All you need to do is to want it more than the other team.
That’s according to Norwood Pirates’ head coach Shane Chadwell, who said a hard-hitting locker room talk at halftime kindled a fire under his squad, leading to a six-point road victory against the Fordland Eagles on Tuesday evening.
“In the first half, they (Fordland) wanted it more than we did,” Chadwell said. “We wanted it more in the second half, and we played hard to win it.”
The Eagles held onto a tenacious lead of 13-12 through the first quarter, which they had extended by halftime to 34-25.
“We actually laid it out there tonight and played with everything we had,” said Eagles head coach Terry Mitchell. “I felt like we actually wanted to be on the floor, wanted to compete, and wanted to win a game.”
After Chadwell’s heart-to-heart with his players at halftime, the Pirates came out with a press that led to three steals in the first few minutes of the third quarter and subsequent scoring, drawing the score to 38-37 in favor of the Eagles with five minutes left to play in the third.
“I challenged every one of my players at halftime, and they responded,” Chadwell said. “We changed the tempo of the game and forced some key turnovers.”
Foul trouble by 6’2” Fordland center Noah Abbasi landed him on the bench and the Eagles against the ropes with the score tied at 50-50 with 4:48 left in the contest. Abbasi would foul out with 2:30 left in the fourth quarter, quickly followed by senior guard Alex Matney. A series of key shots by the Pirates’ offense would lead to a 65-59 victory for the visiting team.
“We finished the game down the stretch,” Chadwell said. “Tonight, we were the guys who came from behind and completed the win.”
Mitchell complimented the strides made in his team’s defensive game, and looked forwarded to the future.
“Everyone played good defense, and played for each other,” he said. “Hopefully this is a turning point for us.”
Senior forward Max Malone led the Pirates with a game-high 26 points and 12 rebounds, while classmate Weston Chadwell scored 17 points and hit several key late free throws. Senior Joel Ogletree netted 12 points, while Rodney Dawson and A.J. Barnes rounded out the scoring, each with 5 points.
Junior guard Noah Sparks led the Eagles with 18 points, followed by Hunter Burks with 15. Abbasi netted 9, while sophomore Corey Sampaio contributed 8 points. Alex Matney scored 6 points, and freshman Jake Farnsworth rounded out the scoring with 3 points.
The Pirates’ record stood at 9-10 following the contest, while the Eagles were at 11-8.
Norwood:
12-25-46-65
Fordland:
13-34-48-59
