By RICK SPRUNGER
It took Norwell a little while to get started.
But once it did, it cruised to a 78-52 win over Adams Central in a non-conference boys basketball game played at the Castle Monday night.
Turnovers were the key.
It was nine second-quarter Norwell miscues that enabled an Adams Central team brimming with confidence to sprint into the locker room at halftime down just two points, 34-32.
But it was 11 second-half turnovers by the Jets and 21 for the game that allowed Norwell to put plenty of distance between it and its pursuers.
“The key to this game was the start of the fourth quarter,” said Adams Central coach Aaron McClure when it was over. “We were still in it, only down 12. But you just can’t make mistakes against this team. We got sped up just a little, and it seemed like (the deficit) went from 10 to 20 in one possession.”
“Speeding them up was exactly what we wanted to do,” responded Norwell coach Mike McBride. “If we can get them playing faster than they want to play and get some live-ball turnovers, we can get out in transition.”
Like McClure said, it all turned in the blink of an eye.
Adams Central was still very much in it at 49-43 after Braylend Reber converted two free throws on Luke McBride’s third foul with 2:59 left in the third quarter.
But McBride immediately nailed a three, converted one of those live-ball turnovers into a layup at the other end, and buried another three, all in the span of one minute.
It was 57-45 heading into the final period.
Gavin Hoeppner then opened the fourth quarter with a rebound basket, and Adams Central turned the ball over on three of its first five possessions in the period.
Cohen Bailey missed one three-point attempt, and Micah McClure rebounded for the Jets.
But McClure was stripped of the ball, and this time Bailey swished the three.
Another live-ball turnover on the other end and a half-court pass by Brody Bolyn to a streaking Bailey suddenly made it 64-45.
Isaac Schultz stemmed the tide with a basket inside.
But a 15-footer by Bolyn, back-to-back threes by McBride and Bailey, a pair of free throws by McBride, and yet another steal and layup by Jake Parker blew the margin out to a whopping 76-48.
But the game looked like anything but that in the second quarter when it was Norwell with the fumble fingers.
“Way too many turnovers,” said the elder McBride, shaking his head. “We were up (29-16), and we got sloppy with the ball. We were making careless passes that were leading to transition baskets. We were going several possessions at a time where we weren’t shooting the ball at all. We made that a point of emphasis at halftime.”
Adams Central rallied all the way from that 13-point hole to within two points at halftime and would have tied it but for two missed free throws by McClure with 0:00.1 left.
“We have to stay away from turnovers,” continued McBride. We have a lot of good shooters and a lot of good offensive rebounders. So if we can take care of the ball, we will have plenty of opportunities to score.
However, he shrugged off the suggestion that his team was flat after its brilliant performance at Southport on Saturday.
“We had a bad second quarter,” countered the coach. “You’re going to have games like that, and we just need to stay focused and mentally tough. But, yes, we had the big game at Southport on Saturday, and we have a big conference game with DeKalb on Friday. This was a non-conference game that just sort of came between the two. Plus, it’s a Monday game, and we don’t play hardly any of those.”
McBride paced four Norwell players in double figures with 25 points.
Parker added 19, Cohen Bailey 14, and Bolyn 13 for the Knights, who hit on 28 of 53 fielders (.528) for the game and a perfect 10-for-10 from the stripe.
They also turned the ball over just one time in the entire second half, and that was with less than a minute remaining in the game.
Schultz led Adams Central with 24 points on 10-for-11 shooting from the field.
Ethan Poling added 11 for the Jets.
Norwell also won the junior varsity and C-team contests.
The jayvees copped a 50-35 decision as Kaedyn Quintanilla scored 14 points and Brady Smith 13.
Adam McBride added eight, Caiden Petrie seven, and Garry Riley and Ryne Thornton four each.
The freshmen won 33-23.
Will Case scored 14 points and Noah Schamerloh 13 for the Knights.
Aedyn Quintanilla tossed in three points, Eli Jacob two, and Noah Comer one.
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NORWELL 78,
ADAMS CENTRAL 52
At Norwell High School
ADAMS CENTRAL (1-2): Micah McClure 4-9 0-2 8, Braylend Reber 1-4 2-3 4, Trace Maller 1-1 1-4 3, Isaac Schultz 10-11 4-4 24, Ethan Poling 5-9 0-0 11, Hudson Conkling 0-1 0-0 0, Keaton Springer 1-1 0-0 2, Max Hamilton 0-1 0-0 0, Kolton Littler 0-1 0-0 0, Cade Van De Weg 0-0 0-0 0. TOTAL: 22-38 7-13 52.
NORWELL (5-1): Lleyton Bailey 1-9 0-0 3, Luke McBride 8-13 5-5 25, Cohen Bailey 4-8 4-4 14, Jake Parker 7-13 0-0 19, Brody Bolyn 6-6 1-1 13, Gavin Hoeppner 2-4 0-0 4, Adam McBride 0-0 0-0 0, Brady Smith 0-0 0-0 0, Kaedyn Quintanilla 0-0 0-0 0. TOTAL: 28-53 10-10 78.
Adams Central 14 18 13 7 — 52
Norwell 23 11 23 21 — 78
Three-point shooting: Adams Central 1-5 (Reber 0-1, Poling 1-3, Conkling 0-1), Norwell 12-27 (L. Bailey 1-6, McBride 4-6, C. Bailey 2-3, Parker 5-10, A. McBride 0-2). Rebounds: Adams Central 19 (Poling 6), Norwell 24 (L. McBride 6, Bolyn 5). Turnovers: Adams Central 21, Norwell 14. Personal fouls: Adams Central 11, Norwell 15. Fouled out: None. Technical fouls: None.
Junior Varsity: Norwell 50, Adams Central 35.
Freshmen: Norwell 33, Adams Central 23.
