RANDY HISNER
WZBD.com
A 12-0 Huntington North run across the last four minutes of the second quarter and the first three of the third quarter propelled the Vikings to a 59-46 NE8 win over the Bellmont Braves Saturday at the Teepee.
The Braves’ Will Baker tied the game at 22-22 with a short baseline jumper with 3:53 left in the second quarter, but Bellmont (2-12, 0-4 NE8) would not score again until freshman Daniel Selking hit a jump shot with just under five minutes left in the third quarter. Meanwhile, the Vikings (7-6, 3-0) reeled off the last eight points in the second and first four of the third to take a 34-22 lead.
Though the Braves eventually made up some ground, they never got closer than five points the rest of the way.
“It was a stretch there in the second and then a three-to-four-minute stretch in the third that just kind of killed us,” lamented Bellmont coach Payton Selking.
Selking noted that the gritty Huntington North man-to-man defense made it hard for the Braves to get into an offensive rhythm.
“They just made us play really high,” he said. “They made our catches that should be toes on the three-point line, they pushed us back closer to the volleyball line. When you’re trying to run your stuff and you’re running it six or eight feet higher than what you should be, it makes post entry passes hard, it makes catch-and-shoots hard.”
It didn’t help that senior Viking guard Ethan Zahn—the best guard in the conference, according to Selking—delivered big play after big play. “He does everything for them,” praised Selking. Zahn scored 22 points, grabbed five rebounds, and dished out seven assists (with only one turnover).
It was Zahn who halted Gavin Krull’s single-handed, 57-second 8-0 run late in the third quarter—on two threes and a drive—that got the Braves within five, at 41-36, with 1:06 left. Zahn responded with a three from the left wing at the 41-second mark and a fast break layup at the buzzer, putting the Vikings up by ten.
It was also Zahn who helped maintain the Vikings’ double-digit lead in the fourth quarter by hitting four straight free throws when the Braves were forced to foul.
He got major help from 6-2 sophomore forward Nate Bowman, who scored nine of his 11 points in the fourth quarter.
The best quarter for the Braves was the opening one. Selking hit a three on the Braves’ first possession. Will Baker scored on a back cut and layup, and Krull sank two triples in the next few minutes to lift the Braves to an 11-5 lead with 3:27 to go. Selking and Krull each hit another three-pointer late in the period to make it a 17-13 Bellmont lead before Huntington’s Aaron Grogg narrowed the gap to one point with his buzzer-beating three.
The Vikings’ 14-5 dominance in the second quarter gave them a 30-22 lead at the half. The Braves made only two of twelve field goal attempts in the quarter, including 1-for-6 on threes after going 5-for-8 in the first period.
Krull spearheaded the Braves’ offense with 22 points. He also impressed Selking with his defense on the Vikings’ talented sophomore guard, Titus Schultz. “I thought Gavin Krull did an unbelievable job on their second-leading scorer, the Schultz kid,” he said. “To hold him to seven was a great effort by Gavin.” Schultz averages 14 points.
The Braves were 10-for-20 on twos (50%), 8-for-24 on threes (33%), and 2-for-4 on free throws (50%). The Vikings hit 15-of-29 twos (52%), 5-of-14 threes (36%), and 14-of-18 free throws (78%). Bellmont had 14 turnovers, Huntington North seven.
Bellmont’s Beau Baker led both teams in rebounds with eight. Selking had seven assists.
Bellmont scorers: Krull 22, Selking 8, Will Baker 6, Beau Baker 4, Cameron Summers 3, Jake Hackman 3.
Huntington North scorers: Zahn 22, Bowman 11, Blaine Freiburger 10, Schultz 7, Aaron Grogg 7, Isaac Grogg 2.
Huntington North won the JV game, 41-38. Isaac Baker led Bellmont with 18 points, Jack Schultz adding 11. Andrew McCutcheon led the Vikings with 13. Huntington North also won the freshman game, 36-27.
The Braves will travel to Leo next Saturday for another NE8 matchup.
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