Nappanee Advance-News, Volume 130, Number 3, Nappanee, Elkhart County, 18 January 2007 — Page 9

Titus leads Panthers to two more wins

By Ctgyifn *r;n|.,. oy JICY6 tinier Sports Correspondent NAPPANEE - Sophomore Skyler Titus scored 13 of his game-high 20 points in the second half, and senior Zach Trpyer added 19 points, 15 in the first half, to lead the North Wood Panther boys' basketball team to a hardfought 65-57 victory over Elkhart Central at The Pit on Jan. 9. Titus then added 19 more points on Jan. 12 to lead the Panthers to a key 66-61 road victory over conference-rival Northridge. The Northridge triumph, combined with Concord's loss at home to Plymouth, gives the ninth-ranked (3A) Panthers sole possession of first place in the Northern Lakes Conference (NLC) at 30, and a season record of 8-2. NORTHWOOD 65, ELKHART CENTRAL 57 The Panthers were in control of the game early, racing to a 16-7 lead after one quarter thanks to seven points from Troyer and four from fellow senior Kelly Adams. North Wood continued to pour it on in the second period, with Troyer again doing most of the damage with eight points in the quarter, giving the Panthers a 36-24 cushion at the half. Elkhaft Central head coach Mike Drews' halftime oration must have inspired the Blazers, however, as they came out of the locker room aggressively on defense, forced numerous Panther turnovers and actually man-

Freshman boys thrash Raiders and Colonials By Steve Sittier Sports Correspondent NAPPANEE - The North Wood High School freshman boys' basketball team used an aggressive defense and a fast-breaking offense to jump to a 24-0 lead, then cruised to an easy 52-35 victory over conference-rival Northridge on Jan. 11. The Panthers followed that up with a rare Saturday-morning contest against South Bend Clay on Jan. 13 and throttled the visitors from St. Joseph County 51-13 for their eighth straight victory. North Wood is now 8-1 on the season (3-1 in the Northern Lakes Conference), with a brutal stretch of five games in 11 days ahead, including road visits to Tippecanoe Valley and Goshen, and home contests against Jimtown, Penn, and Warsaw. NORTHWOOD 52, NORTHRIDGE 35 The first half of the Northridge game was clearly all North Wood, as the Panthers opened an 18-0 lead after one period behind eight points from Cam Spitaels. Northridge did not manage to SQye until the 3:25 mark of the second quarter, and had just one field goal in the first half. The Raiders barely managed to avoid a single-digit scoring half thanks to nine of 13 from the free throw line in the second quarter, primarily due to 11 fouls whistled on the ferocious Panthers. Northridge finally managed to get on track in the second half, actually outscoring the Panthers 22-20, but it was far too little, too late for the visitors. Spitaels led all scorers with 23 points including nine of 11 from the charity stripe, the first time a Panther freshman has topped the 20-point mark this season. Tony Miranda added seven points for North Wood, and Mitch Anthony contributed five points in a stellar effort off the bench. Nine of the 12 Panthers got into the scoring column. Northridge was paced by Justin Yoder with 11 points and Craig Thomas with 10. NORTHWOOD 51, SOUTH BEND CLAY 13 Once again, North Wood's aggressive pressing defense resulted in an early 10-2 lead after one quarter and the home squad widened the margin to 24-7 at the half, with all 12 players seeing action. The third quarter saw the Panthers outscore Clay 19-6 behind five for seven from the charity stripe from the relentless Anthony, and North Wood then shut out the hapless Colonials 8-0 in the final period, the fourth time this year that the Panthers have held a team scoreless for an entire quarter. In a magnificent team effort, no player scored in double figures for North Wood, and 11 players reached the scoring column. As usual, Spitaels led the way with nine points, followed closely by Miranda and Anthony with eight apiece. Brandon Menzie chipped in six points and Dave Zeltwanger and Nick Anglemeyer had four each off the bench.

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aged to take the lead in a wild third quarter before a last-sec-ond bucket by Titus gave the Panthers a narrow 4745 lead going to the final stanza. Free throws turned out to be the difference as the Panthers, in the double bonus with nearly five minutes left in the game, sank 10 of 13 foul shots in the final period to seal the victory. The Blazers were whistled for 25 fouls on the evening, sending the Panthers to the line 36 times, while sinking just nine of 16 charity tosses themselves. In addition to his 19 points, Troyer also added nine rebounds and four assists, while Bussard had four assists and three steals to go with his 12 points. Adams added seven points and six rebounds, while senior center Nate Brown, who struggled with foul trouble and managed just five points, blocked

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DAT PHOTOS Above, North Wood's J.J. Anglemeyer protects the ball against a hoard of Blue Blazers. Right, Zach Troyer of the Panthers rises up for a jumper against Elkhart Central.

four shots and effectively discouraged the Blazers from driving the lane. Elkhart Central placed four players in double figures, led by Phillip Pettis with 14 points, Josh Robinson and Jon Brown with 12, and Mark Sutter with 11. NORTHWOOD 66, NORTHRIDGE 61 Taking a cue from their freshman counterparts, who shut out Northridge in the first quarter on Thursday night, the varsity boys jumped out to leads of 10-0 and 23-6 on the Raiders, ,and

Black Swish hold the fort against Vikings, Raiders

By Steve Sittier Sports Correspondent MENTONE/NAPPANEE - The North Wood High School girls' basketball team defeated the Tippecanoe Valley Vikings 59-46 on Jan. 9 and then returned home to down their Northern Lakes Conference (NLC) rival Northridge Raiders 58-54 in overtime at the Panther Pit on Jan. 13. In the Valley game, the eighth-ranked (3A) Panthers exploded out of the gate, racing to a 20-8 lead after one period and a 36-15 margin at the half behind senior Mandy Yoder who scored all of her game-high 18 points in the first two quarters. North Wood extended the margin to 46-20 after three quarters before a frantic Viking rally narrowed the final margin to 13. Senior Amanda Bechtel added 12 points for the Panthers and freshman Lindsey Steffan chipped in with nine. North Wood was a sparkling 16 of 20 from the free throw line (80%), and also recorded assists on 17 of their 20 field goals, while committing just 12 turnovers. Hannah Kruger led the Vikings with 15 points and Rachel Sitts added seven. The Northridge game was a thrilling affair which saw the host Panthers jump out to a 15-10 lead after one period, only to see the Raiders come storming back to take a 27-24 lead to the locker room. Senior Calley Tucker scored eight points off the bench in the second stanza, keeping the Panthers in it. In the third quarter, Yoder caught fire, scoring 12 points, including two three-pointers, to push the Black Swish back into the lead at 39-36 going to the final period. The fourth quarter was vintage Indiana high-school basketball, as both squads battled fiercely and the score went back and forth. Northridge led 4846 with 2:16 to play, but sophomore Alii Heeter came up with a steal, was fouled, and sank two free throws with 2:02 to play to tie the score at 48 all. Both teams had chances to win it, but neither could convert and the game went to overtime. In the extra session, Northridge used their height

took a seemingly comfortable 47-31 lead into the final period. The Raiders then began raining threes on the Panthers from all angles, canning seven and putting up 30 points in the final stanza before their rally fell short thanks to clutch free-throw shooting down the stretch by Bussard who tallied 12 points for the second consecutive game. Seniors Kelly Adams and Nate Brown added 14 and 12 points, respectively, for the Panthers. Northridge, who hit 12 three-pointers on the night, was led by Derrick

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DAT PHOTOS Above, Panther senior Mandy Yoder fends off yet another aggressive Raider defender. Right, NW senior guard Amanda Bechtel soars through the lane for two points against the Northridge Raiders. advantage to take a 5248 lead on two lob passes and subsequent buckets, and appeared ready to take a six-point lead on an easy layup when sophomore Olivia Menzie materialized out of nowhere and snuffed a Raider shot, giving the ball to North Wood. On the ensuing possession, Yoder was fouled and sank two free throws, and the relentless Casey Bough stole the inbounds pass and hit Heeter who sank a huge three-pointer to give the Panthers the lead at 53-52. Northridge was not finished, however, as their gritty senior leader Aimee Gingerich drew a foul and canned both free throws to give the lead back to the Raiders at 54-53 with less than 30 seconds to play. Down came the Panthers, working the ball around the perimeter until Amanda Bechtel launched a three with 10 seconds left that found the bottom of the net to give the advantage back to North Wood at 56-54. After a Raider timeout, Yoder stole the inbounds pass, was fouled, and sank two more free throws to ice the game for the Panthers. . Yoder led the way for the Panthers with 22 points,

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Troyer with 18 points and Brent Eaton with 15. JV HIGHLIGHTS The junior varsity split two games in the week, downing Elkhart Central 37-25, behind eight points each from sophomores Matt Troyer and Antoine Payne. The JV Panthers then dropped a hard-fought game

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including four three-pointers and eight of eight from the charity stripe, and Tucker added 10 off the bench. Gingerich dropped in 17 points to lead the Raiders, and Lauren Adams added 11 in the loss. Die Black Swish are now 124 on the season, 32 in the Northern Lakes Conference and play at West Noble on Saturday, Dec. 20. JV HIGHLIGHTS The Lady Panther JV squad moved to 14-1 on the season, the best record in tire

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to Northridge 48-40. Scoring details were not available. The Panthers host countyrival Goshen tomorrow night (Jan. 19) with the JV game beginning at 6:15 pm. Fans are encouraged to arrive early and partake of the fabulous chili supper benefiting the North Wood High School baseball program.

North Wood basketball program (boys or girls) with victories over Valley 51-30 and Northridge 43-27. Freshman Courtney Frantz led the way for the Panthers in both contests, with 11 points against Valley and 14 more against the Raiders. Lindsey Kaufman supported Frantz with nine points in the Valley game, while freshman Kelcie Lehman had seven points, six rebounds, and six assists at Valley, and totaled 10 points in tire victory over Northridge.