Nappanee Advance-News, Volume 129, Number 9, Nappanee, Elkhart County, 2 March 2006 — Page 6

Page 6

Advance News • Thursday, March 2, 2006

At state championship, experience is a must

By Anthony Godson Editor For two local swimmers, last weekend's state finals didn't gamer any championships, but it did offer experience. Todd Byrket of North Wood and Jon Hueni of Bremen each made their first trip to the state tournament, where the grandness of the I.U. Natatorium on the campus of Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis (lUPUI) can cause some nervousness.

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North Wood coach Scott Whetstone and Todd Byrket look over the heat sheet prior to one of Byrket’s swims.

Penn gives North Wood some ‘inspiration’ with 17-point loss

By Anthony Godson Editor About a minute-and-a-half into the Feb. 21 game between North Wood and Penn, the local television station WHME may have been second guessing its decision to make it their Game of the Week. In only 92 seconds, the 4A, lOth-ranked Penn Kingsmen had already taken an 8-0 lead on the 3A, sth-ranked North Wood Panthers, en route to a 24-8 lead at the end of one. In the end, Penn claimed an easy 65-48 <'W." "They played well," an understated North Wood coach Dan Gunn said. "In the first half we could have done about that." In the opening quarter, Penn hit 9rof-14 shots, including three 3-pointers.

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DAT RLE PHOTO Senior Brock Armington tries to weave his way through defenders.

"I've never seen him as nervous as he was before that 50," North Wood coach Scott Whetstone said about Byrket prior his 50-yard freestyle preliminary race on Friday. "He was a little anxious. It's good to get that first one under his belt." Byrket made it to state in the 50 and 100-yard freestyle, while Hueni was competing in the 100-yard butterfly and the 500yard freestyle. While they were competing in different events, both sophomores may have had

"You have to be careful when you guard them, because they penetrate and kick it to their shooters," Gunn said. "So the .first thing (Penn senior Tyler) Brown does is step-back and hit a 3, because we just weren't quite close enough. Then (senior Brent) Dunaway drills one from the comer, off the break, and I'm not sure he missed tonight." Dunaway did miss two shots, but hit his other eight, finishing the night with a team-high 18 points. Shortly behind Dunaway was senior Wes Laidig, who finished with 17 points on 5-for-5 shooting from the field, while also going 7-for--7 from the free-throw line. Senior Tyler Brown also shot well, connecting on four field goals and five free throws for 15 points. "They're a real good team,

the same feelings entering his respective race. "The first day, Jon was real nervous," Bremen assistant coach Jeff Fox said about his sophomore. "I could tell that his stroke was tight throughout the race, but getting into the water yesterday, swimming to make it to the next day really says something. Making to the second day is a great experience." The top 32 swimmers throughout the state first compete in the prelims on Friday, with the top 16 then advancing on to the finals on Saturday. During the finals, the top eight finishers from the prelims compete in the championship heat, while the other eight compete in the consolation round. For Byrket, his trip to the state finals was over after he failed to make the top 16 in either of his prelim events. "He's happy overall with how he did," Whetstone said about Byrket. Byrket placed 25th in the 50 with a time of 22.37, while his time of 48.89 in the 100 placed him 21st at prelims. Entering the competition, Byrket was seeded 14th in the 50, and 17th in the 100, but after failing to reach the finals, Whetstone only had positive comments for him. "We talked about his overall time," the coach said. "Just how much he dropped this year, in the 50 especially. He started off the year at about 22.6, and just last weekend he was at 21.8. So taking almost a second off in a season isn't too bad." "I told him, 'To make it down here as the top 32, that says something about what you've done this year,'," the coach added. Byrket didn't make it to the state competition by placing first at sectionals, but by meeting the state qualifying time in both events. At the Concord Sectional, he swam a time of 21.86 in the 50 and 48.39 in the 100, both second place times to Elkhart Memorial senior Ben Battjes. "1 know last weekend (Feb.

and were real tough tonight," Gunn said. "They have six talented players, and they play well together," he added. While Penn got balanced scoring, North Wood's lone scoring threat was senior Ryne Lightfoot. Lightfoot finished with a game-high 22 points, hitting 7-of-11 shots, but was only able to record two assists a team best. Lightfoot also accounted for every one of his team's free attempts six. The Penn defense was to thank for the lack of trips to the free-throw line, as North Wood's inside game just never developed. "They just keep you on the perimeter," Gunn said about the

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DAT FILE PHOTO Junior Zach Troyer prepares to power a shot up against Elkhart Memorial’s Kevin Sinde earlier this season.

Sports

ADVANCE NEWS PHOTOS/A.W. GADSON North Wood sophomore Todd Byrket lines up for the 50 freestyle prelim, alongside (left to right) Sean White of North Central, Bryan Chovanec of Munster and Christopher Jones of Homestead.

18) he was a little disappointed," Whetstone said. "He wanted to go after that 100 and try to win it, but overall, if you improve your time, you can't really complain about that." Though he didn't swim his best times at state, Whetstone was still happy that he got his first trip to state under his belt. "To come down here, and still swim a 48 (in the 100), I think that says a lot about who he is," he said. "He's a pretty levelheaded kid and he did a nice job. For the experience of coming down for the first time, I'm happy." For Hueni, he qualified for the 100 butterfly by meeting the state qualifying time with 52.74 at the South Bend Riley Sectional, where he also placed first in the 500 freestyle, with a time of 4:49. During the state prelims, Hueni placed 17th in the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:47.04, not far behind the 16th place fin-

Kingsmen defense. "They're going to let you do a lot of things perimeter-wise, but it's pretty hard to get inside on them. They have long arms, good hands and anticipation." The Penn defense frustrated North Wood all night, helping to swell its lead to 57-29 with 1:14 remaining in the third quarter. With the regulars getting rest in the fourth quarter, North Wood used an 8-0 run over the last two minutes of the game to get the lead under 20 at 65-48. North Wood actually defeated Penn 59-58 on Feb. 22 of last year, behind 38 Lightfoot points, but it was another late season game from last year that Gunn wants to remember. "I thought (assistant) coach

ishing time of 4:45.84. While he didn't make it into the finals in the 500, his time of 52.08 in the 100 butterfly put him into that final the next day. During his finals swim, Hueni won the consolation heat with a time of 51.66. That time was actually faster than three times in the championship round, but because he was in the consolation heat, he wasn't able to take a stand on the podium. "I think I did pretty well," Hueni said after the meet. "It would have been nice to make it back in the 500, but I think I did all right." Fox was also pleased with Hueni's first trip to state, and anticipates seeing him there again. "It's a great learning experience," the coach said. "He should be back for the next two years. I'm looking forward to seeing him." While female swimmers may 1

(Phil) Lechlitner made a good observation," he said. "Last year, we just pounded John Glenn at home (82-47 on Feb. 15). Glenn went on to win their sectional and regional, going on to semi-state. Sometimes you just need a little bit of a wake-up call. Sometimes you need a little inspiration, so we're going to make this our inspiration." • PENN 65, NORTHWOOD 48 At Mishawaka Score by Quarters N-Wood 9 12 10 17 —4B Penn 24 17 16 8— 65 Penn: John Bitsko 1 0-0 2; Brent Dunaway 80-018; Caleb Laidig 4 00 9; Tyler Brown 4 5-5 15; Danny Williams 0 4-6 4; Wes Laidig 5 7-7

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DAT RLE PHOTO North Wood senior battles for a rebound in a previous game at The Pit Against Penn. Bemiller finished with 4 points and 2 blocks.

tend to see slower times as they grow older, the boys generally shave their times as they grow. For Hueni, Fox sees that happening. "He's going to grow up, get stronger and he will get faster," he said. "He's a hard worker, a great kid and he really wants to win a state title," Before winning a state title, both young swimmers first had to get that first trip to the Natatorium out of their system. "The whole atmosphere is really exciting, especially on the second day," Hueni said. "You'd think there'd be less people here, but there isn't." Whetstone is also happy to get that first trip over and down ‘ with, as the state meet is much different than sectionals. "He has his teammates there at sectionals, so it's more of a routine,". he said. "This place, you can just look around and see how big it is."

17. TOTALS: 22 16-18 65. NW: Zac Lechlitner 2 0-0 4; Ryne Lightfoot 7 5-6 22: Kelly Adams 2 00 4; Zach Troyer 1 0-0 2; Kent Schaffer 3 0-0 6; Ben Bemiller 2 0-0 4; Kyle Yoder 1 0-0 2; Nate Brown 2 0-0 4. TOTALS: 20 5-6 48. 3-point field goals: Penn 5 (Dunaway 2, Brown 2, C. Laidig); NW 3 (Lightfoot 3). Turnovers: Penn 14; NW 14. Team fouls (fouled out): Penn 13 (Tommy Kurth): NW 15. Individual Stats Assists: Penn - Brown 2; NW - Lightfoot 2. Blocks: Penn - Brown; NW - Brown 2, Bemiller 2. Rebounds: Penn - W. Laidig 6; NW - Lechlitner 4. Steals: Penn - W. Laidig 3; NW - Brock Armington 2. Records: Penn 18-2; NW 154.