{"id":32399,"date":"2026-01-17T13:09:22","date_gmt":"2026-01-17T18:09:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/?p=32399"},"modified":"2026-01-17T13:09:24","modified_gmt":"2026-01-17T18:09:24","slug":"scoreless-stretch-dooms-bellmont-hopes-of-victory-over-norwell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/17\/scoreless-stretch-dooms-bellmont-hopes-of-victory-over-norwell\/","title":{"rendered":"Scoreless stretch dooms Bellmont hopes of victory over Norwell"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

RANDY HISNER<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

WZBD.com<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

DECATUR – Two second-half scoring droughts doomed the Bellmont Braves Friday night at the Teepee in a 69-61 loss to NE8 rival Norwell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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After holding a 35-31 halftime lead, Bellmont (5-7, 0-3 in the NE8) went scoreless for the first 5:07 of the third period while Norwell (8-4, 2-1) scored 11 points to go up by seven at 42-35.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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New storefront open in Decatur!<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Braves fought back with an 11-4 run of their own to tie it at 46-46 before Norwell\u2019s Josh McBride hit two free throws with 1.9 seconds left to make it 48-46.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Though he got most of his 31 points from three-point land, the Braves’ Daniel Selking wasn’t afraid to attack the hoop. (Photo by Randy Hisner)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

But scoring woes came back to bite the Braves again in the final frame, as the Knights scored the first five points, on Cooper Bunn\u2019s drive and Noah Comer\u2019s three. The Knights gave up a bucket to the Braves\u2019 Cam Summers, then sealed Bellmont\u2019s fate with a devastating 10-0 run\u2014ignited by four points each from Bunn and Drew Jolley\u2014to put them up by 15 at 63-48 with 2:19 left.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bellmont didn\u2019t score again until Daniel Selking completed a rare four-point play\u2014he was fouled on a three-pointer from deep and hit the free throw\u2014at the 2:00 mark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Daniel Selking displays great body control on this drive into the Norwell defense. (Photo by Randy Hisner)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Selking scored seven more points in the final two minutes, but it wasn\u2019t enough to get the Braves back within reach of the disciplined Norwell squad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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WZBD’s Randy Hisner spoke with Coach Selking after the loss Friday night. <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The two quarter-opening scoring slumps lasted a combined 11:07, during which the Braves scored just two points. What\u2019s astounding is that in just under five minutes outside of the dry spells the Braves scored 24 second-half points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Bellmont guard Jake Hackman protects the ball against the intense Norwell defense. (Photo by Randy Hisner)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have stretches where we just can’t buy a bucket,\u201d lamented Bellmont coach Payton Selking. \u201cThat stretch there the first five minutes of the third quarter is what killed us. I thought we had great momentum going into the half. I told our guys at halftime, \u2018Hey, you have to go win these first four minutes of the third, come out with energy,\u2019 and I didn’t think we did that. We came out a little flat.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Beau Baker goes up for a contested shot inside. (Photo by Randy Hisner)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

That momentum Selking referred to came from the Braves\u2019 11-3 run to close the second quarter and take them from a 28-24 deficit to a 35-31 lead. The surge was capped in dramatic fashion by Selking\u2019s three-pointer from well beyond the arc with three seconds on the clock. It was one of Selking\u2019s eight long-range makes on his way to a game-high 31 points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Freshman Easton Baker defends against Norwell’s Nick McBride, who scored 15 points. (Photo by Randy Hisner)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Norwell held a slight 16-14 lead after the opening quarter, with brothers Nick McBride (eight points) and Josh McBride (six points) leading the way. Jack Schultz\u2019s seven points paced the Braves in the period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Coach Selking liked the resilience the Braves showed at times after Norwell rallies. \u201cWe fight, and we fight, and we fight, and then we kind of flip the switch and do all the little things that are necessary to get back in the game,\u201d he said. \u201cWe just have to limit those scoring droughts. It can’t be a five-minute drought to start the third. If you go scoreless for two minutes, fine. You trust that you can get stops on the defensive end, but when you go five minutes without scoring, a good team like Norwell, as efficient as they are offensively, they’re going to take advantage of that, and they did.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Bellmont’s Cam Summers skies for two of his 15 points. (Photo by Randy Hisner)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The game was fast paced and intense, both teams playing gritty man-to-man defense. Yet there were relatively few turnovers. The Braves had 11, the Knights six. \u201cThey do a good job taking care of the basketball,\u201d said Coach Selking of the Knights. \u201cVery, very fundamentally sound, always have been, and as long as Coach (Mike) McBride is there, they always will be.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Here’s Selking knocking down a three with three seconds left in the first half to put the Braves up 35-31. (Photo by Randy Hisner)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Bellmont scoring: Selking 31 (2-7, 8-17, 3-5 FT), Summers 15 (6-9, 0-2, 3-3 FT), Jack Schultz 10 (2-4-2-2, 0-0 FT), Jake Hackman 3 (0-1, 1-1, 0-0 FT), Beau Baker 2 (1-2, 0-0, 0-0 FT)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Norwell scoring: Josh McBride 18 (3-7, 1-5, 9-14 FT), Nick McBride 15 (2-2, 3-8, 2-4 FT), Bunn 13 (5-5, 1-2, 0-2 FT), Jolley 10 (5-7, 0-0, 0-0 FT), Comer 10 (2-9, 1-3, 3-3 FT), Cade Thornton 3 (0-0, 1-2, 0-0 FT)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shooting stats: Norwell 17-31(55%) on twos, 7-21 (33%) on threes, 14-23 (61%) on free throws. Bellmont 11-24 on twos (46%), 11-22 (50%) on threes, 6-8 (75%) on free throws.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Norwell won the JV game, 49-48. Malachi Lavine led the Braves with 18 points. Luke Summers added nine, Lawton Bultemeier eight. Norwell was paced by Collin McAtee\u2019s 17 and Cash Fegley\u2019s 12.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bellmont will travel to Northrop on Wednesday, January 21.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

RANDY HISNER WZBD.com DECATUR – Two second-half scoring droughts doomed the Bellmont Braves Friday night at the Teepee<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":32404,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[41,15,46,26],"class_list":["post-32399","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-basketball","tag-featured","tag-norwell","tag-sports"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wzbd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/IMG_6287-scaled.jpeg?fit=2560%2C2207&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32399","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32399"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32399\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32408,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32399\/revisions\/32408"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32404"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32399"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32399"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32399"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}