Norwell pulls away late

OSSIAN — The Patriots cut the deficit to six points in the fourth quarter.

Turnovers, missed shots, and a run by the Knights put the game away late.

The Norwell Knights went on a 11-6 run to finish the game and take down the Jay County High School boys basketball team 49-38 on Friday night.

Norwell (12-8) got to the free-throw line with ease late in the game. Six of its final 11 points coming at the foul line, shooting 6-for-8. The other five points came on a layup by Ashton Federspeil and an Owen Wallis three.

Jay County shot a perfect 9-for-9 at the charity stripe, but it wasn’t enough to counter 15-of-18 freebies for the Knights.

“Give them credit,” JCHS coach Jerry Bomholt told WPGW’s Rob Weaver in a post-game interview. “They’re good free throw shooters and took advantage when we tried to go press and spread us out.”

Federspeil dominated the Patriots (7-12) with a game-high 18 points. He hit three of his six field goals in the first quarter, while also reaching the foul line four times where he knocked down six points. Norwell also boasted the game’s second leading scorer in Cade Shelton with 11 points.

The Patriots’ strongest run started near the end of the third quarter, when Liam Garringer drilled a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 14. Baskets by Gradin Swoveland and Wesley Bihn got Jay County within 11 as the fourth quarter began.

After a pair of Cohen Bailey free throws, Jay County went on a 7-0 run with another basket from Bihn, free throws by Swoveland and a Parker Nichols 3-pointer that officially cut the lead to six before the Knights regained control of the game.

Jay County matched Norwell for 27 points in the second half, but struggles in the second quarter put the Patriots behind. Only Nichols and Levi Muhlenkamp found the bottom of the net to total four points, while a triple from Wallis, and baskets by Federspiel and Shelton netted nine points.

Norwell also earned a six-point advantage in the first quarter as Jay County only got seven combined points from Nichols, Ben Crouch and Eli Dirksen.

None of the Patriots broke double figures. Gradin Swoveland was the closest with nine, followed by seven from Nichols off the bench.

Both teams committed 10 turnovers in the game, but Norwell had a healthy advantage on the glass, out-rebounding Jay County 21-13.

The Patriots’ primary struggle came at the offensive end of the floor, shooting 29.5% (13-44) from the field.

“I just asked them, ‘raise your hand if you missed a shot tonight in the game that we practiced every day,’” Bomholt said. “Every kid raised their hand. That’s how close we are. We can now take care of the ball pretty well, but we missed so many shots inside.

“You don’t often have the opportunity to beat Norwell on their home floor and we almost did but couldn’t do it.”

Junior varsity

After leading for the entire second half, Jay County fell to the Knights 37-36.

Caiden Petrie hit a late three, to give Norwell the lead. It was only his second basket of the game – his first came in the second in the form of another triple.

Nick McBride also fueled the comeback with 14 second-half points, nine of which came in the closing period.

Cole Forthofer and Drew Schemenaur led the Patriots with 12 each. All of Schemenaur’s points came from beyond the arc, while Forthofer worked inside it for five buckets and two free throws.

Schemenaur had Jay County’s only points in the final period as Norwell outscored it 14-3.