By ANDREW FEEBACK
HUNTINGTON—A strong performance over the last three quarters helped the Norwell girls’ basketball team prevail 52-34 over the host Huntington North Vikings Friday night.
Hot shooting from the three-point line gave the Knights the offense they needed, and a 1-3-1 defense that forced 20 turnovers took care of the rest.
The Vikings (4-2) found some openings in that defense early and took a 10-3 lead in the first few minutes.
Norwell (8-1) closed the quarter with an 8-2 burst and steadily began to take control of the game from that point.
“We were a little tight at the beginning,” coach Eric Thornton said. “I think our kids dug in a little bit, we hit a couple shots, and we found out how to play our 1-3-1 and take away their pass to the middle. When they could pass to the middle, they could pick us apart backside for layups like they did at the beginning. Once we started taking that away, it disrupted them, and we got some stops.”
Makenzie Fuess dropped in three of her team-leading five triples in the second quarter, and the Knights scored the last seven points of the half to lead 27-18.
“The second quarter was huge for us,” Thornton said. “It really gave us control of the game.”
Norwell was 11 of 28 beyond the arc, and Fuess made another one to begin the second half that stretched the lead to 12.
Huntington North stayed within range through the end of the third quarter thanks to the three-point shooting of Taylor Double, who led the Vikings with 18 points.
When Gracie Fields knocked down a three from the wing early in the fourth quarter, it was 39-33.
Kennedy Fuelling got two buckets to push the lead back to 10, and the Vikings managed only a free throw the rest of the way.
Even when the Knights weren’t forcing turnovers, their 1-3-1 still had the Vikings off-balance and flustered for most of the game, disrupting their offense.
“It’s what we have to do to create an advantage,” Thornton said. “Huntington North is really good in their five-out, they’re very well-coached, they’re very skilled and fundamental. We can’t let them do what they normally do. For us to have an advantage with our lack of size against most teams, a 1-3-1 has been really good for us, and we played it as well as we could tonight.”
Fuelling led all scorers with 19 points, while Fuess had 18.
“It was a total team effort,” Thornton said. “Annabelle Johnson, who has battled through sickness, I thought she played with so much composure tonight. Then you get a kid like Madi Sonnigsen, who was JV at the beginning of the season, but through all our injuries and sickness, had some opportunities to come up and play a lot of varsity minutes. I thought that really paid off; she played really well for us off the bench. Then you get Haley Green back in the 5 spot; she did some awesome things off the bench.
“The starters settled in after the beginning, our bench came in, and I thought our depth really showed its strength tonight,” he continued.
Norwell will host Columbia City next Friday night.
The Knights won the JV game 48-23. Ashley Waldman scored 12 points, while Addison Norris, Larkin Smith, and Macie Saalfrank each had eight.
sports@news-banner.com
NORWELL 52,
HUNTINGTON NORTH 34
At Huntington North High School
NORWELL (8-1): Madyson Sonnigsen 2-4 1-2 7, Dekota Hubble 0-1 0-1 0, Kennedy Fuelling 8-15 0-0 19, Ryland Graft 0-0 0-0 0, Haley Green 1-1 2-2 4, Lillian Norris 0-1 0-0 0, Annabelle Johnson 1-7 0-0 3, Addison Norris 0-0 0-0 0, Makenzie Fuess 6-13 1-1 18, Ali Riley 0-1 0-0 0, Vanessa Rosswurm 0-2 1-2 1, Mekynzi Beck 0-0 0-0 0, Ashley Waldman 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 18-45 5-8 52.
HUNTINGTON NORTH (4-2): Camryn Working 0-0 0-0 0, Elle McDonald 1-2 0-0 2, Leah Hertel 1-3 1-2 3, Gracie Fields 4-9 0-0 9, Haiden Bailey 0-1 0-0 0, Gabby Liechty 0-0 0-0 0, Hailey Rains 0-0 0-0 0, Taylor Double 7-17 0-0 18, Marissa Trout 1-5 0-0 2, Abby Grube 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 14-37 1-2 34.
Norwell 11 16 12 13 – 52
Huntington North 12 6 12 4 – 34
Three-point Goals: Norwell 11-28 (Fuess 5-9, Fuelling 3-7, Sonnigsen 2-4, Johnson 1-5, Lillian Norris 0-1, Rosswurm 0-1, Riley 0-1), Huntington North 5-18 (Double 4-10, Fields 1-3, Trout 0-4, Bailey 0-1). Rebounds: Norwell 20 (Johnson 5, Green 3, Hubble 3, Rosswurm 2, Fuess 2, Fuelling 2, Lillian Norris 2, Sonnigsen 1), Huntington North 20 (Double 8, Trout 4, Hertel 3, Fields 3, Bailey 2). Turnovers: Norwell 7, Huntington North 20. Fouls: Norwell 8, Huntington North 9. Fouled out: None. Technicals: None.
JV: Norwell 48, Huntington North 23.
