By RYAN WALKER
Game 1
NOBLESVILLE — Norwell faced its biggest challenge yet in No. 3 Snider, and it got a gut punch.
The Knights (11-4), in the midst of their grueling schedule, took a 65-50 defeat to the defending 4A regional champion Panthers (14-1) in the first game of the Noblesville Holiday Tournament Thursday afternoon.
Norwell was beaten by its own game — running the floor and getting transition buckets — by Snider and was also outrebounded by a wide 36-20 margin.
The Knights committed 16 of them and fed into the Panther’s 52 percent from inside the arc, with a portion of them uncontested.
Norwell head coach Eric Thornton said after the game that he thought it was the best team they’d faced all season, even with four other schools faced in the IBCA top 10.
“I don’t know how many layups they got off of turnovers, but that became too much to overcome,” Thornton said. “We were going to have a tough time outrebounding them. We were going to have a tough time doing what they do with those live ball turnovers. But the mistakes that (Snider) capitalized on, they do that to a lot of teams. That’s the best team we’ve played so far. I don’t know that we will see that in the 3A tournament when it comes to that.”
On the scoring end, the Panthers were led by Purdue commit Jordyn Poole, who dropped 22 points on 10-23 shooting and a handful of assists. But the real threat in the game was 6’2 senior forward Tia Phinezy, heading to the SEC for Missouri in volleyball, who added 14 rebounds for the Panthers and swatted four blocks.
Like Phinezy, Snider denied Norwell’s opportunities to crawl back into the game. In the final five minutes of the first quarter, Norwell went on a 12-6 run, only to have Snider jump back into gear to begin the second with a 11-0 run. Norwell closed the second quarter with a 6-1 run, but was met by Poole scoring five points right away in the third.
Every point scored by Norwell in the third quarter had a response by Snider, continuing to keep the Knights of its back.
“There were stretches there where (Snider’s) pressure really got to us, and we would adjust, and then they’d bring it again,” Thornton said. “You just can’t let up mentally, fundamentally. You’ve got to be really, really good at what you do.”
Despite the loss and how it happened, Thornton emphasized the reason why he scheduled this tournament: to build for the 3A state one by the end of the season. Norwell’s return of every player from last season’s sectional title has weathered one of the toughest schedules in the state with an 11-4 record.
“I also want to give credit to our kids for hanging in there. We’re really pushing them right now,” Thornton said. “It’s tough to go through, but there’s a purpose, and we’re trying to remind ourselves, especially the girls, of the overall big picture here of how this can help us during tournament time. Again, we will not see this level of a team in the 3A tournament. It doesn’t guarantee us anything, but it really does stretch us, and that’s what we’re trying to use it for.”
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SNIDER 65, NORWELL 50
At Noblesville High School
NORWELL (11-4): Kennedy Fuelling 8-12 3-4 22, Makenzie Fuess 5-12 0-0 12, Vanessa Rosswurm 3-12 1-2 7, Dekota Hubble 2-6 0-1 4, Lilly Norris 1-2 0-0 3, Annabelle Johnson 1-6 0-0 2, Haley Green 0-1 0-0 0, Addie Norris 0-3 0-0 0. TOTALS: 14-46 4-7 50
SNIDER (14-1): Jordyn Poole 10-23 1-2 22, Ciara Sims 5-12 1-2 12, Kyra Parker 3-6 1-1 9, Tia PHinezy 4-6 0-0 8, Johnea Donahue 2-7 3-3 7, Zy’Ann Phinezy 2-2 1-1 5, Saniah Sandlin 1-3 0-0 2, Samantha Baughman 0-0 0-0 0, Gabriella Barnes 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 27-59 7-9 65.
Snider 17 17 18 13 –– 65
Norwell 13 12 13 12 –– 50
Three-point FG: Norwell: 6-17 (Fuelling 3-6, Fuess 2-2, L. Norris 1-3, A. Norris 0-3, Johnson 0-2, Rosswurm 0-2), Snider: 4-15 (Parker 2-4, Poole 1-5, Sims 1-5). Rebounds: Norwell: 20 (Johnson 5, Hubble 4, Fuess 4, Rosswurm 3, Fuelling 3, Green 2, L. Norris 2, A. Norris 1), Snider: 36 (T. Phinezy 13, Sims 7, Z. Phinezy 3, Poole 3, Sandlin 3, Parker 2). Turnovers: Norwell: 16, Snider: 15 Fouls: Norwell: 8, Snider: 13 Fouled Out: None. Technicals: None.
By RYAN WALKER
Game 2
NOBLESVILLE — Norwell needed every bit of the final three minutes and 34 seconds to split at the Noblesville Holiday tournament Thursday night.
A 17-4 run in that timespan launched the Knights (12-4) to a 62-55 win over the Valparaiso Vikings (10-5).
It all started with the Vikings taking a 6-point lead at the 4:19 mark when Becca Gerdt nearly converted on an and-one opportunity. Norwell’s toughness, which head coach Eric Thornton has referenced as his team’s biggest need this season, fought back and got it the win against another 4A opponent.
Makenzie Fuess started the three-point parade late in the fourth with just ver 3:30 remaining. Vanessa Rosswurm then tallied the first of two in between Dekota Hubble’s and one that switched the lead back over to the blue and gold. The run was capped off by a 5-point swing by Kennedy Fuelling, nailing her ninth three-ball in the game and sealing the deal.
The key for Thornton’s group was to not only get their top scorers going, but to distribute the wealth to the rest of the team in the comeback. That’s where Rosswurm and Hubble came in down the stretch hitting big shots.
“I love the way our kids responded with three minutes to go down five,” Thornton said after the game. “(Valpraioso’s) triangle and face guarding Mackenzie and Kennedy and Vanessa comes up, hits and couple threes. We really needed that. We needed her to step up. Dekota gets the put-back basket and opportunities for other kids to make plays when they’re going to do that. So proud of our kids for pulling that one out.”
Fuelling still did what she does best, scoring a game-high 32 points on the game and even led the team with eight rebounds. Fuess tallied 15 points and added five steals.
But Rosswurm’s six points in the final three minutes got her into double-figures with 10 points, while also showing productivity by passing the ball for five assists and six rebounds. Hubble’s and-one was her only shot attempt of the night to add to her seven rebounds.
Norwell’s late surge wasn’t the only time it had to come out of a slump.
In fact, the one during the first half was far worse. The Knights got up to a 9-2 lead early, but couldn’t find the bottom of the net for the next seven and a half minutes. Valparaiso jolted to a 20-9 advantage before Fuelling stopped the drought with a bucket.
Even with that much of a deficit, Norwell got hot. Fuess and Fuelling traded threes right in a row, followed by two more by Fuelling before the end of the half. Fuess picked off a Vikings pass with a few seconds left on the clock and turned it into a scoop and score.
Those were two examples of the team fighting through adversity. Just hours beforehand, the team had its largest loss in total points of the season in a 15-point gut punch by No. 3 Snider. The group bounced back and made the head coach very happy.
“A lot of toughness there,” Thornton said. “You know, you can choose to respond in different ways and I love the response our kids had. you watch the other team go on a run against you and we’re sitting at nine points forever and that’s tough. And our kids, we needed something good to happen.”
RV Noblesville ended up winning the tournament with a 57-51 win over No. 3 Snider.
Norwell’s next game will be at Carroll starting at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan 2.
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NORWELL 62, VALPARAISO 55
At Noblesville High School
NORWELL (12-4): Kennedy Fuelling 10-25 3-5 32, Makenzie Fuess 4-10 4-4 15, Vanessa Rosswurm 3-12 2-3 10, Dekota Hubble 1-1 1-3 3, Annabelle Johnson 1-4 0-2 2, Haley Green 0-1 0-0 0, Lilly Norris 0-1 0-0 0, Addie Norris 0-3 0-0 0. TOTALS: 19-57 10-17 62.
VALPARAISO (10-5): Cadynce Clark 6-9 0-0 15, Lillian Barnes 5-18 5-6 15, Becca Gerdt 5-13 3-3 13, Raegan O’Halek 1-3 2-2 4, Brianna Fincannon 1-4 0-0 3, Delilah Kincaid 1-2 0-0 3, Kenzie Wassermann 1-2 0-0 2, Cady Ofman 0-2 0-0 0, Ava Seefeldt 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 20-52 10-11 55.
Norwell 9 18 13 22 –– 62
Valparaiso 15 9 17 14 –– 55
Three-point FG: Norwell: 14-38 (Fuelling 9-20, Fuess 3-6, Rosswurm 2-6, Johnson 0-2, A. Norris 0-3, L. Norris 0-1), Valparaiso: 5-15 (Clark 3-6, Fincannon 1-2, Kincaid 1-2, Barnes 0-4, Gerdt 0-1). Rebounds: Norwell: 31 (Fuelling 8, Hubble 7, Rosswurm 6, Fuess 4, Green 1, L. Norris 1, Johnson 1), Valparaiso: 34 (Barnes 16, Gerdt 6, Clark 3, O’Halek 3, Fincannon 2, Ofman 1, Wasserman 1, Kincaid 1). Turnovers: Norwell: 10, Valparaiso: 14. Fouls: Norwell: 10 Valparaiso: 17. Fouled Out: None. Technicals: None.
