TROY – It was a great start in the first half that propelled Newton to a 54-39 win over Riverside in 1st round action of the OHSAA DIV Boys Basketball North 3 Sectional at Troy High School.
The Indians came out shooting arrows striking their target from distance and before Riverside could blink Newton held an 18-3 lead … but the Pirates got a few back and trailed 19-8 at the end of the 1st quarter.
Senior Quinn Peters had the hot hand early landing 3 bullseyes followed by single arrows from senior Ty Schauer and sophomore Luke Cornett in the first quarter.
“We came out and actually got good looks, we got the ball going inside out. Quinn came out hit a few and then Luke and Ty as well, so when you get those guys in rhythm good things happen,” Newton coach Michael Cantrell stated.
In the 2nd quarter Cornett added another 3-ball along with one from junior Brady Wackler.
Seeing Wackler hit made Cantrell happy as he applauded the effort his junior puts forth on the floor.
“Everything started to really click for him the last couple of weeks and it’s really exciting because he is a kid you want to have success, he plays his role extremely well, guards well, takes great shots and makes great decisions,” Cantrell praised.
In total the Indians made 7 triples in the 1st half and 2 old-fashioned 3-point plays one from junior center Max Newhouse and another from Peters on a drive to the tin.
Newton would take a 31-19 lead into the break.
The Indians spent all their long-distance arrows in the 1st half running offense and trying to work the ball inside adding 11 points in the 3rd quarter spreading the ball around with 6 guys scoring and holding a 42-30 lead heading into the final frame.
It would become simple target practice in the 4th quarter with the Indians going 10-for-14 from 15’ closing out the contest with the 54-39 win to advance to the 2nd round of the OHSAA tournament.
Newton was led by Quinn Peters with 19 points, Luke Cornett 15, Ty Schauer 6, Max Newhouse 5, Austin Tippie 4, Brady Wackler 3 and Rhett Koffer 2.
“I’m proud of the kids, going into this game we knew we wanted to keep them out of transition, we did a decent job of that and getting off to a good start was big,” Cantrell commented.
“I thought in the second half, we executed better, especially when they went to their trap, we got the ball moving against them. And so, it’s good to see us execute and get to the rim I was pretty excited about that and only give up 39 points on defense was big as well. It was great to get the win and move on,” Cantrell concluded.
Newton would record their 14th win of the season and will advance to play Emmanuel Christian Tuesday night at 7:30pm at Troy high School.
