of the quarter, NorthWood held a 27-12 advantage.

The second quarter was much like the first as Roeder connected for the first basket of the stanza. Again, the ratio of scoring was 2:1 in NorthWood's favor as the Panthers outscored the Wildcats 26-12 in the second frame.

At the half, NorthWood was ahead of Whitko, 53-24.

However, the second half was a different story as Whitko livened up and kept up with the Panthers in the last two quarters of the game.

Alex Frantz provided a spark for the Wildcats in the third quarter. He nailed the first basket of the second half and went on to score seven points and shoot 3 of 4 from the field in the third frame.

But NorthWood still outscored the Wildcats 24-18 in the third stanza. Then the Panthers continued to add to their lead in the fourth.

At the 4:02 mark in the final quarter of play, Sean Clem hit a basket that put NorthWood up by 40 points, 88-48.

However, Whitko was not ready to give in without a fight. The Wildcats outscored NorthWood 18-7 in the final four minutes of play.

In fact, in the last 35 seconds of the game, Drew Lopshire, Ben Garber and Brandon Waller combined for eight points to make the final score 95-66.

"I hate to be happy with a 29-point loss," said Whitko coach Steve Pickett, "but I saw some good things. I am very happy with Drew Lopshire's play.

"The team played all the way to the end and kept fighting. NorthWood is a tremendous team, and they are gonna go a long way in the postseason."

"We wanted to come out and play good defense," said NorthWood coach Dan Gunn. "We did a good job of moving the ball."

In all, NorthWood turned the ball over just nine times while forcing Whitko into 19 turnovers.

"We played in the passing lanes in the defense," said Gunn. "Whitko is inexperienced, and we were able to make them turn the ball over."

The five Panther starters finished the contest in double figures. Rory Clouse led NorthWood with 22 points, while Roeder added 18 points, six rebounds and five steals. Ian Reed, Brock Doty and Willy Will chipped in 17, 14 and 11 points, respectively.

"I thought all five starters played well," said Gunn.

Frantz led the Whitko squad with 13 points, while Shane Henderson added 10. Adam Wendel and Brandon Waller added eight points each. Ben Ryan, one of Whitko's normal leading scorers, was out with the flu and bronchitis.

"Whitko is a very young team," said Gunn, "and they are sure to get a lot better. They did some good things in the second half, especially in the fourth quarter."

NorthWood improves to 14-4, while Whitko falls to 3-15. NorthWood travels to Penn for a Thursday night game, while Whitko hosts North Miami at 6 p.m. Friday.

NORTHWOOD 95, WHITKO 66

NorthWood 27 26 24 18 - 95

Whitko 12 12 18 24 - 66

NorthWood FG FT R S Pts.

*Roeder 6-7 6-8 6 5 18

*Clouse 9-13 2-2 2 1 22

*Reed 6-12 3-4 6 1 17

*Doty 4-7 4-4 1 4 14

*Will 5-8 1-1 5 3 11

Clem 3-3 1-1 0 0 7

Shepherd 0-0 2-2 0 0 2

Blosser 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Mitschelen 0-1 0-0 3 0 0

Bradley 1-3 2-2 0 1 4

Lightfoot 0-1 0-0 1 0 0

Totals 34-55 21-24 23 15 95

Whitko FG FT R S Pts.

*Henderson 4-10 0-0 2 1 10

*Wendel 2-5 3-4 4 0 8

*Frantz 5-8 3-4 2 0 8

*Goble 2-6 2-2 3 0 6

*Robbins 1-3 3-3 2 1 5

Hoffman 3-5 1-2 3 1 7

Woods 0-0 0-0 1 0 0

Waller 3-6 0-0 1 1 8

Lopshire 3-4 0-0 1 3 6

Clausen 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Garber 1-2 1-1 0 0 3

Walpole 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Totals 14-49 13-16 19 7 66

Three-point goals -ÊNorthWood 6-10 (Clouse 2-3, Reed 2-2, Doty 2-4, Bradley 0-1), Whitko 5-13 (Henderson 2-7, Wendel 1-1, Waller 2-4, Frantz 0-1). Total fouls -ÊNorthWood 14, Whitko 18. Fouled out -ÊWendel. TUrnovers -ÊNorthWood 9, Whitko 19.

JV Score -ÊWHITKO 36, NORTHWOOD 34

Whitko scoring -ÊSpangle 2, Clausen 2, Garber 2, Walpole 5, Lopshire 8, Woods 15, Hike 2

NorthWood scoring -ÊRogers 1, Lightfoot 12, Hill 2, Bradley 9, Hall 2, Miller 4, Klotz 4