Warriors Pull Out A Big Win At The Nest!
It was Senior Night at North Judson-San Pierre High School Friday Night. The ceremony did not take much time, as Bluejays lone Senior Trey Hampton was honored in front of his home crowd prior to the start of the Hoosier North Athletic Conference battle with the Winamac Warriors.
The game would feature a constant back-and-forth between the two longtime rivals, with turnovers being a slight issue, but nothing too extreme for either team. Only five lead changes and three ties would occur throughout the game, as the two teams jockeyed for position in the HNAC race. Winamac would get off to a good start, pulling ahead by five points at the end of the first quarter, despite turning the ball over five times. Winamac Junior Russell Compton would be the biggest scoring force for either team throughout the ballgame. Looking to attack the basket, the multifaceted Compton would take advantage of gaps in the Bluejay defense throughout the first half, on his way to thirteen first half points. On the flip side, the Bluejay offense would struggle to find the hoop in ways other than the free-throw line, as eight of their fifteen first half points would come at the line. Much of that had to do with the defensive strategy of Winamac.
Throughout the game, the Warriors would spend time shifting from a man-to-man defense into a 2-3 zone. On some possessions the Warriors would trap along the sidelines and in the corners, while on other possessions it would be more of a “protect the paint” strategy, keeping the Bluejay defense off balance throughout the game.
“Our defense was pretty good” Winamac Head Coach Alan Huggler said following the win. “I give our guys credit, we buckled a little bit, but we didn’t break in the third quarter. We’ve had sort of an achilles heel of one quarter really hurting us, but tonight we were able to power through that. We have some great leadership out there on the court”.
The two rivals would play one another completely even in the second quarter, with each team putting up seven points. The turnovers continued to be even between the two teams, with each team committing nine in the first half. Winamac would turn the ball over five times in the first quarter, with four turnovers in the second, while North Judson flipped those totals, tallying four turnovers in the first quarter and five in the second. When the horn sounded to end the first half, it was Winamac holding onto a five point lead at 20-15. Illustrating how evenly the first half was played, the two teams were tied in total rebounds with twenty-two, Winamac had six steals to North Judson’s five, North Judson had the edge in points at the free-throw line, while Winamac held the edge in made three-point shots.
The second half would see the seesaw battle continue, with North Judson owning the momentum for most of the third quarter, outscoring the Warriors 11-5 to take a one point lead at 26-25 the the horn sounded. Junior Blayne Wilcox and Sophomore Cheyenne Allen would be the main scoring forces for the ‘Jays throughout the second half, as the two would combine for twelve points, many of which came in the third quarter. Perhaps the biggest surpriser the Warriors, from a scoring standpoint, would come in the person of Carson Bennett. After having been completely shut out of the scoring column in the first half, the Senior would put up all seven of his points in the final two quarters, providing a little relief offensively for Compton, who still managed to put up seven points of his own in the half.
In the end, it would be the consistency of Winamac on offense that would be the biggest difference in the game. In the first half, only one of the Warriors’ twenty points would come from the free-throw line, while the Bluejays had eight of their fifteen come at the line. Down the stretch, however, the Warriors free-throw shooting would come up big, as they knocked down nine out of twelve attempts at the line, in helping inch their way passed the Bluejays on the road.
It was truly a balanced matchup at North Judson High School Friday night. At game’s end both teams logged twenty-two rebounds and eight steals as teams. North Judson held the edge in total points at the line (fifteen compared to Winamac’s ten), while Winamac held the edge in free throw percentage (hitting 71% of their free-throws to North Judson’s 65%). Both teams would see five players score at least one point. The two teams would combine for five made three-point shots (Winamac-3, NJ-2) with all made attempts coming from five different individuals.
The Starke County Co-op Play of the Game on WKVI came with 1:35 remaining in the game, with the score tied at thirty-three, Winamac’s Beau Brandt rebounded a missed Winamac free-throw, and put it in for his only basket of the second half, giving the Warriors the lead at thirty-five to thirty-three on their way to the victory.
The Ashley Derrickson/Five Star Player of the Game on WKVI went to Winamac Junior Russell Compton, who scored a game-high twenty points, hitting five of six free-throw attempts, while also hitting a three-point shot, and leading the Warriors in rebounding with six of their twenty-two.
Game Statistics
Scoring
Winamac(39): Trent Fox-1, Carson Bennett-7, Russell Compton-20, Matt Swartzell-5, Beau Brandt-6
North Judson(33): Kelson Jordan-7, Blayne Wilcox-8, Payton Cox-2, Ty Schumacher-8, Cheyenne Allen-8
Made 3-Point Field Goals
Winamac(3): Russell Compton-1, Matt Swartzell-1, Beau Brandt-1
NJSP(2): Kelson Jordan-1, Cheyenne Allen-1
Free-Throws
NJSP: 15-23 65%
Winamac: 10-14 71%
Rebounding
NJSP(22): Kelson Jordan-10, Blayne Wilcox-3, Kason Sanchez-2, Payton Cox-3, Ty Schumacher-1, Owen Frasure-1, Cheyenne Allen-2
Winamac(22): Ryan Gregor-1, Jaden Terry-1, Trent Fox-4, Carson Bennett-1, Russell Compton-6, Matt Swartzell-2, Alex Stark-2, Beau Brandt-5
Steals
NJSP(8): Blayne Wilcox-1, Trey Hampton-2, Payton Cox-1, Cheyenne Allen-4
Winamac(8): Ryan Gregor-1, Trent Fox-2, Carson Bennett-2, Matt Swartzell-2, Beau Brandt-1
*Statistical Information In This Article Provided By Kankakee Valley Broadcasting Staff. These Are Not Official Game Statistics*
