The Northmor Golden Knights have secured the Knox Morrow Athletic Conference Crown, and have been playing their best basketball of the season with seven straight wins.
Northmor 65, Cardington-Lincoln 57
Jax Wenger played his best game of the season with a double-double in a 65-57 win over Cardington-Lincoln on Jan. 31, making it six straight victories for the Northmor boys’ basketball team.
“We had a gritty and tough win against an extremely tough Cardington team,” Northmor Coach Blade Tackett said. “We got contributions from all 7 of our guys who played and had great energy and communication from our bench the entire night. We showed a lot of toughness tonight in a packed gym with a game that had a ton of stakes.”
It was a tight game to start with Northmor up 8-7, when Wenger came away with a steal that led to a Drew Hammond three to put the Golden Knights up by four points. With 3:10 left in the first quarter, AJ Bower hit a three to make it a 14-9 lead. After a Pirate bucket, Wenger came away with another steal and took it all the way to the basket. The ball bounced out but Isaac Black was right there for the put back layup to put Northmor up 16-11 with 2:05 left. Northmor led 18-14 after one quarter.
In the second quarter, Bentley blocked a shot from behind to regain possession. Cardington-Lincoln was able to pull within one with the score 28-27, but Wenger nailed a three with 1:40 left in the half to go up 31-27. At halftime Northmor led 31-30.
Cardington-Lincoln had a 34-33 lead in the third, but Wenger hit another three to put Northmor up 36-34. He had the hot hand from deep, and hit another three to make go up 43-38. Northmor led 46-38 at the end of three.
Cardington-Lincoln put up a fight in the fourth, tying the game twice with AJ Hall hitting three straight threes. Tackett said despite Hall having the team’s number, the Golden Knights showed toughness to in the win. Bower was huge in the quarter, as he took a charge, came up with a key steal and had a breakaway layup with less than a minute on the clock to put the Golden Knights up by three. Both teams scored 19 points in the quarter and Northmor held on win.
“I thought hustle plays made the difference,” Coach Tackett said. “We dove on two key loose balls in the fourth quarter that lead to timeouts and possessions for us.
The Golden Knights shot 50%, and they were also 7-for-10 from the foul line and 6-for-16 from three. Cardington-Lincoln shot 41.8%, going 7-for-21 from three and 4-for-5 from the charity stripe. Northmor dominated in the paint with 34 points, compared to 18 for the Pirates. The Golden Knights led 36-22 in boards, 16-14 in assists and 2-0 in blocks. Cardington-Lincoln had a 10-6 steals advantage.
Wenger narrowly missed a triple-double, with a line of 22 points, 10 rebounds, nine assists and five steals. He was 4-for-5 from three.
“Jax Wenger simply willed us to victory,” Coach Tackett said. “He never came off the floor. He handled the ball all game against the relentless pressure of Cardington. He hit two huge threes in the second half and had some great finishes. Simply a master class from this young man.”
Bentley leads the KMAC in scoring and had 17 points, four boards, one steal and one block. Hammond had 15 points and eight rebounds in the win. Bower scored five points to go with four rebounds and two assists. Hunter Fulk had two points, three rebounds and one assist. Isaac Black and Bryson Keirns each had two points, with Black adding four rebounds and Keirns with two boards.
Cardington-Lincoln was led by AJ Brehm’s 17 points. He had a rebound, an assist and a steal, as well. Warren Garrison had 13 points, two rebounds, two assists and three steals. AJ Hall put up 11 points, four rebounds, an assist and a steal. Kalin Briggs had a solid all around night with six points, nine assists, four rebounds and three steals. Journey Williamson had six points, two rebounds and two steals. Isaac Ward put hit a three, and added four rebounds and an assist. Merek McClure had four rebounds and hit a foul shot.
"Northmor was a tough game and we knew it would be a heavy weight battle till the end of the game," said Cardington-Lincoln Coach Jason Rice. "Credit to Northmor for making the plays to win the game."
Coach Tackett said he was “extremely proud” of the Northmor squad after the gutsy win.
“This team has shown a lot of resilience on and off the floor this year and I think that experience helped us win last night,” Coach Tackett said.
Northmor 81, Danville 50
Hunter Fulk turned in his best game in a Northmor basketball jersey with 28 points to lead the Golden Knights to a huge KMAC victory on Feb. 3 over Danville.
Northmor dominated the game from the start, going up 27-11 with Fulk putting up eight points in the first quarter. Grant Bentley was the top scorer for the Golden Knights with 11 points early.They piled on the points with a 20-8 second quarter, making it a 47-19 lead at the half. Danville had a huge third quarter with 22 points, and allowed 10 points that were all scored by Fulk. Ashton Spaulding was huge for the Blue Devils with eight points. Northmor finished with a 23-10 fourth quarter.
Fulk was 3-for-4 from three and went 10-for-15 from the field. He also tallied four assists, four steals and a pair of offensive rebounds. Bentley put up 21 points on 8-for-13 shooting, and was 3-for-5 from three. He also had six rebounds, two assists and two steals. Wenger tallied 11 points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals. The Golden Knights had nine threes in the game.
“A hot start from three and a career night from Hunter Fulk carried us to victory against Danville,” Coach Blade Tackett said. “I'm proud of the team for having the competitive edge and not taking this Danville team lightly that has been competing with some very good basketball teams. We came in with the right mindset and it's that attitude that has given us an edge all season and secured us a KMAC championship.”
