Nappanee Advance-News, Volume 130, Number 50, Nappanee, Elkhart County, 13 December 2007 — Page 9
Panthers, Wolfe grab first victory
•T vlllM Sports Correspondent * > , TOPEKA / N APPANEE —It took about three games longer than he would have liked, but Coach Aaron Wolfe finally picked up his first career victory as a varsity head coach, as the North Wood Panthers captured their first victory of the season, 61-54 over Fairfield in the Panther Pit. Earlier in the week, the Panthers dropped a road contest to the Westview Warriors, 64-51, but the "home cooking" of the Pit proved to be the cure, at least for now, for the Panthers'early-season slump. AGAINST FAIRFIELD Fairfield, who was ranked in the pre-season in Class 2A before losses to Wawasee and Lakeland, jumped out to a quick 8-2 lead with just over a minute gone in the contest, but the Panthers settled down and took the lead at the break behind the 1-2 punch of Aaron McDowell and Skyler Titus, who combined for 11 of North Wood's 13 points. Both teams then began to light it up in the second period, with Titus dropping in nine more points and McDowell 11, while Fairfield sniper Grant Baumgartner canned two NBArange threes and 6'5" Andy Curry had three buckets in the paint to keep the Falcorts close. NorthWopd junior Brandon Williams was also a key factor in the first half, despite not scoring a point, as he hauled down six rebounds (including three offensive boards), made a steal, and got his hands in the way of numerous Falcon passes, helping North Wood to a 35-31 advantage. The third quarter proved to be the difference in the game, as the hosts outscored Fairfield 14-8, led by McDowell who dropped in three more buckets on his way to a game-high 23 points. The game seemed in the bag as the Panthers held a 49-39 lead going to the final period, but Fairfield turned up the defensive intensity and senior guard Robby Gingerich suddenly found the range from outside, canning three treys in the period. Fairfield scored the first five points of the quarter before North Wood junior Matt Troyer stopped the bleeding with two free throws and Micah Homer scored on a nifty drive in the lane to give the Panthers a 53-47 advantage with two minutes to play. With Fairfield desperately firing three-pointers in vain, the Falcons were forced to foul and North Wood sealed the victory by drilling 10 of 10 free throws in the last period, including four each from Titus and Troyer. In addition to McDowell's 23 points and six rebounds, Titus scored 20 points and
'Black Swish’ net fifth victory of the
By Mark Simpson Sports Correspondent It didn't take long for the Northwood Lady Panthers to take control of last Tuesday night's game against the visiting Lady Blue Blazers from Elkhart Central. Steve Neff's 'Black Swish' jumped out to an early lead in the first-quarter behind the inside-outside duo of Kelcie Lehman and Courtney Simpson and never received a serious threat from the Lady
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A new 'gfassrooy Basketball Academy, has opened its doors in Nappanee tion for area boys in foarth and fifth grades. The academy's goal is to improve eacn individual's basketball fundamentals with emfdta-
PHOTOBPWOVIOED The teams are: Red Team (right): (Front row) Nick Myera. Dylan Carter, (back row) coach Tom Myers. James Stout, wk Eby and Ryan Menzie. '' » * Gray Team (below, left): (Front) David EsheSman, Apjfig Tobias. Derek Parker, pack row) Landon Wetoy, Cam.
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pulled down sue boards while Homer and Troyer added six points each for North Wood. Gingerich leftstbe way for Fairfield with 19 points, including four threes, while Curry and Alic Vanover scored 10 points each. AGAINST WFSiyiEW The Westview game, played in the beautiful fieldhouse of the Warriors, saw the hosts jump out to a 32-24 halftime lead, thanks to a bevy of three-pointers from silky-smooth senior Ryan Sindle, junior fireball Adam Christner, and senior Justin Yoder. North Wood stayed close thanks to 11 firsthalf points from Titus, including five of six from the charity stripe. Homer was also big for the Panthers, with five points in the half. In the second half, the Panthers rallied and closed the gap to five at 43-28 going into the final stanza. Titus was again the key, scoring seven points in the period while senior point guard Dustin Bussard also began to neat up with five points of his own. The game remained tight until about three minutes to play when North Wood's offense went cold while Westview used a balanced attack to gradually increase their advantage. Ultimately, the Panthers were forced to foul and the Warriors took advantage, canning nine free throws in the final period to seal the win. As he did in the opener against Triton, Titus led the way for North Wood with 23 points, including the first two threes of the year for North Wood, and also added nine rebounds. Bussard contributed 13 points, while McDowell chipped in 10 points and 8 boards. Westview placed four players in double figures, led by the relentless Christner with 16 points. Yoder and Taylor Aspy had 15 points apiece, and Sindle finished with 12. North Wood is now 1-2 on the season, and battles Jimtown at home on Dec. 11 before the conference opener against Plymouth, also at home, on Dec. 14. JV SUMMARY After opening with a victory over Triton, the North Wood JV squad dropped two tight games, falling 41-39 at Westview and dropping an ugly game to Fairfield 29-25 to move to 1-2 on the season. The Westview game was a fierce battle that saw the Warriors in control at.the break 26-19, behind 13 points from freshman Justin Janzi. John Sittler and Mike Bough kept North Wood in it with six and four points, respectively, in the half. The Panthers drew within three in the third quarter, helped by four points off the bench from junior Carter Ammerman, and rallied to tie the game in the final period, but
Blazers for the rest of the game. Kelcie Lehman looked fit as a fiddle after missing Northwood's last game against Penn with a bout of the flu. Lehman scored 8 first quarter points, and was almost perfect, 6-7 field goals throughout the first two quarters, tallying 12 first-half points. Simpson was also accurate from the inside hitting 3-4 field goals in the first : half and recording 8 points for the stanza. The Lady Panthers led 12-1 after the first-
Community
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Simpson, Dominic Miranda and Coach Martin Miranda nfcriiw: ‘ iJwP," Schmitt and Devyn Maygel. h Wrr -.•:*
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Despite being surrounded by Fairfield players, Number three, Micah Horner, aims and shoots.
with seven seconds remaining and the score 41-39 Westview, North Wood was unable to get off a final shot and the Warriors escaped with the win. Michael Paul and Tony Miranda had eight
quarter and 26-12 at half-time due in part to Northwood's active 2-3 zone defense and Elkhart Central's inability to take care of the basketball which led to easy Northwood baskets. Elkhart Central applied full court pressure during the second-half, but Northwood efficiently maneuvered the basketball to break through the press and find open shots. Mackenzie Lechiitner and Lindsey Steffen were able to find teammates inside and Simpson
will be showcasing their skills in the 'Panther fW over ££££s*3 Northwood High School varsity and junior vanity boy's haeWothall nnuc . L'dsKclUaU gailicb.
Advance News • Thursday, December 13, 2007 •
points each to lead the balanced North Wood attack in which seven players had at least four See VICTORY, page B 2 .ii jm . ;i. . .. rjlniiOM
season
continued to control the paint offensively scoring 8 third-quarter points. The Lady Blazers were able to cut the 'Black Swish' lead to 43-33 with 3:46 left in the game; however Elkhart's defense could not stop Northwood as the Lady Panthers went on to secure their fifth win of the season 51-38. Lehman led all scorers with 18 points, Simpson followed with 16 and Steffen Rebounding leaders were Simpson with 10 and Chelsea Yoder with 8.
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