RANDY HISNER
WZBD.com
It was All in the Family Night at the Norwell gym Friday as three sons of Knight coach Mike McBride combined for 47 points to spearhead a 67-54 win over the Adams Central Flying Jets.
Senior Adam McBride led the Knights (5-2) with 19 points, while kid brothers Josh (17 points) and Nick (11 points) backed him up. Nick is a sophomore and Josh just a freshman.
All three were deadly from the outside, Josh hitting four three-pointers, Nick and Adam three each. Together they were 10-for-24 from behind the arc.
When they weren’t dropping threes on the Jets (4-2), they were finding teammate Owen Wallis open inside, where he hit all five of his two-point attempts, adding three-of-four free throws for 13 points.
Four three-pointers in the first quarter helped the Knights jump to a 19-13 lead, despite eight points from the Jets’ Trace Maller, who led all scorers with 27 points.
Each McBride hit a three in the first two minutes of the second quarter to spark a 12-2 Norwell run that built a 31-15 lead at the 5:18 mark. The final bucket of that run was Josh McBride’s pullup three from the left wing on a fast break. During that same span, the Jets missed several three-point attempts.
“We kind of got into a three-point shooting contest with them for the first couple minutes of the second quarter,” lamented Adams Central coach Aaron McClure, “and that was a three-point contest that we lost very, very badly.”
The Jets’ Braylend Reber stopped the rally with a basket in the post, helping the Jets outscore the Knights 9-8 the rest of the quarter, but the opening streak had done its damage, and Norwell led 39-24 at the break.
McClure acknowledged that the Jets’ version of the 2-3 zone defense leaves his team vulnerable to a three-point attack. “You know, the way we play our zone, we try to be a little aggressive,” he said. “We try to force some turnovers out of it. We know we’re going to give up some three-point shots when we’re out pressuring the ball.
“When we were getting our traps, they were getting out of them,” McClure added. “Most of that was them just doing a really nice job passing the ball out of our trap. I was impressed with their passing tonight.”
With the McBride boys patrolling the perimeter, the Jet traps usually left one of them open, and they took advantage of it, making eight threes in the first half.
Fortunately for the Jets, the Knights cooled off from three-point land in the second half, hitting only two of nine attempts, and the Jets, forging a 14-10 third-quarter edge, creeped back to within 11 at 49-38. Maller and Reber combined for all of the Jets’ points in the period, each scoring seven.
When Maller opened the fourth quarter with a three from the left corner, the Jets, trailing 49-41, were within single digits for the first time since early in the second period. In the next 1:50, the Jets locked down the Knights’ offense and had three possessions but failed to score, squandering a chance to cut the lead further.
Willis ended drought with a pair of free throws at the 5:52 mark, and then Josh McBride found big brother Adam open on the left block and hit him with a bullet pass from the top of the key for an easy basket to make the lead 12 at 53-41.
Soon the Jets were forced to trap all over the floor, and the Knights successfully played keep away, eventually winning the final quarter, 18-16, to make the final margin.
Though disappointed with the loss, McClure remained upbeat. “I think these guys are starting to come into their own,” he said. “I think it’s going to be a good year. I was proud of them the second half. I thought we did a great job of getting back into the game. We battled back. We just didn’t get that play or two to really, really make it a ballgame to get it to four or five.”
Maller got 18 of his 27 points on 6-of-11 three-point shooting. Reber scored 16 for the Jets, Lawson Death 8, Marcus Bollenbacher 3.
The Knights won the JV game, 45-36. Trey Privett led Norwell with 20 points. For the Jets, Cooper Steele had nine, Ashton Yergler eight. The win puts the Norwell JV record at 5-2. Adams Central is 2-3.
The Jets’ next game is against county rival Bellmont at the Braves’ gym on Friday, January 3.
About the Author
