By ANDREW FEEBACK
FORT WAYNE — The defense did not rest for the Norwell Knights Friday night, as they clamped down on the hosting Homestead Spartans late to emerge with a 49-43 overtime win.
Homestead (12-12) failed to score over the final 6:47 of regulation and didn’t make a field goal the rest of the game.
Norwell (14-8) did not even take its first lead until overtime, but gradually worked its way back from an early deficit with a zone defense that had the Spartans off-balance for much of the night.
When Homestead got out to a 15-5 lead early in the second quarter, Norwell called a timeout.
Following that timeout, the Knights switched to a zone defense.
“We were struggling offensively, and we just couldn’t get it going,” coach Mike McBride said. “(Will) Jamison was getting some good downhilll attacks. We were getting beat to the rim, so we changed to the 2-3, which we had used at Concordia because they were really good drivers. It changed the tempo of the game for us. They didn’t seem to have the same rhythm offensively.”
And that was noticeable right away, as the Knights kept the Spartans off the board for the next four minutes.
Norwell trailed by seven at the break, but quickly had it down to three after a couple buckets from Cohen Bailey.
The teams traded baskets for much of the third quarter, which ended with the Spartans up 35-30.
Mack Welker began the fourth quarter with a three-pointer before Norwell got a layup from Adam McBride and two free throws from Ashton Federspiel.
At the 6:47 mark, Welker’s layup gave Homestead a 40-34 lead.
Two buckets in the paint from Cade Shelton brought Norwell within two points.
The score remained that way for the next four minutes before Shelton tied it with 1:20 to play.
Homestead had 13 consecutive possessions that ended with either a missed shot or a turnover, spanning the last few minutes of regulation and overtime.
The Knights got it back with less than a minute to play when McBride came up with a steal near midcourt, but Bailey’s jumper from the free throw line was off the mark, and an extra session ensued.
Then, in a rather strange twist, every single point scored in overtime came from the free throw line, and Norwell’s all came from the same player.
Federspiel made the first of two at the 2:20 mark to give Norwell its first lead. After his second one missed, Shelton rebounded it and got it back to Federspiel, who was fouled again and made both shots.
“He was great tonight,” McBride said. “He kept us in it in the first half, and I thought he did a great job staying focused in the second half. He did a good job of being able to get to the free throw line, and that was a big key for us. He had some big blocks and rebounded well for us.”
In recent years, it hasn’t been often that the Knights have had the best player on the court when they’ve faced the Spartans.
But it was certainly the case Friday, with Federspiel leading all scorers with 25 points, grabbing 10 rebounds and going 13-14 from the foul line.
He made four more to push Norwell’s lead to 47-40. Homestead still had some life when Will Jamison was fouled on a three-point shot with 27 seconds left. He made all three, then the Spartans stole the inbound pass. But they missed their next attempt, and Federspiel made two more to end it.
“Defensively, we were really good in the fourth quarter and overtime,” McBride said. “We did switch back to man-to-man, because Jamison got in a little rhythm there against the zone. We’ve been working on our zone in practice all year. It’s not something we normally do in our program, but it’s helping us now and we’re getting better at playing it.”
“I thought our kids really battled, really played hard, and I was proud of their effort tonight,” he continued.
Shelton chipped in 10 points for the Knights while Bailey added nine.
Jamison topped the Spartans with 20 while Welker had 10.
Norwell will take a five-game winning streak into sectional play next week, where the Knights will face Peru in the second game Wednesday evening at Mississinewa.
The junior varsity game went to Homestead, 46-40. Nick McBride scored 22 points, while Garry Riley scored seven and Caiden Petrie added six.
sports@news-banner.com
NORWELL 49,
HOMESTEAD 43, OT
At Homestead
NORWELL (14-8): Cade Shelton 5-11 0-0 10, Caiden Petrie 0-0 0-0 0, Garry Riley 0-0 0-0 0, Brady Smith 0-0 0-0 0, Kaedyn Quintanilla 0-2 0-0 0, Adam McBride 2-7 0-0 5, Trace Moser 0-0 0-0 0, Owen Wallis 0-0 0-0 0, Cohen Bailey 3-9 0-0 7, Nick McBride 1-2 0-0 2, Ashton Federspiel 6-12 13-14 25, Ryne Thornton 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 17-43 13-14 49.
HOMESTEAD (12-12): Will Jamison 7-19 3-3 20, Aidan Good 0-1 0-0 0, Josh Rodgers 1-3 0-0 3, Alex Graber 0-1 0-0 0, Owen Smith 0-0 0-0 0, Levi Selking 0-0 0-0 0, Michael Raudenbush 2-8 0-3 4, Payton Rhinehart 0-0 0-0 0, Mack Welker 4-6 0-0 10, Marshawn Warfield 0-0 0-0 0, Ayle Taylor 0-0 0-0 0, Wyatt Weaver 3-7 0-0 6, Jake Coolman 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 17-47 3-6 43.
Norwell 5 8 17 10 9 – 49
Homestead 10 10 15 5 3 – 43
Three-point Goals: Norwell 2-12 (Adam McBride 1-6, Bailey 1-2, Federspiel 0-2, Quintanilla 0-1, Nick McBride 0-1), Homestead 6-23 (Jamison 3-9, Welker 2-3, Rodgers 1-5, Raudenbush 0-5, Good 0-1). Rebounds: Norwell 30 (Federspiel 10, Shelton 8, Quintanilla 5, Adam McBride 5, Bailey 1, Nick McBride 1), Homestead 21 (Jamison 6, Weaver 6, Raudenbush 4, Rodgers 2, Welker 2, Good 1). Turnovers: Norwell 12, Homestead 9. Fouls: Norwell 11, Homestead 17. Fouled out: Graber. Technicals: None.
JV: Homestead 46, Norwell 40.
