NORWELL
That’s right, just Norwell.
The Norwell girls team opened their week with a 68-38 domination of Class 2A #4 Eastbrook. This game was no walk in the park – on paper – but the Knights sure made it look that way winning three of the four quarters by seven or more points, each.
Kennedy Fuelling starred as she does. She scored 34 points, tied for tops in the area this season and only six off her own school record as she buried eight three pointers in the win over Eastbrook; a pretty good Eastbrook. Makenzie Fuess added 16 points in the win.
On Friday, well you know what happened, right? Norwell upended the top team in the state in a crucial NE8 meeting with a 46-44 win over Columbia City. Dekota Hubble‘s free throws with under 10 seconds to go locked up the win for the Knights, who got a team high 18 points out of Fuess in the win. Fuelling responded from a tight defense all night, scoring nine of her 14 points in the fourth quarter alone of the win.
Across The Castle, the Norwell boys, ya know the ones “rebuilding,” started their season 3-1 with a win Tuesday against Bishop Dwenger. While not many had Norwell pegged to start the season in such good form, they are doing it anyway and a lot of it has to do with the breakout of Ashton Federspiel.
If you talked to coach Mike McBride before the season, he was singing Federspiel’s praises and we had see flashes in the past that he could be an important player. Yet, Federspiel has pushed beyond just being steady as he has become the critical force in Norwell’s lineup, with another 22 point outing in the Dwenger win.
Oh and in case you were wondering, check back on that Tuesday scoresheet. Right behind Federspiel was a 21 point performance from Adam McBride. That’s right…another one.
Sure, Norwell stumbled against Blackhawk Christian in a big loss Saturday, but lets be honest with the way the NE8 is this season, playing these tough non conference games could play dividends once conference play gets to the nitty gritty.
THE TOP OF THE SAC BOYS RACE
While not a conference game, the Wayne Generals ran all over New Haven on Tuesday night, beating the Bulldogs 98-61. Jevon Lewis, Chase Barnes and Trey Dillard totaled 62 points alone for Wayne in the win. While maybe a predictable outcome, it was not the score that anyone should have expected to pop on Twitter or Summit City Sports and see. They also beat a scrappy Snider team on Friday night to open conference play.
Wayne has two blemishes, picking up a loss to Lawrence North on Saturday, but no losses in the area. Who in the area has the best chance to challenge this sometimes freakishly athletic team?
Carroll is the team that is expected to give Wayne their biggest challenge and those teams will play this Friday at Carroll. Carroll picked up a conference win on Friday by topping Concordia behind 31 points from Jaxon Pardon. Both teams now sit at 3-2 with Wayne 3-0 in the area with Carroll really being a Stratton Fuller buzzer beater from being 4-1 after a tough loss Saturday to Columbia City despite a massive 32 points from Jaiyre Sampson. Sure, this part of the column is about the SAC, but it was impressive to see Fuller pull off a buzzer beater to top Carroll for the second straight season; what are the odds? Aiden Denning, who made the pass inbounds for the game winner, led Columbia City with 22 points.
Never the less, it doesn’t take away from the excitement of this Friday’s meeting between the presumed SAC frontrunners.
Enter into the serious conversation Bishop Luers, who had already knocked off 2A ranked Mishawaka Marian last week. This week, the Knights stifled Leo on Tuesday and came away with a 73-63 win after leading the whole way. There were times that Luers looked like they were going to clean run away with the game and kudos to Leo for not letting that happen. But as Luers peppered threes early (they finished with 9 total makes), they had the Lions well against the ropes. Drelyn and Dereon Truesdale continue to just be wildly good at everything they do from defense to dunks to those three point makes. Dereon scored 22 while Drelyn had 15 against Leo.
While Luers has those names and faces that people are familiar with, shout out to Carmani Davis, who scored 14 points and hit four three pointers Tuesday in the win over Leo. The team also totaled 19 assists in the win.
In a conference win over Northrop on Friday, Dereon Truesdale showed the versatility of his game on both ends of the court in a 30 point, five steal outing and a win for the Knights. Brother Drelyn was just as versatile with 12 points, seven rebounds, 6 assists and 4 steals.
Is Snider a sleeper? The Panthers opened their season 2-0 and were the first SAC school to get a conference win. On Wednesday, Qualyn Clopton scored 16 points in a 66-50 win over DeKalb. While the Panthers fell short on Friday, 59-44, they kept tight with Wayne and it continues to peak the interest of many in the area as Ke’ron Billingsley led the way with 19 points. On Saturday afternoon, the Panthers welcomed Mooresville to Northeast Indiana and came away with a big win with Ketron Paschall leading four guys in double figures with 14 points while Trell Hogue scoring the game winner after Snider trailed by 10 with 2:30 left in the game.
Oh and ya know North Side is 4-0 after wins over South Side and Warsaw this weekend with Eugene Young and Jaxson Fugate each having a 20-plus point game. Jordan King has been great for North Side, hitting the game winning free throws on Friday night and then putting up 11 points in the win over Warsaw Saturday. They will square off with the aforementioned Snider on Friday night.
So needless to say, the SAC could be fun and fun really soon.
COULD FAIRFIELD SWEEP THE NECC?
Tuesday’s win for Fairfield boys basketball was a big one. The way that Lakeland had been playing to start this season made it seem like they were laying their claim to being the top contender in the NECC for a Westview team that still fairly looks like the frontrunner.
But Fairfield chopped that down on Tuesday, beating Lakeland by 15 points, including outscoring the Lakers 13-4 in the opening frame. Fairfield pulled away at the end of the third, scoring four points in the final ten seconds of the quarter. While lately people have taken bigger notice of Lakeland, it is Fairfield who is surging while being led by Carson Smith‘s 17 points and 16 from Mitchell Miller in the win.
Why are those two names important? Because they are part of a big mash up of top scorers that Fairfield has had in recent games. It was Noah Mast (16), Brooks Custer (15) and Cole Knight (12) that led them over Prairie Heights recently; Smith, Miller and Mast led the way in a recent close loss to Goshen; Mast, Alex Hofer and Tyson Frey were the leading scorers in another close loss to Wawasee. Scoring depth could be huge for Fairfield as we eagerly anticipate a January 19 meeting with Westview that comes right after the two could meet in the NECC Tournament.
Meanwhile, those suspected top NECC foes from Westview? They beat defending state champ and Class 3A #1 NorthWood on Tuesday night 36-28 behind 11 points from Luke Helmuth. The win is a massive one in illustrating just how tough the Warriors can be the rest of this still very young season. Helmuth added 20 points to his season on Saturday with a big win over conference foe Central Noble.
On the girls side, the Fairfield Falcons too are thriving. On Friday they picked up another dominant win the conference race, going up 20-0 after the first quarter against Lakeland. They closed out the. win, 54-31, behind 19 points from Eva Herbert.
One of their top contenders, Eastside, easily dispatched Churubusco earlier in the week behind 18 points from Lily Kreischer.
Don’t count out Central Noble getting more boosts in the second half of the season after a thrashing of Lakewood Park this week where Grace Swank led four double digit Cougar scorers with 17.
OTHER BOYS NOTES
In Tuesday’s loss to Bishop Luers, Leo‘s Trey Hiteshew posted an 18 point/10 rebound double double. On Saturday, he went for 19 points with 4 steals in a win over Woodlan….Bluffton‘s win, 68-40, over Lakeland Christian on Friday gives them two wins on the young season, matching last season’s win total….Coach Gabe Garman got his first win Friday night as Churubusco topped South Adams 60-45….North Side retained the Reichert-Hey Memorial Trophy as they beat rival south Side 61-58 in overtime with Jordan King hitting the game winning free throws.
OTHER GIRLS NOTES
South Adams‘ Macy Pries scored 34 points on Tuesday in a win over South Side and Kennedy Fuelling of Norwell also scored 34 the same night and Lakewood Park‘s Ava McGrade did the same herself on Thursday, marking a new three way tie for the highest single scoring game of the season on the girls or boys side in the area….Niya Bell hit 10 three pointers Wednesday for Northrop in a win over East Noble….Lakewood Park beat Woodlan Thursday as sophomore Riah Johnson hit the game winning free throws and Ava McGrade scored 34 points….Bluffton continued their path towards an ACAC title showdown with Jay County as the Tigers improved to 9-1 Friday in a win over Woodlan behind 24 points from Isabella Stout….South Side girls picked up a big win Friday, taking the Reichert-Hey Memorial Trophy back from rival North Side….Whitko improved to 7-2 and 3-0 in the Three Rivers Conference Friday with a 67-48 win over Manchester.
VOTE
Don’t forget that every Sunday, you can vote for the girls and boys player you think had the best single game performance of the entire week.
Don’t see someone you think should be nominated? Let your coach know! Nominees come only from stats submitted by schools.
VOTE NOW for the girls top performance of the week of December 4-9
VOTE NOW for the boys top performance of the week of December 4-9
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