By RICK SPRUNGER
It really wasn’t as close as the final score makes it appear.
Norwell dispatched Heritage, 72-54, in first-round action of its own Class 3A sectional Tuesday night in a game that was largely over by the end of the first quarter.
The seventh-ranked Knights improved to 20-4 on the season with the victory.
Heritage closed the books on a 5-18 campaign.
The win duplicated an 85-58 win over the Patriots a little over three weeks earlier.
“We got off to a really good start,” said Norwell coach Mike McBride in a classic understatement. “We were really aggressive on both sides of the ball.”
Heritage actually got off to early 3-0 and 5-3 leads.
But over the next five minutes, Norwell ran away and hid with a blistering 27-2 spurt that put the game on ice early.
The Knights hit on 10 of 13 first-quarter shots, including five 3-pointers by three different players, and took a crushing 30-7 advantage with 52 seconds left in the first quarter.
Everyone got in on the act.
Brody Bolyn started it with a 15-footer from out front, Lleyton Bailey put the Knights ahead for good with a 3-pointer, and Luke Graft scored consecutive baskets inside, the first on a pretty little baseline drive and reverse layup.
McBride and Bailey then drilled consecutive threes, and Graft scored 4 points by himself on one possession.
He hit the first of two free throws, the second was rebounded by Ashton Federspiel, and he got the ball back to Graft, who converted a three-point play.
Cohen Bailey wrapped a pair of 3-pointers around two McBride free throws, and at that point the cake was baked, iced, and sliced.
Heritage managed to get the last 2 points of the first quarter and the first three of the second.
But Norwell ran off another 9 in a row for a 39-12 spread.
Oddly, other than a very brief 63-35 advantage early in the fourth quarter, that represented Norwell’s largest lead of the game (matched several times).
McBride, the coach, however, wasn’t concerned with Norwell’s seeming inability to blow the lead even bigger.
“Overall, we played pretty consistently, I thought,” explained the boss. “We rotated some guys, and Heritage hit some shots.
“We wanted to get plenty of playing time for everyone because we have to win three games in a week.
“Besides, when you have a 30-9 lead after one quarter, it’s only natural to maybe relax a little bit.”
Norwell finished the game 28-for-53 from the field for a red-hot 52.8 shooting percentage while only turning the ball over nine times.
The Knights placed three players in double figures, including McBride with 16 points, Graft with 14, and Lleyton Bailey with 11, while Cohen Bailey was just 1 point off the pace with 9.
About the only thing Norwell didn’t do well was shoot free throws.
The Knights were just 8-for-18 from the stripe for a very uncharacteristic 44.4 percentage from there.
Luke Saylor scored a game-high 21 points to lead Heritage.
Kobe Meyer joined him in double figures with 11, but no other Patriot had more than 6.
Heritage was 19-for-56 from the floor for a 33.9 percentage.
Norwell will meet Eastern (8-12) in the semifinals on Friday night at 6 p.m.
Bellmont (13-10), which dumped Mississinewa, 54-43, in the second game Tuesday night, will challenge Oak Hill (17-5) in the second game with the winners meeting on Saturday night for the title.
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NORWELL 72, HERITAGE 54
At Norwell High School
HERITAGE (5-18): Nyles Knapke 2-6 0-0 6, Kobe Meyer 4-11 0-0 11, Luke Saylor 7-17 4-4 21, Dalton Wasson 1-4 0-0 2, Howard Kaiser 1-4 0-0 2, Leroy Lepper 0-1 0-0 0, Tanner Whitman 1-1 0-0 2, Dylan Hale 0-2 0-2 0, Austin Buuck 1-5 0-0 3, Trevin Schaffner 0-1 2-2 2, Trevor Price 1-2 0-0 2, Landon Lybarger 1-2 0-0 3. TOTAL: 19-56 6-8 54.
NORWELL (20-4): Lleyton Bailey 4-4 0-0 11, Luke McBride 6-8 2-2 16, Jake Parker 2-5 1-1 5, Luke Graft 6-9 2-7 14, Brody Bolyn 1-5 2-4 4, Cohen Bailey 3-5 1-1 9, Ashton Federspiel 2-7 0-1 5, Jon Colbert 2-4 0-0 4, Cade Shelton 0-1 0-0 0, Gavin Hoeppner 2-3 0-0 4, Adam McBride 0-1 0-2 0, Trace Moser 0-1 0-0 0. TOTAL: 28-53 8-18 72.
Heritage 9 16 10 19 –– 54
Norwell 30 18 12 12 –– 72
Three-point Goals: Heritage 10-32 (Knapke 2-6, Meyer 3-9, Saylor 3-9, Wasson 0-3, Buuck 1-3, Lybarger 1-2), Norwell 8-19 (L. Bailey 3-3, L. McBride 2-4, Parker 0-1, Bolyn 0-3, C. Bailey 2-3, Federspiel 1-2, Colbert 0-1, Hoeppner 0-1, Moser 0-1). Rebounds: Heritage 30 (Saylor 5), Norwell 38 (Bolyn 8, Federspiel 6). Turnovers: Heritage 11, Norwell 9. Fouls: Heritage 16, Norwell 13. Fouled Out: None. Technicals: None.
