Warriors Fend Off Soaring Bluejays!

Friday night did not disappoint area basketball fans at Winamac Community High School, as the old rivalry between Winamac and North Judson-San Pierre High School was every bit as exciting as fans hoped it would be!

The first quarter would see an instantly exciting battle, as the two teams were able to provide quality plays both offensively as well as defensively. The two stars for each team were in prime form, as North Judson’s Cooper Hochstedler and Winamac’s Will Larkin would each put up 24 points in the effort to lead their teams in that category. Larkin would have a game-high 18 points at the half, as the Warriors held a slight 31-25 lead at intermission.

With much of the defensive focus put on Winamac’s Will Larkin, perhaps the biggest surprise of the evening would come from Winamac’s Shayden May. The 6’1 Senior was unconscious from behind the 3-point line, knocking down an incredible five 3-pointers in the winning effort. The combination of Larkin and May would account for 41 of the team’s 53 points against the ‘Jays!

For the Bluejays, the bulk of the highlights would come from Senior Cooper Hochstedler, who had a well balanced game, putting up 11 points in the first half, with 13 in the second to go along with 5 steals and 7 rebounds. Hochstedler would also reach a major career milestone as he was able to reach the 1,000 point mark for his career!

The Warriors would be able to do just enough to hold on for the 3-point win against their rivals from Starke County. The win also gave the Warriors control of the Hoosier North Athletic Conference traveling trophy! Shayden May would earn the Ashley Derrickson/Five Star Player of the Game honors on WKVI for his 17 point performance in helping his team get the big conference win!

Game Statistics

Scoring:

Winamac(53): Will Larkin-24, Trent Fox-5, Carson Bennett-2, Russell Compton-5, Shayden May-17

NJ(50): Cooper Hochstedler-24, Blayne Wilcox-2, Trey Hampton-9, Payton Cox-7, Ty Schumacher-7

Rebounding:

NJ(18): Cooper Hochstedler-7, Tanner Craig-1, Blayne Wilcox-3, Trey Hampton-4, Payton Cox-1, Ty Schumacher-2

Winamac(16): Will Larkin-5, Brayden Lynch-1, Carson Bennett-1, Russell Compton-6, Shayden May-2

Steals:

NJ(12): Cooper Hochstedler-5, Tanner Craig-1, Trey Hampton-3, Payton Cox-2, Ty Schumacher-1

Winamac(3): Will Larkin-1, Carson Bennett-1, Russell Compton-1

3-point FGs:

NJ(8): Cooper Hochstedler-3, Trey Hampton-3, Payton Cox-1, Ty Schumacher-1