Published: December 15, 2007 12:05 am            

Tigers pushed to the limit

Northwestern edges Mac in thrilling back-and-forth game

Northwestern still has an unblemished record for the 2007-08 season, but the 5-0 Tigers got all they wanted, and more from 0-4 Maconaquah Friday night.

There were four ties and 14 lead changes before Class 3A No. 2 Northwestern took the lead for good, 49-47, early in the fourth quarter, then held on for a 62-56 victory.

“That was a lot of fun,” Maconaquah’s first-year head coach Luke Zartman said. “You don’t get too many opportunities to play the No. 2 defending state champs. We told our kids to grab that opportunity. This is what Indiana basketball is supposed to be all about.”

The first three quarter’s couldn’t have been much closer. Northwestern led 13-12 at the first stop, Maconaquah edged ahead 31-30 at halftime, then the Tigers regained the lead, 46-45 after three. Maconaquah’s Jarrid Bradley hit a jumper from the right corner to give the Braves a 47-46 lead just seconds into the fourth quarter, then the defending Class 2A state champions scored five unanswered points to take the upper hand.

The Braves battled back to as close as 57-56 with 1:19 to go, but 5-of-6 shooting from the free-throw line by Josh Maggard and Brayden Merrell clinched the game for the Tigers.

Northwestern’s coach, Jim Gish, was not as excited about the game as Zartman.

“We allowed them to control the tempo of the game and I thought we were lethargic all night,” Gish said. “We made a lot of careless passes and just didn’t play good fundamental basketball. I think we missed Kirk [Beachy] tonight. Without him we didn’t have the perimeter defensive pressure we wanted.”

Maconaquah’s schedule has been brutal. The Braves have played 4-0 Marion, 3-1 North Miami, 5-0 Oak Hill and 5-0 Northwestern.

“Our guys have been getting a little down on themselves, but we explained to them that not many teams have faced opponents who are 17-1,” Zartman said. “We haven’t posted a win yet, but playing this type of competition has helped us identify our weaknesses and work on them. We have improved so much each week. If we can just keep this effort level and focus we’ll benefit down the road.”

Sophomore Nick George was certainly focused. The 5-foot-10 guard hit 8-of-15 field-goal attempts and 4-of-4 from the line to lead the Braves with 22 points. He and Northwestern’s Maggard went at each other all night, putting on a great offensive show.

Maggard won the battle as well as the war, but just by the narrowest of margins. The Northwestern senior point guard hit 6-of-11 fielders and 8-of-9 from the line for a game-high 23 points.

“It seemed like every time we dug a little hole Josh would come down and hit a bit 3,” Gish said. “He also caused them some problems penetrating their zone defense. Brayden Merrell also played well at both ends of the floor.”

Maggard hit three treys in the third quarter to keep Northwestern in the game, and penetrated and made a nice pass inside to Zavier Sanders for a dunk late in the third. Sanders finished with 13 points and 8 rebounds. Merrell also scored 13.

Jarrid Bradley and Kodi Deisch added 16 and 10, respectively, for Maconaquah.

“Kodi and Jarrid are the heart of our basketball team,” Zartman said. “They are seniors and they want it so badly the other guys follow their lead. They got us off to a good start in the first half and kids of carried us on their shoulders.”

Northwestern hosts the Frankfort Hot Dogs Wednesday. The Braves go right back into action tonight when Mississinewa visits Miami County.

        

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