The New Philadelphia boys' basketball team (8-4, 5-3) is on a roll, with Colton Slaughter leading the Quakers to four straight wins.
The New Philadelphia and Wooster (5-7, 4-4) boys’ basketball teams battled all four quarters, but the Quakers ended up on the winning side with a 47-42 victory over the Generals on Jan. 9.
“It was a tough physical game,” said New Philadelphia Coach Zach Ross. “We did a nice job of executing down the stretch, which is something we are continuing to improve on each game. Every game is tough in the OCC conference, especially on the road. It was another positive step forward to keep our composure late in the game, and get out with a hard fought win.”
The Generals opened the game with a basket but Carson Crandall responded with a three to put the Quakers up by one. With the score 5-4 Quakers, Anthony Carmean of Wooster nailed a corner three to put the Generals up by two. With less than a minute left in the quarter and the Quakers down 9-6, Colton Slaughter sank a shot from deep to tie the game.
New Philadelphia was up 18-11 in the second quarter, but Brady Bowen poked away the ball for a steal and took it to the hoop for a fast break score to make it an 18-13 game in favor of the Quakers with 4:30 on the clock. Just seconds later, Bowen had another steal that he took to the basket for a score in traffic. He was fouled on the play but didn’t hit the free throw, so it was an 18-15 game with New Philadelphia leading. The strong defense by the Generals continued with Aidan Holford stealing the ball and racing down the court for a fast break score to cut the lead to one. Bowen then nailed a three to give the Generals a 20-18 lead, capping a 9-0 run. Slaughter responded moments later, with just under three minutes to go in the half, with a three from the top of the key to give the Quakers a 21-20 lead. With 1:45 left in the half Wooster was up 22-21, but Owen Miller drained a deep ball to give the Quakers a 24-22 lead. New Philadelphia had a 26-24 lead going into the locker room.
The third quarter was evenly matched, as well, with New Philadelphia outscoring Wooster 13-12. It was a 28-24 lead for the Quakers with 5:30 left, but Bowen sank a three for the Generals to cut the lead to one. It was a 30-29 Quaker lead, but Bowen got his hand in for a steal and took it to the hoop to take a one point lead. The see-saw battle continued with Wooster up 31-30, and Reid Wells nailed a three for New Philadelphia to regain the lead for the Quakers, 33-31. New Philadelphia was up 36-31 with 1:13 left when Anthony Sines drilled a three from the corner to go up by nine.
In the fourth quarter New Philadelphia had a 45-39 lead with under 30 seconds left, and the Quakers found some breathing room with a three by Sines to make it a nine point game. The Quakers outscored the Generals 8-6 in the quarter and held on for the big conference win.
Slaughter led the Quakers with 14 points, including a pair of threes and going 6-for-7 from the charity stripe. He also tacked on five rebounds and one assist. Owen Miller also hit double figures with 10 points, hitting all three of his shots, including two threes. He also was 2-for-2 from the foul line, grabbed a rebound and had a couple of dimes. Boston Crowell had eight points, three boards and three assists, while Wells had seven points, three rebounds and two assists. Owen Schoelles had five points and five rebounds in the win.
“Colton continues to score well, he always finds ways to impact the game offensively and defensively,” Coach Ross said. “Owen shoots the ball really well and plays hard defensively, it gives us another option to shoot the ball, it’s hard to defend when we are shooting it well. Those are two seniors, along with Owen Schoelles, that we depend on to lead this team.”
Wooster's Bowen led all scorers with 16 points, and also had two rebounds, an assist and three steals. Holford also hit double digits with 10 points, and was close to a double-double with nine boards. He also had an assist and a steal. Sines scored six points and had a rebound in the game. Carmean had five points and two boards.
The Quakers also beat Mount Vernon (6-7, 4-4) 43-28 with Slaughter and Miller leading the way with 12 and 11 points apiece. They finished out the week with a 42-32 win over Claymont (6-7, 5-4), with Slaughter putting up 18 points.
The team is certainly trending upward, but Coach Ross said the Quakers need to keep pushing to fine tune their game.
“It’s never perfect, and we need to continue to improve offense and defensive habits, but we continue to improve every game we take the floor,” Ross said.
