Northmor 60, Danville 54
Danville (6-12, 2-9) made a big second-half run against KMAC rival Northmor (10-6, 8-3), and while the Blue Devils had three players in double figures, Jax Wenger was able help the Golden Knights fend off Danville, 60-54, on Jan. 24.
Northmor was up 10-4 in the first quarter, when Danville's Grant Bentley connected on four foul shots to make it 10-8 after one.
In the second quarter, Wenger put Northmor up 17-9 with a three. Then, with 4:25 on the clock, he stepped in front of a Danville pass and took it to the hoop, making it a 21-9 lead for Northmor. The Knights took a 29-15 lead into the locker room.
Danville came out with authority in third quarter, outscoring Northmor 18-12 and cutting the lead to eight at 41-33. With six minutes left in third, Wenger hit a three to put Northmor up 46-37, which was followed by a Max Lower steal on the next Danville possession.
Danville scored 21 points in the fourth quarter, but the Northmor squad scored 19 to keep the pace and fend off the surging Blue Devils in a six-point win. Hunter Fulk hit seven free throws in the quarter and Wenger added five points.
“Another exciting game,” Northmor Coach Blade Tackett said. “Jax Wenger did a great job handling the tempo and scoring 20 for us while he was sick. Hunter Fulk, with huge free throws down the stretch to hold the lead. Danville is a tough team and playing at Danville is always a tough environment. They will be a dangerous team in the Central District and we realize it’s possible we see them again."
Leading the Golden Knights was Wenger with 20 points, including five makes from beyond the arc. Bentley had 10 points and Fulk scored eight points. Danville was led by Walker Weckesser with 17 points. Spencer Payne had 11 and Max Payne scored 10 points.
Cardington-Lincoln 52, East Knox 51 (OT)
Cardington-Lincoln (5-13, 2-7) and East Knox (2-13, 0-9) were lockstep most of the game, but AJ Hall had a big fourth quarter and had a hot hand from deep to lead the Pirates to a 52-51 win in overtime.
The Pirates went up 7-4 after one quarter, with Gavyn Crockett hitting a three. C-L made it a 20-15 lead at the half. AJ Brehm hit three shots for six points in the quarter. Dustin Springer scored four points for EK.
Both teams scored 18 points in the third quarter, with Jax Lester scoring five for East Knox and Journey Williamson draining a pair of threes for six points to lead the Pirates. Going into the fourth quarter, C-L was ahead 38-33 and they were able to hold on for a 52-51 in an overtime win. Cardington-Lincoln was led by Hall’s eight points down the stretch, which included a pair of threes to help secure the win.
“It wasn’t pretty by any means, but we made enough defensive stops and hit some timely shots to win the game,” Cardington-Lincoln coach Jason Rice said. “Overall, I thought we did a pretty good job defending and limiting their second-chance points. There are some things we need to work on and continue to improve, but I told the kids it’s always good to learn from these things after getting a win."
Hall led the Pirates with 14 points, including four from deep, and Williamson scored 12 points. Lester scored 14 points for East Knox and Wesney had 13.
Fredericktown 78, Mount Gilead 46
Fredericktown (11-6, 10-0) stayed perfect in KMAC play thanks to another big scoring night for Kaid Carpenter in a 78-46 blowout win over Mount Gilead (8-8, 5-5) on Jan. 24.
In the first quarter, Fredericktown was up 5-0, but Carter Kennon sank a three to make it a two-point game. Fredericktown was up 7-5 when Kennon nailed a three to put the Indians up by one. Brady Lester then gave Fredericktown the lead when he drained a wide-open corner three to go up by two and the Freddies led 15-8 after one.
In the second quarter, Rowan Fitzpatrick hit a three for Mount Gilead to make it a 17-11 game in favor of the Freddies. Luke Bean hit a three from the corner to go up 20-11. He then rainbowed another to make it 27-14, and later hit his third shot from deep in the quarter to put the Freddies up 35-14.
The Freddies led 55-32 after three and finished the game strong with a 23-14 fourth quarter.
Carpenter led with 24 points on 9-for-16 shooting, including 2-for-3 from three. He added nine boards, six assists and a pair of steals. There were three other Freddies in double digits: Bean had 15 points and was 5-for-9 from three; Trevor Bellman scored 12 points; and Lester had 11 points and eight rebounds.
Bland is the leading scorer in KMAC this season at about 21 points per game, but the Freddies did well keeping him to 12 points on 3-for-10 shooting. Kennon had 13 points.
“(I am) really proud of our discipline defensively,” Fredericktown coach Derek Dibling said. “The guys did a great job slowing down an elite scorer in Bland. Offensively, we got big-time contributions from everyone, bench included. Guys did a great job of getting to their spots and making the extra pass.”
