By ANDREW FEEBACK
The Norwell seniors took care of business on Senior Night at The Castle Friday, combining for 36 points as the Knights defeated the visiting Jay County Patriots 49-38.
It may have been the final home game of the season, but the number of fouls and whistles stopping play made it feel more like an early-season matchup.
In spite of this, coach Mike McBride was pleased with his team.
“I thought our kids did a nice job,” he said. “We were very patient against the zone. I thought the threes we took were very good, we just didn’t shoot it very well from three tonight. We were able to get the ball inside against their zone and get some baskets at the rim. We took advantage of being able to get to the free throw line; we went 15-19, which I thought was really important tonight.”
Norwell (12-8) gradually built its lead up to double digits by halftime, and got it up to 17 during the third quarter.
The inside play of Cade Shelton, who led all scorers with 16 points, helped the Knights extend their lead. He scored five of his points during a 7-0 run that had Norwell up 34-17.
“Defensively, we were really good tonight,” McBride said. “We made it hard for them to get easy baskets. Our rebounding was really good as well.”
The Knights hit a bit of a dry spell after that, and the Patriots (7-12) finally got a shot to drop from behind the arc.
A three-pointer from Liam Garringer started a 12-2 run by the visitors that saw them get as close as six points down the stretch.
Gradin Swoveland, who led the Patriots with nine points, also knocked down a triple. A pair of buckets from Wesley Bihn, Swoveland made two free throws. When Parker Nichols made a three from the wing on a fast-break, the Patriots were suddenly within 38-32 with more than five minutes left.
“We knew they were going to their 1-3-1, and we had worked on it,” McBride said. “But we weren’t looking to the area we needed to look to. There was a specific area we knew was open, that we kept going over, and after it got down to six, then we started getting the ball to the short corner. Once we got to the short corner, we were able to score or get fouled. When they tried to start taking away the short corner, that opened up the middle guy. Once we were able to move it and get our spots filled, we were in great position.”
Cohen Bailey drew a foul and made both shots to stem the tide. He joined Federspiel in double figures with 11 points.
A free throw from Adam McBride, a layup from Federspiel and a three-pointer from Owen Wallis had the lead back up to 14.
“He gave us a good spark off the bench tonight,” McBride said of Wallis.
As McBride mentioned, the Knights were 15-19 from the free throw line, which was significant in a game where they shot 34 percent (15-44) from the floor.
Jay County made all nine of its attempts from the stripe, but made just 13-42 overall from the floor.
Norwell will travel to Fort Wayne Monday night to play the Concordia Cadets.
The Knights took the junior varsity game 37-36. Nick McBride scored 14 points while Caiden Petrie and Garry Riley both had six.
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NORWELL 49,
JAY COUNTY 38
At Norwell
JAY COUNTY (7-12): Jayden Comer 0-1 0-0 0, Parker Nichols 2-8 2-2 7, Levi Muhlenkamp 1-2 0-0 2, Jackson Edwards 0-0 0-0 0, Carter Fugiett 0-0 0-0 0, Liam Garringer 1-5 2-2 5, Trevin Dunnington 0-2 0-0 0, Ben Crouch 2-8 2-2 6, Eli Dirksen 1-3 1-1 3, Cole Forthofer 0-0 0-0 0, Aiden Phillips 1-3 0-0 2, Wesley Bihn 2-2 0-0 4, Gradin Swoveland 2-8 2-2 9. TOTALS: 13-42 9-9 38.
NORWELL (12-8): Cade Shelton 4-4 1-1 9, Caiden Petrie 0-0 1-2 1, Garry Riley 0-0 0-0 0, Brady Smith 0-0 0-0 0, Kaedyn Quintanilla 0-4 0-0 0, Adam McBride 1-3 3-4 6, Trace Moser 0-0 0-0 0, Owen Wallis 2-3 0-0 6, Cohen Bailey 3-12 4-4 11, Nick McBride 0-2 0-0 0, Ashton Federspiel 5-13 6-8 16, Ryne Thornton 0-2 0-0 0, Drew Jolley 0-1 0-0 0. TOTALS: 15-44 15-19 49.
Jay County 7 4 14 13 — 38
Norwell 13 9 14 13 — 49
Three-point Field Goals: Jay County 3-15 (Swoveland 1-3, Garringer 1-3, Nichols 1-3, Crouch 0-2, Dunnington 0-1, Dirksen 0-1, Muhlenkamp 0-1, Comer 0-1), Norwell 4-19 (Wallis 2-3, Bailey 1-4, Adam McBride 1-3, Nick McBride 0-2, Federspiel 0-4, Quintanilla 0-3). Rebounds: Jay County 19 (Dirksen 5, Crouch 3, Swoveland 3, Phillips 3, Garringer 2, Bihn 2, Nichols 1), Norwell 27 (Shelton 7, Quintanilla 5, Bailey 5, Federspiel 4, Adam McBride 4, Thornton 2). Turnovers: Jay County 12, Norwell 11. Fouls: Jay County 23, Norwell 14. Fouled out: None. Technicals: None.
JV: Norwell 37, Jay County 36.
