LEWISBURG — No matter what defense Tri-County North attempted to play against Newton it didn’t seem to matter.
The Panthers ran into a hot-shooting Indians team on Friday, Jan. 14, during a Western Ohio Athletic Conference game and dropped a 77-40 contest.
The Indians shot nearly 52 percent (30-for-58) from the field as they jumped out to an 18-6 first quarter lead and forced the Panthers to play from behind the rest of the game.
The Indians placed three players in double figures and knocked down eight 3-pointers on the night as they built a 31-16 halftime lead.
“That’s the difficult thing. That’s the reason they had won seven straight before this. It’s not even the pressure they put on your with defense, it’s the pressure they put on you with offense,” North coach Mitch McCurdy said. “I felt like we even stayed in front of them pretty well but their ball movement’s so good and the fact that you got to stick to all five of them, they really make you guard all five and that makes for good basketball. Their shot selection is definitely key to their success. They play with each other. And that’s the type of goal every team should really have and that’s the type of goal that we definitely have and we’re just working towards it.”
Hunter Gray led the Panthers with 10 points and two rebounds.
Jon Shirley added eight points and six rebounds. Luke Eby and Logan Flory each added six points. Eby also had five rebounds and three assists.
”Every day is kind of a grind but we’ve been blessed with the state of mind that we’re going to be committed to being better than what we’ve been before,” McCurdy said.
McCurdy credits the Panthers senior leadership for the team’s growth despite the results not showing on the scoreboard.
”The one thing is the seniors (Eby, Brett Woodyard and Braden McCloud) and Logan and John, they have been committed to competing every day in practice,” McCurdy said. “Our practices are 10 times better than what I saw in the summer. So the growth that we’re having it’s pretty awesome. We just got to see it trickle over here. These guys are committed and they show up every single day to practice we don’t have off days in practice. And that’s one thing I could say I’m really proud of.”
North (2-11, 0-7 WOAC), was scheduled to play at New Miami on Tuesday, Jan. 18. The Panthers will visit Mississinawa Valley on Friday and host Emmanuel Christian on Saturday.
