By ANDREW FEEBACK
FORT WAYNE— The Norwell Lady Knights took home a 71-54 win over the host Fort Wayne Concordia Cadets Tuesday night, but they had to work a bit harder than the 17-point margin might indicate.
Despite turning the ball over 21 times in the first half and finishing the game with 32, the Cadets (1-4) managed to hang with the Knights (5-2) well into the third quarter before Norwell started to pull away.
“I thought their effort was outstanding; a lot of credit to Concordia,” coach Eric Thornton said. “Their effort was better than ours at the beginning of the game. It really took us awhile to try and get momentum as a result of that. Big lesson for our kids. They’ve done a great job for the first six games of playing hard for four quarters. We didn’t see that consistently tonight. I thought we saw it at times, but it certainly wasn’t there at the beginning of the game on the defensive end.”
Concordia scored six points in the final 42 seconds of the first quarter to draw within 16-14.
Norwell scored the next six points to begin the second, but Concordia came right back with five straight.
A three-pointer from the Cadets’ Kaelyn Ortiz made it 27-24 before the Knights scored the last six points of the half.
Even with all the turnovers, Concordia stayed in the game thanks to scoring on the majority of its possessions that didn’t result in a miscue. The Cadets finished 20 of 44 from the field, and but had been shooting around 50 percent until the fourth quarter.
Back to back three-point plays capped off a 9-1 burst to begin the second half, and suddenly, the Cadets were within 34-33.
Vanessa Rosswurm scored Norwell’s next eight points and Kennedy Fuelling scored the next seven, which helped the Knights push their lead into double digits, 49-38.
Concordia got a bucket from Lauren Goodman to open the fourth quarter, but Norwell scored 13 straight to put it out of reach.
As the Knights built their lead, the Cadets seemed to start rushing shots and playing faster than they wanted to.
“I thought our defensive effort was where we wanted it to be at that time,” Thornton said. “Our ball pressure was better, it makes kids play faster. Our offense is going to score off our defense, which we did in those situations. That’s the way we need to be from the beginning of the game until the end.”
Rosswurm led all scorers with 28 points while Fuelling added 22. Makenzie Fuess chipped in 10.
For Concordia, Goodman scored 18 and Alivia Bolinger had 11.
Thornton felt this game was a good experience for his team early in the season.
“I hope we learned a lesson tonight,” he said. “This is the first game that I haven’t seen us play with that type of intensity and effort at the beginning. We were a step slow, and it kept Concordia in the game.”
Norwell will host Angola Saturday afternoon with a 12:30 p.m. varsity tip.
The Knights took the JV game 64-30. Macie Saalfrank scored 31 points, Larkin Smith had 14 and Makayla Young added seven.
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NORWELL 71,
FORT WAYNE CONCORDIA 54
At Concordia
NORWELL (5-2): Addison Norris 0-0 0-2 0, Dekota Hubble 1-2 0-0 2, Kennedy Fuelling 8-16 5-7 22, Ryland Graft 0-0 0-2 0, Haley Green 3-5 0-2 6, Lillian Norris 1-4 0-0 2, Annabelle Johnson 0-3 0-0 0, Makenzie Fuess 4-13 0-0 10, Ali Riley 0-0 0-0 0, Vanessa Rosswurm 10-15 4-5 28, Larkin Smith 0-0 0-0 0, Ashley Waldman 0-0 1-2 1. TOTALS: 27-58 10-20 71.
FORT WAYNE CONCORDIA (1-4): Cailyn Bolinger 0-0 0-0 0, Adriahna Rogers 1-2 1-1 3, Alivia Bolinger 3-13 3-3 11, Sydney Reynolds 0-2 0-0 0, Jenna Akey 0-0 0-0 0, Nysia Walker 1-1 0-5 2, Lauren Goodman 7-9 1-1 18, Cella Kaiser 2-4 0-0 4, Kaelyn Ortiz 2-4 0-0 6, Jen Dressler 3-5 2-3 8, Sydney Blackwell 1-4 0-0 2. TOTALS: 20-44 7-13 54.
Norwell 16 17 19 19 — 71
Fort Wayne Concordia 14 10 16 14 — 54
Three-point Goals: Norwell 7-20 (Rosswurm 4-6, Fuess 2-5, Fuelling 1-4, Lillian Norris 0-3, Johnson 0-2), Fort Wayne Concordia 7-22 (Goodman 3-5, Ortiz 2-4, Bolinger 2-10, Reynolds 0-2, Rogers 0-1). Rebounds: Norwell 19 (Green 5, Fuelling 4, Fuess 4, Rosswurm 3, Johnson 2, Hubble 1), Fort Wayne Concordia 30 (Bolinger 12, Walker 4, Kaiser 4, Blackwell 2, Dressler 2, Goodman 2, Rogers 2, Reynolds 1, Akey 1). Turnovers: Norwell 13, Fort Wayne Concordia 32. Fouls: Norwell 16, Fort Wayne Concordia 17. Fouled out: None. Technicals: None.
JV: Norwell 64, Fort Wayne Concordia 30.
