Nappanee Advance-News, Volume 129, Number 10, Nappanee, Elkhart County, 9 March 2006 — Page 7

Warriors end Panthers season

By Anthony Godson Editor This isn't the way it was supposed to end. That was the look on the faces of North Wood senior captains Zac Lechlitner and Ryne Lightfoot as North Wood Athletic Director Jay Olson presented them with a game ball following a 6660 sectional championship loss to Wawasee at North Wood High School on March 4. "That was a good ballgame," North Wood head coach Dan Gunn said following the disappointing loss. The 3A, 6th-ranked Wawasee Warriors proved that only a two-minute lapse by an opponent's defense can be long enough to lose a game. After entering the fourth quarter down 40-38, Wawasee connected on a four-point play, a three-point play and two free throws on three consecutive possessions to go on top 47-40 with 6:03 left in the game. From there, North Wood was left chasing its own tail as Wawasee connected on 23-of-24 free throws, never allowing the Panthers to claw back into it. "I don't know if they have any glaring flaws," Gunn said aoout the Wawasee team, which had lost to North Wood 62-49 back on Jan. 7 at Wawasee. "I thought we had the right idea defensively to keep pressure on them, even the post players." Wawasee's offense was based mainly on wing players dribble

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DAT PHOTO Senior Ben Bemiller goes up for two of his seven points.

Panthers take the charge out of West Noble in semis

By Anthony Godson ' Editor It wasn't their prettiest win of the year, but it was their most important one After receiving a first round bye, the 3A, 4th-ranked North Wood Panthers only had to get past the 11-10 West Noble Chargers to earn a berth in toe North Wood Sectional championship game. That proved to be a little bit more difficult than head coach Dan Gunn would have liked, but his team W prevail 45-31. "We five to .play another game, so that's toe good thing," he said. "You have to give a lot of credit to West Noble. They came here and played the win, NoctoWood wasn't able to get too comfortable until midway through the third Quarter.

penetrating to the Center of the lane, if the runner isn't there, he then kicks the ball out. Once the ball is kicked out, either the player pops a 3-pointer, or repeats the procedure. Throughout the third quarter, North Wood cut the penetration off, relegating the Warriors to only six points. To open the fourth quarter, Wawasee junior Joe Leach converted a rare four-point play after being fouled on a made 3pointer. On their next possession, speedy junior Andrew Mock penetrated past the Panthers defense to hit a lay-up, and draw the foul, resulting in a three-point play. On their ensuing possession, Wawasee once again got into the lane, with sophomore Brandon Geiger drawing a foul, and hitting both free throws, to give his team the biggest lead of the game at seven points. Though only down by seven, North Wood had to be a bit stunned, having given up seven points in two minutes, after holding Wawasee to only 17 points over the second and third quarters. Before the opening two minutes of the fourth quarter, North Wood had gone tit-for-tat with the Warriors. In the opening quarter, Lightfoot almost single-handed-ly kept North Wood in the game scoring eight points and dishing out four assists, to keep his team within 21-20 at the end of the

Up only 26-24 following a field goal by Chargers senior Joseph Spencer, North Wood then ouiscored their counterparts 19-7 to close toe game out. “We were moving on offense, rather than just standing," Gunn said about his team's change during the late-game run. "I thought we did a lot better job of weaving, and had some nice passes. Ounior Zach) Troyer got bade into toe game, and gave us some height." The 6-3 Troyer had to spend a lot of time beside Gunn on toe bench, after picking up his third fool halfw&v through the second quarter. ■ only Troyer who picked up his fair share erf fouls. The Panthers aggressive defense drew repeated feeds as two fantosp Once the fouls were held in check, ...... 'Si ..... -Jt-T. >.

During that opening quarter, Lightfoot also set a North Wood single season record when he scored his 520th point of the seasoft on a three-point play at the 4:25 mark. His 520th point eclipsed the 519-point total set by Andy Hirschy back in 1995, the year of North Wood's first sectional title. Only three players have ever scored 500 points in a season, with Robby Prenkert scoring 500 points back in 1988. To open the second quarter, North Wood junior Zach Troyer put the Panthers on top 22-21 following a field goal at the 7:40 mark, but Wawasee then went on a 6-0 over the next two minutes, going up 27-22, and forcing Gunn to take a time-out. Following the time-out, North Wood took its biggest lead of the game following using an 8-0 run to give the Panthers a 30-27 lead with 1:02 remaining. With North Wood hanging onto a 32-29 lead, and the fans on their feet, Mock then took the breath out of the North Wood faithful, hitting a 3-pointer with 1 second remaining, knotting the game at 32 points apiece at the half. Defense was the name of the game in the third, as North Wood scored only eight points, but that was two points better than Wawasee's six, as the Panthers clung to a 40-38 lead going into the decisive quarter. After Wawasee's quick 7-0 run to open the quarter, North Wood could never get any closer than four points, as Wawasee had ice flowing through their veins at the freethrow line. Following the contest, all Panthers sat with heads in hands in the locker room, as the only sound to be heard was the Wawasee celebration taking place on the players' home court. "Unless you win them all, and

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DAT PHOTO Junior Zach Troyer looks over his offensive options.

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North Wood senior Tyler Slagle gets tossed up in the air during North Wood’s sectional championship game.

North Wood's defense adjusted, creating easy buckets late in toe game. < "Defensively, I thought we were doing a good job of keeping them away from the basket," Gunn said. "We had several steals in that time period as well." The defense's ability to keep -the Chargers away from the basket in the late stages of the game may have caught Gunn's attention, as it didn't happen too often in the first quarter. Of West Noble's 11 first quarter points, 6-2 senior cotter Josue Pizana accounted for nine erf them, making three trips to toe free-throw line as White Pizana was having his way in seemed to be out shots," Gunn said about his team,

Sports

win a state tournament, you're going to have a day like this, somewhere along the line," Gunn said about the disappointment his players felt. Making the loss even worse for the 3A, 4th-ranked Panthers was that so many players had played their last high school basketball game. North Wood entered the season with high hopes, and had even produced one of North Wood's best regular season records at 17-5, but for seniors Brock Armington, Ben Bemiller, Zac Lechlitner, Ryne Lightfoot, Paul Schmucker and Kyle Yoder, the regular season win total was of little solace. "They have been very successful," Gunn said about his senior class. "Seasonal wins they've been good." • WAWASEE 66, NORTHWOOD 60 At Nappanee Score by Quarters Wawasee 21 11 6 28 —66 N-Wood 20 12 8 20 —6O Wawasee: Andrew Mock 6 13-13 27; Mike Conrad 33-4 12; Joe Leach 2 8-9 13; Brandon Geiger 0 3-4 3; Lance Zimmerman 2 7-8 11. TOTALS: N-Wood: Zac Lechlitner 7 3-3 17; Ryne Lightfoot 7 8-9 23; Zach Troyer 2 4-5 9; Kent Schaffer 1 0-0 2; Ben Bemiller 2 2-2 7; Kyle Yoder 10-0 2. TOTALS: 20 17-19 60. 3-point Field goals: Wawasee 6 (Conrad 3, Mock 2, Leach); N-Wood 3 (Lightfoot,. Troyer, Bemiller). Turnovers: Wawasee 13; N-Wood 13. Team fouls (fouled out): Wawasee 17 (Geiger); N-Wood 26 (Bemiller). Individual Stats Assists: Wawasee - Mock 3, Leach 3; N-Wood - Lightfoot 4. Blocks: NWood - Lechlitner. Rebounds: Wawasee - Conrad 3, Geiger 3. Zimmerman 3; N-Wood - Troyer 5. Steals: Wawasee - Mock 2, Conrad 2; N-Wood - Yoder 1. Records: Wawasee 19-4, N-Wood 17-5.

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DAT PHOTO Senior Ryne Lightfoot scored 23 points in his last game at The Pit.

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DAT PHOTO Senior Zac Lechlitner and Wawasee junior Andrew Mock wrestle for a loose ball.

which shot 3-of-13 in the first quarter. Even while playing below expectations, the Panthers still took a 12-11 lead into toe second quarter. North Wood extended its lead up to 24-15 following two free throws by senior Brock Annington with 1:24 left in the half. West Noble did bounce bade, scoring toe last four points of toe half, leading to a 24-19 halftime deficit. Entering toe second half, senior Ryne Lightfoot seemed to be looking for his o*B shot a bit more, of his 25 game-high points in toe half. During that timeframe, Lightfoot shot 6-for-10 from the field, including 4-of--5 free throws. With Lightfoot moving into his scoring mentality, he began to create more lu, at ’ ' r • NORTHWOOD 45. WEST NOBLE 31

Advance News • Thursday, Mach 9, 2006 •

At Nappnet ■ Scare by Quarters WN 11 8 7 531 NW 12 12 9 12—45 NW: Zac Lechlitner 1 1-2 3; Brock Anningtoo 0 2-2 2; Ryne Lightfoot 7 9-11 25; Keßy Aduus 104)2; Zach Troyer 1 l-f 3; Bea Bemiller 204) 5; Kyle Yoder 1 04J2t„ Nate Brown 11-21 TOTALS: 1414-1941 WN: Drew Prestos 2 04)4; Nate Home 4 6; Joseph Spencer 1 2-S 4; Ryan Fought4}' 1-2 1; Pgrfael Martin 0 2-2 2; Josue. Rzana4 17 “"“w# ed’sSts 1 Aariate: Lightfoot 3. Wadi: , Bemiller 3. wcotok rfW iM; WW 11*11. a*i

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