Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
NAPPANEE - Some like to call them nail-biters.
Some prefer other adjectives to describe those games that are so close fans sit on the edge of their seats.
After his team came from behind in a 58-50 win over Elkhart Central, NorthWood coach Dan Gunn amused the media by saying that's why his hair is gray and falling out.
All the Panthers did was erase a 32-21 halftime deficit and hold the Blue Blazers to just 18 second-half points. Fourteen of those came in the fourth quarter.
After the Panthers manhandled Whitko 102-46 Tuesday, Gunn said the true test for his team would be whether or not it could stay close to Elkhart Central on the boards. Gunn said if they could rebound with them, his team would have a chance.
The Panthers outrebounded Central 36-26. Panther junior Charlie Roeder grabbed 10 boards. Aaron Huber snared nine caroms.
"I know we got killed," said Elkhart Central coach Mike Drews of the rebounding edge. "In the first half we held them to 21 points. We just got out-scrapped tonight."
NorthWood improved its season record to 11-9 and was led by game-high scorer Ian Reed with 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field. Darin Nunemaker and Nic Bradley added 15 and 11 points respectively. Huber chipped in with seven points, all in the fourth quarter.
Elkhart Central, 13-7, was led by seniors Anthony Kyle and Justin Riley with 14 and 12 points respectively. James Scott contributed 10 points in the losing effort.
According to Drews, his team's performance Friday night was very uncharacteristic, and he saw things he hadn't seen in a while.
"For one thing, we lost," said Drews. "We haven't done that in four weeks. We won seven in a row, and when we get manhandled on the boards, you see what happens. We didn't move the ball in our half-court offense. We had guys who couldn't even set screens on a simple inbounds pass."
The game was a tale of two halves as the Panthers shot just 6 of 18 (33.3 percent) from the floor in the first and trailed by 11 at the break. The Blue Blazers, on the other hand, made good on 14 of 26 (53.8 percent) field goal attempts in the first two quarters of play.
The Panthers turned the tide in the third and fourth quarters by shooting 13 of 26 (50 percent) from the floor and by playing stiff defense. NorthWood allowed Central to just four third-quarter points.
"It was a lot better in the second half wasn't it," said Gunn of his team's performance after the intermission. "In the first half I tried to out coach myself. Your defense has a lot to do with your offense, we turned the ball over several times in the first and they hit three three-pointers in a row. At halftime we had a chance to regroup, we set screens, made better passes and put pressure on the basketball, against Elkhart Central that's tough."
Though they themselves turned the ball over eight times in the second half, the Panthers forced the Blue Blazers into seven second half turnovers and stole the ball 10 times in the game.
"You play like you practice," said Drews, "And we played like we practiced all week, half good half bad."
NorthWood's offense complimented its defensive intensity in the second half by outscoring Elkhart Central 37-18 to account for the eight-point victory.
"I'm proud of these kids," said Gunn, "we beat a heck of a team tonight."
NorthWood will be in action again Thursday at 7:30 p.m. vs. Angola in the NorthWood Sectional. Elkhart Central will play Goshen at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at North Side Gym in Elkhart.
NORTHWOOD 58
ELKHART CENTRAL 50
NorthWood 11 10 22 15 - 58
Elkhart Central 16 16 4 14 - 50
NorthWood FG FT S R Pts.
Huber (G) 2-6 2-4 2 9 7
Nunemaker (F) 4-11 6-6 1 5 15
Bradley (G) 4-9 1-2 1 7 11
Roeder (F) 1-5 4-5 3 10 6
Reed (F) 7-10 2-2 3 3 16
Hochstetler 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Doty 1-3 1-2 0 0 2
Abel 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Will 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 19-44 16-21 10 36 58
Elkhart Central FG FT S R Pts.
Melvin (G) 3-8 0-0 2 3 6
Johnson 1-2 0-0 0 0 3
Cassell 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
LeFlore 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Scott (G) 4-15 0-0 1 3 10
Harwell 1-4 1-2 0 2 3
Hoke 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Kyle (G) 6-13 0-3 1 2 14
Church (F) 1-2 0-0 0 1 2
Riley (C) 6-11 0-3 1 10 12
Norman 0-0 0-0 0 1 0
Edwards 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 22-56 1-8 5 26 50
Three-pointers - NorthWood 4 (Bradley 2, Huber, Nunemaker), Elkhart 5 (Scott 2, Kyle 2, Johnson). Turnovers - NorthWood 18, Elkhart 14. Fouls - NorthWood 13, Elkhart 19. Fouled out - Church.
Referees - Tim Spinger, Eric Coburn
JV - NorthWood 61, Elkhart Central 46
