By ANDREW FEEBACK
HUNTERTOWN— Points were hard to come by for the Norwell boys basketball team in its season opener Wednesday night, as they fell to the host Carroll Chargers 58-30.
The Knights finished 10 of 39 from the floor, including 7 of 24 beyond the arc. They shot just seven free throws, making only three.
The Chargers made only 8 of 21 from the field in the first half, but the Knights were only 3 of 20 and found themselves down 24-8 at the break.
“When you look at the first half, I thought defensively we actually did a lot of things pretty well, as far as trying to take away their big guys,” coach Mike McBride said. “We were definitely undersized, that was obvious. I thought our kids really competed.”
Carroll’s frontline featured 6-7 Paxton Crane and 6-6 Brody Fisher, which was a matchup problem for a Norwell team that started no one over 6-2.
Early on, the Knights were able to keep the Chargers from getting the ball into the post, but Carroll used the three-point shooting of Miles Hering to jump out to a 13-6 lead.
While Norwell managed only two points in the second quarter, Carroll scored just seven.
“I thought we were taking good shots early,” McBride said. “Then when we got down, we couldn’t be patient enough to work for a good shot. We got a little bit over-aggressive, and I think that’s something that we’ll grow with.”
Carroll opened the second half with three straight deep ones to stretch its lead to 33-8. Norwell finally saw some shots start to drop as Nick McBride knocked down three from long-range and Josh McBride got his first career points on a triple as well.
That 14-6 run to end the third quarter was probably Norwell’s best stretch of the game. Another three from Josh McBride brought the Knights within 41-25 early in the fourth, but the Chargers scored nine straight to put it out of reach.
The size of Crane and Fisher began to take its toll by then, with the duo scoring all but three of Carroll’s fourth quarter points.
“They have a pretty good inside presence with both of those guys,” McBride said. “That allows them to play inside-out, and they showed pretty good patience offensively and got good shots.
“We have a lot of inexperience with this group,” he continued. “It’s going to take some time. I thought our kids really competed hard.”
Adam McBride led the Knights with 11 points, while Josh McBride had nine, Nick McBride had eight and Owen Wallis had two.
Crane’s 20 led the Chargers, while Fisher added 11 and Van Order had 10.
Norwell will host Mississinewa next Tuesday night.
Carroll took the JV game 48-25. Noah Comer scored nine points, while Trey Privett and Cade Thornton both had five.
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CARROLL 58, NORWELL 30
At Carroll
NORWELL (0-1): Owen Wallis 1-5 0-1 2, Garry Riley 0-0 0-0 0, Brady Smith 0-0 0-0 0, Adam McBride 3-15 3-4 11, Josh McBride 3-10 0-2 8, Nick McBride 3-8 0-0 9, Ryne Thornton 0-1 0-0 0. TOTALS: 10-39 3-7 30.
CARROLL (1-0): Josiah Morales 0-0 0-0 0, Logan Heath 1-1 3-4 5, Jack Van Order 4-8 0-0 10, Monzer Omar 0-0 0-0 0, Cole Lambert 0-0 0-0 0, Tyler Morris 2-3 0-0 6, Miles Hering 2-6 0-0 6, Dominic Keferl 0-0 0-0 0, Paxton Crane 8-10 4-4 20, Brody Fisher 5-6 0-2 11. TOTALS: 22-34 7-10 58.
Norwell 6 2 14 8–30
Carroll 17 7 15 19–58
Three-point Goals: Norwell 7-24 (Nick McBride 3-6, Josh McBride 2-8, Adam McBride 2-8, Wallis 0-2), Carroll 7-14 (Hering 2-4, Morris 2-3, Van Order 2-5, Fisher 1-2). Rebounds: Norwell 5 (Adam McBride 2, Wallis 1, Thornton 1, Josh McBride 1), Carroll 33 (Crane 15, Fisher 6, Van Order 4, Morris 3, Hering 3, Morales 1, Omar 1).
Turnovers: Norwell 6, Carroll 11. Fouls: Norwell 9, Carroll 11. Fouled out: None. Technicals: None.
JV: Carroll 48, Norwell 25.
