Eagles stop Arcola 69-55
By TERRY LIDY
After the Arcola Purple Riders blitzed the Eagle defense with 22 first quarter points, it looked rather bleak as the Eagles appeared sluggish in their first action after the Christmas break in the annual Dieterich Holiday Tournament on Monday. Instead, the Eagles of Doug Mammoser tightened up their defensive effort as they held Arcola with only 4-second quarter points to take a hard fought 31-26 halftime edge.
Arcola started fast and built as much as a six-point lead at 10-4 early in the opening period. The Eagles fought back and eventually tied it at 12 on an Alex Frohning basket and two Peyton Wyatt free throws with 2:54 left. Jake Pilman next gave Newton their first lead with a rebound shot at the 2:23 mark. However, Arcola scored the next seven points, all by Jon James Jenkins as Arcola led 19-14.
A Peyton Wyatt three-pointer cut the deficit to 19-17. Arcola came back to lead 22-17 before Wyatt scored again at the buzzer to make it 22-19. The Eagle momentum continued into the second period scoring the first 10 points to take a 29-22 advantage. Jerry Howze gave the Eagles some valuable bench minutes as the 5'11" senior scored the first two baskets of the quarter to give the Eagles a 23-22 edge. With the Eagles blanketing the Purple Riders at their end, Arcola was held scoreless until the 2:04 mark of the second quarter. Peyton Wyatt and Alex Frohning also scored in the 10-point run before Nik Duffle broke the string for Arcola. Wyatt countered with a basket and Arcola closed out the half at 31-26 with free throws. Peyton Wyatt had led the comeback with 17 first half points.
The third quarter produced four ties at 33, 35, 37 and 39. A Japheth Bear three-pointer finally gave the Eagles the lead they needed and not to be relinquished at the 1:16 mark of the quarter. Up 44-42, Taylor Kerner connected from the right side to make it 46-42. After stopping Arcola, the Eagles played for the final shot of the period. It worked perfectly as Peyton Wyatt banged home a long three to make it 49-42 after three quarters. The difference quickly reached double digits as Jake Pilman, Japheth Bear and Peyton Wyatt took over. A Wyatt drive and a Pilman breakaway gave the Eagles a 57-44 cushion with 5:00 left. From that point, Arcola was able to get no closer as the Eagles moved ahead by 17 at 68-51 on a couple of Jerry Howze free throws and by 18 later on a Taylor Kerner charity toss at 69-51. Final score 69-55.
"The bench did a good job in picking us up. Jerry Howze and Taylor Kerner had some good minutes. Peyton Wyatt and Jake Pilman played very aggressive. On defense, we did a much better job after the first quarter with helping each other and stopping Nicholas Lindenmeyer," said Eagle Coach Doug Mammoser. Lindenmeyer was a force early for Arcola winding up with 12 points.
The Eagles scored 25 field goals for the night including four from behind the arc. They converted a solid 15 of 18 free throws. Peyton Wyatt led all scorers with 24. Jake Pilman was also in double figures with 15. Japheth Bear added 9. Alex Frohning scored 8 on four baskets. Jerry Howze had 6 points, while Taylor Kerner had 5 in a relief role. Brian Emmerich converted two free throws for the 6-3 Eagles. Derek and Dylan Casey and Scott Jansen also saw action for Doug Mammoser's Eagles.
Arcola (now 2-5) sank 23 baskets including three from beyond the arc. They converted 10 of 18 foul shots. Garrison Stenger led Arcola with 18 points.
In other first round action on Monday Red Hill belted Cowden-Herrick 69-48. North Clay downed Chicago Hope 58-53 and Dieterich, the defending champ, dropped Oblong 79-59.
Charleston remains perfect
By TERRY LIDY
The Charleston Lady Trojans upped their record to 14-0 overall and 7-0 in the Apollo last week at the expense of the Lady Eagles 71-43 at Charleston.
Charleston opened with a 17-9 first quarter lead and continued the blitz with an 18-10 advantage to take a 35-19 margin into the half. A 27 point Charleston third period sealed the fate of the Lady Eagles with a 62-32 cushion. The Lady Eagles held their own with a final quarter edge at 11-9.
Charleston had four players with double figures led by Megan O'Dell with 20.
The Lady Eagles connected for 18 baskets including 4 from three-point land. They added 3 from the foul line. Amy Koebele led Newton with 16 points. Terra Flowers also was in double figures with 13. Mallory Kocher added 5. Megan Jansen scored two baskets. Sydney May and Joni Hahn each scored a basket. Amy Bierman converted a free throw. Morgan Bergbower, Brianna Nail and Carly Niebrugge also saw action.
Charleston drilled 28 baskets including 10 from behind the arc. They added 5 free throws. Amy Koebele led the Lady Eagles with 7 rebounds, while Terra Flowers had 5.
The loss dropped the Lady Eagles to 1-10 overall and 0-7 in the Apollo.
Lady Eagles Win Dieterich opener
By TERRY LIDY
The NCHS Lady Eagles played like defending champs in their opening round match with Casey-Westfield scoring a 63-50 victory to snap an eight game losing streak in the first game of the Dieterich Holiday Tournament.
With Terra Flowers drilling shots from the outside, including five from behind the arc and Amy Koebele doing the damage inside, the two sophomores scored 21 points each as the Lady Eagles came to play. "We had a good mind set coming into this game. We executed well. I am happy with the win and the team effort," commented NCHS Coach Katie Lurkins.
Flowers got the Lady Eagles jump started scoring the game's first five points. Stacy Thompson of Casey-Westfield (C-W) eventually tied it at 5. However, the Lady Eagles took a 13-10 first quarter edge as Koebele and Flowers scored all of the team total in the period. Flowers canned three trifectas and Koebele had a basket.
In the second period, Koebele converted a pair of free throws to build a 15-10 cushion. C-W came back on baskets by Michaela Montgomery, Taylor Brickfield and a three shot by Amanda Tiffin. The Lady Eagles countered with field goals by Morgan Swingler and Terry Flowers as Newton led 19-17. From here, the Lady Eagles scored the next 6 points as Carly Niebrugge scored and Megan Jansen and Joni Hahn also had field goals to give Newton its largest lead to that point at 25-17 with 3:39 left in the half. Kara Repp broke the string with a basket. However, Amy Koebele took over and scored twice inside to up the margin to 10 at 29-19.
The half eventually ended as Megan Jansen converted two free throws and Amy Koebele sank two more as time expired to give the Lady Eagles a comfortable 32-21 haltime cushion.
Terra Flowers led the first half output with 13, while Amy Koebele had 10 with 9 rebounds. The Lady Eagles continued to expand their lead and moved ahead 42-25 midway through the third quarter when Terra Flowers sank another three shot. The quarter ended with C-W closing to within 13 at 47-34. However, Megan Jansen opened the final quarter with a three-point play and a 50-34 advantage. From that point, the Lady Warriors rallied to close the gap to within 8 at 52-44 with 5:37 remaining. After a timeout, Terra Flowers broke the spell with her final three-pointer and C-W's rally had fallen short. Free throws down the stretch by Amy Koebele, Megan Jansen and Amy Bierman sealed the opening round win.
Amy Koebele and Terra Flowers each scored 21 to lead the Lady Eagles. Megan Jansen scored 9. Mallory Kocher scored a three-pointer. Amy Bierman scored 3. Morgan Swingler, Carly Niebrugge and Joni Hahn each scored baskets.
The Lady Eagles made 22 field goals including 6 from behind the arc. They added 13 of 20 free throws. Amy Koebele led in rebounds with 16.
Casey-Westfield made 20 baskets with three from behind the arc. They were 7 of 9 from the line. Stacy Thompson led with 15 points.
In other first round games North Clay stopped Arcola 50-33. Cowden-Herrick/Beecher City defeated Casey-Westfield 58-47. South Central edged Arcola 37-36. Cowden-Herrick/Beecher City won over Palestine 72-49. South Central won over Dieterich 58-49.
