By ANDREW FEEBACK
An oft-repeated phrase in basketball circles is “role players play better at home.”
That was the case for the Norwell boys’ basketball team Saturday afternoon, and it helped the Knights hold off the visiting Oak Hill Golden Eagles for a 54-52 win.
In Norwell’s first two games, coach Mike McBride’s three sons scored all of the team’s points against Mississinewa, and all but two against Carroll.
The trio combined for 40 against the Eagles (2-2), but it was the play of the remaining two starters, seniors Owen Wallis and Garry Riley, that coach McBride had the most praise for.
“Owen and Garry were big for us,” he said. “They came up with 14 points between the two of them, and Owen did a great job of handling the ball against their pressure the whole time. Just a really, really gritty performance by our guys.”
Wallis’s five points in the first quarter helped the Knights (2-1) keep pace with the Eagles, who shot tremendously from beyond the arc. Oak Hill made 8-13 from deep in the first half and had a one point edge at the break.
That shot wasn’t there for the Eagles for much of the third quarter, allowing the Knights to surge ahead with a 14-2 run.
Oak Hill’s Jace Tonagel ended that run with his team’s first two-point basket of the game at the 3:56 mark of the third.
Tonagel scored the next four points before Nick and Josh McBride made back-to-back threes to push the lead back up to eight again.
Norwell stretched its lead to a game-high nine points with layups from Riley and Adam McBride to begin the fourth quarter.
Oak Hill wasn’t done, however, with Tonagel keying a 10-3 run that got the Eagles back within 51-49 and 3:21 still to play.
“Give them some credit, I thought their guys played well,” coach McBride said. “They shot it exceptionally well from three.”
With Oak Hill threatening to tie or take the lead, Norwell came up with a stop defensively, and Riley got down the floor first for a layup that gave the Knights a 53-49 cushion with 1:22 left.
Tonagel immediately hit a cold-blooded three from the wing to make it a one-point game.
The Eagles sold out to try and force a turnover in the final minute, and they came up with one near halfcourt at the expense of Josh McBride.
“That was just a young mistake there,” coach McBride said. “Josh just didn’t meet the pass. I think if he meets that pass, instead of us losing that, he probably gets fouled in the process of catching it.”
Tonagel missed a mid-range jumper, and the Eagles sent Wallis to the foul line with four seconds left.
He made his first shot, but missed his second, and with multiple fouls to give, the Knights used one to stop the clock with 1.6 seconds remaining.
Tonagel got a decent look, but it was near the volleyball line and missed as the buzzer sounded.
“We did a great job defensively at the end,” McBride said. “We played everything exactly as we wanted to play it.”
Tonagel led all scorers with 24 points, while RJ Shugart added 13. They were the only Eagles to score in the second half.
Adam McBride led the Knights with 16 points, while Josh added 13 and Nick McBride had 11. Riley and Wallis chipped in eight and six, respectively.
“We put three in double figures, and had one just outside of that with eight,” McBride said. “It’s absolutely huge that we continue to get that.”
Norwell will travel to Bishop Dwenger Tuesday night.
Oak Hill took the junior varsity game 50-46. Trey Privett scored 12 points, Cade Thornton added 11 and Noah Comer had nine for the Knights.
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NORWELL 54, OAK HILL 52
At Norwell
OAK HILL (2-2): Beckham Lamb 0-1 0-0 0, Owen Middlesworth 1-1 0-0 3, RJ Shugart 3-8 4-4 13, Jace Tonagel 8-19 4-5 24, Owen Roth 0-0 0-0 0, Luke Elzinga 1-2 0-0 3, Landon Watts 2-2 0-0 6, Ryan Lawson 0-2 0-0 0, Landon Cruzan 1-2 0-0 3, Kevaunte Simmons 0-0 0-0 0, Kaliq Simmons 0-0 0-0 0, Corbin Dailey 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 16-37 8-9 52.
NORWELL (2-1): Owen Wallis 2-4 1-2 6, Garry Riley 4-5 0-0 8, Adam McBride 6-9 3-4 16, Josh McBride 5-13 0-0 13, Nick McBride 4-9 0-0 11, Noah Comer 0-0 0-0 0, Ryne Thornton 0-1 0-0 0. TOTALS: 21-41 4-6 54.
Oak Hill 15 13 11 13 — 52
Norwell 14 13 17 10 — 54
Three-point Goals: Oak Hill 12-23 (Tonagel 4-12, Shugart 3-6, Watts 2-2, Cruzan 1-1, Middlesworth 1-1, Elzinga 1-1), Norwell 8-18 (Nick McBride 3-7, Josh McBride 3-7, Adam McBride 1-1, Wallis 1-1, Riley 0-1, Thornton 0-1). Rebounds: Oak Hill 16 (Tonagel 5, Elzinga 5, Shugart 3, Cruzan 1, Watts 1, Middlesworth 1), Norwell 18 (Josh McBride 9, Nick McBride 2, Adam McBride 2, Wallis 2, Riley 2, Thornton 1). Turnovers: Oak Hill 11, Norwell 10. Fouls: Oak Hill 15, Norwell 12. Fouled out: Elzinga. Technicals: None.
JV: Oak Hill 50, Norwell 46.
