By JOSH BURRIS
HUNTINGTON – With a shot at a Northeast 8 Conference championship on the line Friday night, the Norwell Knights handled the Huntington North Vikings in a 56-43 win at North Arena to clinch at least a share of the title.
The Knights (17-3, 6-1) were very efficient shooting the basketball, connecting on 15 of 24 field goals, 10 of 16 3-point shots, and 16 of 20 free throws.
Lleyton Bailey led the offensive charge with 22 points on 6-of-7 shooting. Luke McBride followed with 12, and Jake Parker added 11.
Norwell coach Mike McBride said Huntington North is a team he respects and thought his team played a tough game.
“This is a difficult place to play. Coach (Craig) Teagle is a great coach, and I have tremendous respect for him. His teams play really hard and they compete,” McBride said after the game. “Our kids did a great job. I’m really proud of them and just thought they competed really hard tonight. I thought we showed great mental toughness tonight on the floor.”
Norwell will at least share the NE8 crown with Leo, but can win it outright if Columbia City or DeKalb can beat Leo.
The first half was a gritty one by both sides. A three by Bailey following a Vikings turnover gave Norwell a 10-8 lead after one quarter of play.
Zach Hubartt made back-to-back layups to start the second quarter to give Huntington North the lead. Luke Graft got a rebound basket for Norwell to tie it up 12-12. And after Aric hosler and Bailey each hit a three, it was still tied at 15-15.
The Vikings had the ball for what looked to be the final possession of the quarter, but defensive pressure by McBride forced a travel call and a turnover. That put the ball in Norwell’s hands with 3.6 seconds left on the clock.
McBride took the inbounds pass and got a pass off past a handful of Huntington North defenders that found Bailey wide open in the corner. He sunk the three just before the buzzer sounded to give the Knights an 18-15 halftime lead.
Norwell took that momentum into the third quarter as well, scoring 18 points before missing a shot of any kind. That helped the Knights pull away from the Vikings to a 36-26 lead with 3:06 left in the quarter.
McBride the coach thought that play at the end of the first half created momentum for his team in the second half.
“I think the start of the second half went back to the play at the end of the first half,” he said. “Luke McBride pressures their guard. We create a travel with about 3.6 seconds, and then Luke just makes an outstanding pass. What a great basketball play by him. He makes a pass where he’s going to be guarded by two or three guys, and he finds Lleyton (Bailey) wide open on the wing. And Lleyton burries that shot.
“That’s a huge play in the game,” McBride continued, “because that gives us the momentum going in and the lead, and then we get the ball to start the third quarter. We were able to score right away, and then we were able to just kind of maintain and move on from there.”
Hubartt and Jon Colbert each swapped buckets before the quarter ended, giving Norwell a 38-28 lead going into the fourth.
Norwell still led by 10 with 2:57 left following a bucket and-1 by Luke Graft, which made the score 48-38.
Norwell scored its final 8 points at the free-throw line, taking advantage of its opportunities in the bonus. The Vikings only managed two more buckets and a free throw in the remaining time.
The Vikings did not have a bad night shooting the basketball either as they made 17 of their 34 shots overall. However, they were not as hot as the Knights all around as they made 4 of 13 threes and 5 of 10 free throws.
Hubartt led the Huntington North offense with 15 points before eventually fouling out.
McBride thought his team closed things out really well.
“I thought our kids played really aggressive offensively in the second half, especially the third quarter. And defensively, we were able to get enough stops to be able to extend it. Really good third quarter by us. Really good job by us tonight hitting free throws. We go 16-for-20 on the free-throw line, and that’s what you’ve got to be able to do if you want to close out a championship game.”
The Knights will take the court again next Friday at The Castle against Jay County.
Huntington North won both the JV and freshmen matchups. The JV Vikings defeated the Knights 57-38, and the Viking freshmen won 29-17.
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NORWELL 56, HUNTINGTON NORTH 43
At Huntington North High School
NORWELL (17-3, 6-1): Jon Colbert 1-2 0-0 2, Gavin Hoeppner 0-0 0-0 0, Jake Parker 3-9 2-4 11, Luke Graft 2-2 1-2 5, Cohen Bailey 0-0 0-0 0, Lleyton Bailey 6-7 5-6 22, Luke McBride 3-4 4-4 12, Ashton Federspiel 0-0 0-0 0, Cade Shelton 0-0 0-0 0, Brody Bolyn 0-0 4-4 4. TOTALS: 15-24 10-16 56.
HUNTINGTON NORTH (13-5, 4-3): Zach Hubartt 6-12 2-4 15, Aric Hosler 2-3 0-0 6, Jacob Daugherty 0-1 0-0 0, Ashton Hosler 1-2 0-0 2, Will Hotchkiss 2-5 2-2 7, Lawson Doyle 0-0 0-0 0, Wyatt Dohrman 2-3 0-0 4, Zach Nash 0-0 0-0 0, Austin Oswalt 1-5 1-2 3, Ethan Hubartt 0-0 0-0 0, Dillon Trout 0-0 0-0 0, Cam McCarver 3-3 0-2 6. TOTALS: 17-34 5-10 43
Norwell 10 8 20 18 –– 56
Huntington North 8 7 13 15 –– 43
Three-point Goals: Norwell 10-16 (L. Bailey 5-6, Parker 3-6, McBride 2-3, Colbert 0-1), Huntington North 4-13 (Ar. Hosler 2-3, Hotchkiss 1-2, Z. Hubartt 1-4, Dohrman 0-1, Daugherty 0-1, McCarver 0-2). Rebounds: Norwell (Bolyn 5, Graft 3, Federspiel 2, C. Bailey 1, L. Bailey 1, McBride 1), Huntington North 15 (Z. Hubartt 4, McCarver 3, As. Hosler 2, Dohrman 2, Hotchkiss 1, Oswalt 1, Trout 1). Turnovers: Norwell 11, Huntington North 11. Fouls: Norwell 8, Huntington North 18. Fouled Out: Z. Hubartt. Technicals: None.
JV: Huntington North 57, Norwell 38
Freshmen: Huntington North 29, Norwell 17
