Nappanee Advance-News, Volume 127, Number 49, Nappanee, Elkhart County, 2 December 2004 — Page 8

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• Advance News • Thursday. December 2, 2004

A first for North Wood

By Anthony Godson Advance News Editor NAPPANEE The crowd at The Panther Pit went into a frenzy with 3:40 left in the Nov. 23 game between the NorthWbod Panthers and the Lakeland Christian Cougars, as Panthers senior Joy Wisler sank a free-throw, stopping a 5-0 run by the Cougars and a two minute scoring drought by her team. From the reaction of the crowd, one would think that the Panthers had just taken a lead, or just tied the game, but in fact the free throw put the Black Swish at the century mark. A first for North Wood and 28-year coach Steve Neff. "It was nice to see Joy get in there and make the free throw to make 100. That's a school record, we've never scored 100 points. So that was unique," Neff said. Not only did the Panthers score over 100 points, they could have very well beaten the Cougars by 100 points (scoring only 17 points in the fourth quarter), but instead settled for the 109-17 win.

Black Swish tops Eagles by 16 points

By Anthony Godson Advance News Editor The North Wood Panthers girls basketball team (4-1) appears to have hit their stride, following a 71-55 win over the South Bend Adams Eagles (3-1) on Nov. 27 at The Pit, . "It's early in the season, and we're taking little steps at a time," coach Steve Neff said. "Our defense is playing better, our offense is playing better, so we are improving." The Black Swish was led by sophomore Mandy Yoder's 22 points, as well as some solid defense, which forced 25 Eagle turnovers, which led to many easy points. Senior Lauren Zeltwanger led the team with six steals, while senior Carrie Egging had nine rebounds. "It was just anticipating. They're fast enough, that if you use your brain and your body you can do things like that," Neff said. Perhaps the play that epitomized the game came was with 3:45 left in the first half. Yoder stripped the ball from the Eagle point guard, took it in for a layup, and was also fouled, fattening the Panthers lead to 27-14.. "Mandy is really hitting her stride," Neff said. "She's seeing the ball better, getting her hands on the ball, getting steals and tipping things away."

Neff was also pleased with the defensive play of Egging, who shut down the Eagles leading scorer, allowing her to only one point. “We put her on their leading scorer, and (Adams coach Steve Hall) took her out of the game and put her in a different position," Neff said. With senior Audrey Duncan getting limited to six points, the rest of the team stepped it up. “Zeltwanger had another solid game, and 1 thought (seniors) Brittany Hall and Jen Kurtz had their moments too," the coach said. The Eagles hung around with the Panthers for much of the first quarter, but Egging scored seven points in the final 2:17, including a three-pointer with seven seconds remaining, that put the Swish in front 20-8. From that point on, the lead was at about 15. "They have some athletes," Neff said of the Eagles. "1 think we showed some improvement since we played South Bend Riley a couple of weeks ago, and that's a good thing for us. We showed signs tonight of becoming a team." • North Wood 71, SB Adams 55 At North Wood Score by Quarters NW 20 20 11 20 Adams 8 10 13 24 —55 NW: Carrie Egging 5 2-2 13; Amanda Bechtel 3 1-3 7; Lauren Zeltwanger 3 3-4 11; Mackenzie Lechlitner 2 0-0 4; Mandy Yoder 7 8-8 22; Audrey Duncan 2 2-5 6; Brittany Hall 2 0-0 4; Laura Schiefer 1 0-0 2; Jen Kurtz 1 0-0 2. TOTALS: 26 16-22 71. Adams: Danielle Dixon 0 2-2 2; Brittney Bolden 10 3-4 26; 0 0-2 0; LeTonia Booker 2 4-5 8; Stefanl King 1 0-0 2; Brittnye Miller 0 1-2 1; Elizabeth Fleming 2 1-2 5; LaQuisha Lee 4 3-7 11. TOTALS: 1914-24 55. 3-point field goals: NW 3 (Zeltwanger 2, Egging); Adams 3 (Bolden 3). Turnovers: NW 12, Adams 25. Team Fouls: NW 15; Adams 18. North Wood Stats Rebounds: Egging 9, Duncan 7. Assists: Zeltwanger 3. Steals: Zeltwanger 6, Yoder 4. Records: NW 4-1, Adams 3-1. J.V. Score: North Wood 28, Adams 21 Calley Tucker 9.

"Lakeland Christian had won their tournaments, three out of the last four years, and they were kind enough to get us on the schedule this year," Neff said. "We had trouble finding a game, and West Noble will fill in next year." Cougar coach Chris Paulus decided to bring his Class A team to North Wood to measure where his team stood. "He wanted a test to know where his program was with some of the schools in the area," Neff said. "It's probably not what he wanted, and it's not exactly what I wanted." To get. a grasp of how bad things were, the Panthers scored more points in the first two minutes than the Cougars would all game. Following a 3-pointer by sophomore Mandy Yoder, North Wood was in front 18-0 with 5:03 to play in the first quarter. The Panthers defense helped to force 43 turnovers, while only committing six themselves. Yoder led the way with six steals while senior Lauren Zeltwanger and freshman Mackenzie Lechlitner each had five.

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Mandy Yoder scored 22 points and recorded four steals.

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Carrie Egging led the Black Swish with nine rebounds, and also added 13 points.

Zeltwanger didn't only do it on the defensive end, but had a game-high 26 points, including six 3-pointers, missing only one all game. "She's a pretty streaky shooter, but when she gets hot, they go through," Neff said about the senior guard. . It wasn't just Zeltwanger that was on during the game, the whole team seemed to be lights out. The team went 24-29 from the free-throw line and four players scored in double digits; senior Audrey Duncan 19, Yoder 15 and senior Carrie Egging 11. "We shoot pretty well when we're relaxed like that," Neff said. Though everything seemed to go well, a veteran coach is always able to find room for improvement. "I didn't think we rebounded defensively that well, but we did everything else pretty well," he said. The scoring began five seconds into the game with Egging scoring a lay-up off the opening tip, and the Panthers already had a 10-0 lead a minute into the

Wa-Nee Schools Sports Briefs BOYS SWIMMING AND DIVING • Mish. Marion 125, North Wood 60 At Mishawaka (Nov. 23) 200 Medley Relay: 1. (M) Rhodes, Muller, Brasseur, Miller 1:56.36; 2. (NW) Josh Chupp, Jarron Lincoln, Todd Byrket, Kyle Hochstetler 2:00; 3. (M) Barcome, Blum, B. Cassady, Ginter 2:05.99; 4. (NW) Jason Casteel, Nathan Sellers, Daniel Hendry, Gabriel Sande 2:29.30; 5. (M) Mancini, Gainey, Anderson, Wheeler 2:33.29. 200 Free Style: 1. (M) T. Cassady 2:21.73; 2. (M) Piekarski 2:33.65; 3. (NW) Hendry 2:36.34; 4. (NW) Seth Emerick 2:36.43; 5. (M) Horvath 2:40.93. 200 Ind. Medley: 1. (NW) Byrket 2:14.97; 2. (M) Muller 2:23.70; 3. (M) Anderson 2:38.78; 4. (NW) Hochstetler 2:49.30; 5. (M) Mancini 2:54.75. 50 Free Style: 1. (M) Miller 24.48; 2. (NW) Chupp 24.82; 3. (M) Bozymowski 25.62; 4. (M) James 27.20; 5. (NW) Lincoln 29.14. 1 Meter Dive: 1. (NW) Brent Hollar 178.65; 2. (M) B. Cassady 143.35; 3. (NW) James Woolley 139.15; 4. (M) Priemier 134.05; 5. (NW) Jim Armstrong 131.35. 100 Butterfly: 1. (M) Brasseur 57.52; 2. (NW) Todd Byrket 57.61; 3. (M) Anderson 109.96; 4. (M) B. Cassady 1:52.15. 100 Freestyle: 1. (M) Miller 54.18; 2. (NW) Chupp 56.49; 3. (M) T. Cassady 1:02.64. 4. (M) Wheeler 1:06.29; 5. (NW) Ward 1:15.57. 500/400 Freestyle: 1. (M) Bozymowski 5:45.96; 2. (NW) Hendry 6:49.16; 3. (M) Piekarski 7:04.60; 4. (NW) Emerick 7:15.51; 5. (M) Horvath 7:16.27. 200 Freestyle Relay: 1. (M) T. Cassady, James, Muller, Bozymowski 1:49.30; 2. (M) Rhodes, Gainey, Wheeler, Piekarski 1:52.52; 3. (NW) Hollar, Ward, Lincoln, Chupp 2:03.49; 4. (M) Geraghy, P. Ranschaert, R. Ranschaert, Horvath 2:16.18; 5. (NW) Jon Goodson, Casteel, Sande, Kenny Beachy 2:27.28. 100 Back Stroke: 1. (M) Brasseur 59.84; 2. (M) Mancini 1:12.46; 3. (M) Rhodes 1:16.28; 4. (NW) Hochstetler 1:16.55; 5. (NW) Hollar 1:32.14. 100 Breast Stroke: 1. (M) Muller 1:11.19; 2. (M) Gainey 1:20.63; 3. (NW) Lincoln 1:22.76; 4. (M) Blum 1:28.81; 5. (NW) Sellers 1:35.36. 400 Freestyle Relay: 1. (M) Cassady, Bozmowski, Miller, Brasseur 3:51.28; 2. (NW) Byrket, Hendry, Hochstetler, Emerick 4:23.38; 3. (M) Mancini, Wheeler, James, Barcome 4:46.23; 4. (M) D. Ranschsert, Geraghy, Ginter, P. Ranschaert 5:35.53; 5. (NW) Hollar, Goodson, Sellers, Sande 5:35.75. 9TH GRADE GIRLS BASKETBALL • North Wood 47, SB Adams 17 At North Wood (Nov. 27) NW: Chelsea Yoder 15 points, • eight rebounds; Heather Rensberger 15 points; Kayla Graber five points; Shantel Garner five points; Dani Klotz four rebounds. Adams: Renie Rosehan eight points; Megan Peters four points, Mia Scales three points. Records: NW 3-0, Adams 2-3. BTH GRADE BOYS BASKETBALL "A Team" • Lakeview 46, North Wood 39 At North Wood (Nov. 22) Derek Loucks nine points, two steals; Matt Troyer eight points, three assists; Kyle Whitehead eight points, nine rebounds; Clark Ziegler four points; Brandon Williams four points; Preston Swain two points, five rebounds; Dustin Nerr two points; Adam Hostetter two points.

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contest. From that point on, there wasn't much to report on except a lot of Cougar turnovers and a lot of Panthers points. Neff was able to take a seat on the bench, get a lot of girls playing time and also do some experimenting- " You start worry more and more about who's playing what minutes," he said. "We tried a few things in the first half, and things we haven't worked on much in practice." Following their loss to South Bend Riley on Nov. 16, the Panthers have outscored their last two opponents 168-44. "We played very well in the New Prairie game as well, so maybe we're coming around and hitting our stride," Neff said. • NORTHWOOD 109, LAKELAND CHRISTIAN 17 At North Wood Score by Quarters NW 34 27 31 17—109 LC 4 1 5 7—17 NW: Heather Stutsman 2 0-0 4; Carrie Egging 4 2-2 11; Amanda Bechtel 1 5-6 7; J.auren Zeltwanger 9 2-2 26; Mackenzie

scoring 100 points

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Lauren Zeltwanger finished with 26 points, including six three-pointers. Lechlitner 2 5-5 9; Mandy Yoder 5 4-5 15; Audrey Duncan 9 1-1 19; Brittany Hall 4 0-0 8; Joy Wisler 2 2-4 5; Jen Kurtz 1 3-4 5. TOTALS: 38 24-29 109. LC: Ashley Hall 1 0-7 2; Erica Landolt 2 2-3 6; Elisabeth Wilcoxson 1 0-0 3; Amber Colman 2 0-0 4; Jamie Widman 1 0-0 2. TOTALS: 7 2-10 17. Team Fouls: NW 11, LC 19. Turnovers: NW 6, LC 43. 3-Point Field Goals: NW 9

Records: Lakeview 3-0, NW 1-3. • North Wood 34, Goshen 21 At Goshen (Nov. 23) Skylar Titus 18 points, 10 rebounds, five steals; Kyle Whitehead nine points, six rebounds; Brandon Williams three,points; Chaz Bellman two points, three steals; Preston Swain two points; Matt Troyer five assists, five rebounds; Dustin Nerr five rebounds. Records: NW 2-3, Goshen 3-2. "B Team" • North Wood 35, Goshen 32 At North Wood (Nov. 23) Tyler Raber four points, three assists; Austen Burkholder three points; Brady Klotz four points; Brandon Yoder 2 points, four rebounds; Travis Robinson three points; Carter Ammermann two points, Dan Grabill four points, two steals; Adam Hostetter 13 points, five rebounds, five steals; Arick Amington two assists; Josh Blessing three rebounds. Records: NW 1-1, Goshen 1-2. 7TH GRADE BOYS BASKETBALL "A Team" • North Wood 35, Lakeview 33 At North Wood (Nov. 22) Kyle Yoder 10 points, four rebounds, five steals; Cam Spitaels nine points, five rebounds, two assists, three steals; Brandon Menzie six points, three rebounds; Nick Anglemeyer five points; Tony Miranda two points, five rebounds, two assists; DJ Prochno two points, three rebounds; Mitch Anthony one point. Coach's Note: "The team played extremely hard the second half to overcome an eight-point deficit." Record: 3-1. • North Wood 55, Goshen 33 At Goshen (Nov. 23) Cam Spitaels 15 points; Kyle Yoder 10 points, three rebounds, five assists, three steals; Nick Anglemeyer eight points, three rebounds; Daniel Zeltwanger seven points, two assists; MitcH Anthony five points, two steals; Chase Ryman four points; Brandori Menzie four points, DJ Prochno two points. Record: 4-1, "B Team" • North Wood 28, Goshen 27 At North Wood (Nov. 23) Mike Bough 10 points, four rebounds; Nick Berkey six points, eight rebounds. Coach's Note: "Toby Magers hit a 3-pointer with two minutes left to put North Wood in front by one. Brandt Benzing had three assists." Record: 2-0.

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Audrey Duncan finished the contest with 19 points and five rebounds. (Zeltwanger 6; Egging, Yoder, Wisler), LC 1 (Wilcoxson). North Wood Stats Rebounds: Lechlitner 6; Duncan, Zeltwanger 5. Assists: Egging 6. Steals: Yoder 6; Lechlitner, Zeltwanger 5. Records: NW 3-1, LC 0-3. J.V. Score: NW 45, LC 9. NW: Calley Tucker 10; Casey Bough, Bechtel 9. Records: NW 3-1, LC 0-3.