By ANDREW FEEBACK
LEO-CEDARVILLE — Friday night’s girls’ basketball game between the Norwell Knights and Leo Lions was over early, both literally and figuratively.
The Knights took charge in the opening minutes and never looked back on their way to an easy 73-31 win over the hosts, in a game that took only about an hour to complete.
Hot three-point shooting helped Norwell run its record to 14-4 while dropping Leo to 10-6.
The Knights finished 12 of 30 beyond the arc, with six of those coming in the first quarter.
“I loved our start,” coach Eric Thornton said. “We had some extra shots there at the beginning of the game that we were able to get some put-backs or kick-out threes. Our defense was very active, and I thought we shared the ball well.”
Kennedy Fuelling led all scorers with 21 points and moved to No. 2 in Norwell’s all-time scoring list, passing Mackenzie Warwick. Vanessa Rosswurm added 16, and both of them knocked down three triples that got the Knights out to the early advantage. Norwell led 15-4 after just three minutes and had it up to 25-9 at the first break.
Makenzie Fuess drilled a couple threes in the second quarter and scored 10 of her 19 points as Norwell started the period on a 14-0 run and later raised its advantage to 48-17 by halftime.
The Knights turned the ball over just once in the first half and twice for the game, allowing them to get 27 more shots than the Lions.
“It’s fun to watch a team play that well and then shoot the ball well at the end of those possessions, be able to put it all together,” Thornton said. “Outstanding start for our kids, good conference win on the road.”
Leo managed to get two players into double figures in spite of its low score. Kayla Adams scored 13 points and Leah Shappell added 10.
While the Knights took 30 shots behind the arc and got just about anything they wanted, the Lions only attempted seven shots from long range, going 1 of 7 and finishing 11 of 36 from the field overall.
Norwell went deep into its bench in the second half, pushing its lead to 60-22 on Fuelling’s final three-pointer.
Fuess tallied the Knights’ final trey early in the fourth quarter as Norwell got the lead above 40.
One challenge a team can face at that stage of a game is continuing to execute and not settle for bad shots or other plays that take less effort.
“That’s a challenge, but it’s a real connected group,” Thornton said. “I think we saw it even with the kids who came off the bench in the second half. Just trying to get the best shot we can, keep continuing to move the basketball, and being happy for that kid once we get what we want. I think we saw it all night long, and I’m real proud of the kids for doing that.”
Norwell will host Bishop Dwenger next Wednesday night.
The Norwell JV team beat Leo 54-10. Macie Saalfrank had 13 points, Larkin Smith added 10, Jada Dale had nine and Savanna Simerman scored eight.
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NORWELL 73,
LEO 31
At Leo
NORWELL (14-4): Addison Norris 0-3 0-0 0, Dekota Hubble 3-3 0-0 6, Kennedy Fuelling 6-15 4-6 21, Ryland Graft 0-0 0-0 0, Haley Green 2-3 0-0 4, Lillian Norris 3-6 0-0 7, Annabelle Johnson 0-0 0-0 0, Makenzie Fuess 8-18 0-0 19, Ali Riley 0-2 0-0 0, Vanessa Rosswurm 6-11 1-1 16, Jada Dale 0-0 0-0 0, Ashley Waldman 0-2 0-0 0. TOTALS: 28-63 5-7 73.
LEO (10-6): Emily Cogdell 1-2 0-0 3, Malina Lape 1-4 1-2 3, Izzy Collins 0-0 0-0 0, Mackenzie Collins 1-3 0-0 2, Abby Bovie 0-5 0-0 0, Leah Shappell 3-14 4-6 10, Kayla Adams 5-7 3-5 13, Grace Busch 0-0 0-0 0, Isabella Viggiano 0-1 0-0 0. TOTALS: 11-36 8-13 31.
Norwell 25 23 16 9 — 73
Leo 9 8 7 7 — 31
Three-point Goals: Norwell 12-30 (Fuelling 5-10, Fuess 3-10, Rosswurm 3-5, Lillian Norris 1-2, Addison Norris 0-1, Riley 0-2), Leo 1-7 (Cogdell 1-1, Shappell 0-3, Bovie 0-2, Lape 0-1). Rebounds: Norwell 26 (Fuess 6, Green 5, Hubble 4, Johnson 3, Rosswurm 3, Graft 2, Norris 1, Norris 1, Dale 1), Leo 24 (Adams 6, Shappell 5, Lape 4, Bovie 3, Busch 3, Cogdell 3). Turnovers: Norwell 2, Leo 21. Fouls: Norwell 10, Leo 6 Fouled out: None. Technicals: None.
JV: Norwell 54, Leo 10.
