Huntington North shakes off rust, downs New Haven with late bucket

Considering “adversity” has been used to describe nearly every team’s situation at least once at some point this season, it has become almost cliche to use the word.

But Huntington North? Yeah, it faced some on Tuesday night.

Having been unable to practice for a few days prior to the Class 4A Sectional 6 opener against New Haven, Coach Matt Hinds had to trust in a season’s worth of learning and handling adversity (there’s that word again), to triumph 31-29 over the Bulldogs.

“It was one of those situations where we were all a little interested in how it would play out,” Huntington North coach Matt Hinds said. “Due to weather, we haven’t been able to practice, it kind of showed a little bit.”

The contest was close throughout, with New Haven despite dressing just six players (adversity…again), making things difficult for the Vikings. The Bulldogs employed a zone defense knowing that it could ill afford to have players get into foul trouble with the thin bench. That frustrated Huntington North at times, particularly in the first half.

“The key was anytime we were able to get the ball inside or the short corner the shot was there, we just didn’t get it there enough.”

The Vikings (15-7) led by seven late in the third quarter before New Haven trimmed the advantage down to three. With the game tied late, a Grace Sell’s bucket with 75 seconds left put Huntington North into the lead. The Bulldogs were able to get to the free throw line with 43 seconds remaining, but both free throws were missed.

Trailing by two, New Haven only had four team fouls and did not foul enough quick enough to put the Vikings at the line prior to the end of regulation.

Sell led Huntington North by nine points, with Taylor Double adding eight. New Haven was led by Avarcia Nard’s 13 points.

Now, Huntington North gets a shot at South Side (11-5) on Friday night in the semifinal at approximately 8 p.m. Homestead will face Columbia City in the first semifinal.

Due to Covid protocol, there is an IHSAA-mandated 45-minute break between games to allow the gym to be sanitized. Fans are not allowed in the venue until 15 minutes prior to tip-off of each game.