By Amanda Perkins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
It was a tale of two halves in the championship game of the Family Pharmacy Panther Classic Saturday night; down by 9 at halftime, the top-seeded Norwood Pirates came out shooting in the second half to win 57-46 against the Marshfield Blue Jays (6-seed).
“We got in this tournament to get better,” said Norwood head coach Shane Chadwell. “We played some bigger schools, talented schools, and anyone could have won this tournament. The six seed was playing for the championship. It was a good, evenly-matched tournament. Fortunately, we came out on top, and we could do it all again and it could shake out differently.”
The Pirates got off to a slow start, ending the first quarter with a 16-4 deficit. Blue Jay Zach Mings put up 8 points in the frame, including a dunk, and teammate Luke Cochran added a bucket and two from the free throw line.
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“We played the worst half of basketball in the first,” said Coach Chadwell. “We couldn’t find a bucket and missed layups and free throws. They hit a few shots and we only scored four points in 12 minutes, which is uncharacteristic of us.”
In the second quarter, Garrett Davault added 8 of Norwood’s 12 points, and Mings put up 7 of Marshfield’s 9, including another dunk and a three-point play. The Pirates entered the half trailing 25-16.
“We woke up a little at halftime and came out with some energy and started hitting shots,” said Chadwell. “When you hit shots, you play a little harder on defense. We started to get some pressure up front, which was our goal from the beginning, but we obviously couldn’t do that in the first half. (The Blue Jays) are long and athletic and gave us some problems and we had to make adjustments,” he added.
After tallying 15 points in the first half, Mings found himself in foul trouble and was scoreless in the final two frames.
Jacob Sinning opened the third with a bucket underneath, starting a scoring run for the Pirates. Davault added two from the charity stripe and Justin Chadwell connected in the paint. Davault connected again, this time from downtown.
Tegen Curley answered for Marshfield with his own three. Norwood forced a turnover with full-court pressure, and Davault once again fired a trey. The crowd went wild as the Pirates took the lead for the first time in the game and never looked back.
In the final frame, Norwood added 18 points to Marshfield’s 12, including 6 from Gavin McGraw and 5 from Davault.
“Garrett had some great shots for us,” said Chadwell of the tournament MVP and leading scorer. “Our two freshmen (Peyton McDaris and Noah Drake) also came in and gave us some defensive energy. We really got them some pressure up front, and they were big contributors but not just tonight, but for this whole tournament. They came in and gave us lifts off the bench and gave high energy on defense.”
Norwood will travel to Fordland Tuesday, and Marshfield hosts Reeds Spring Friday night.
Members of the All-Tournament Team: Garrett Davault, Norwood (MVP); Scottie Osborn, Willow Springs; Jacob Sinning, Norwood; Zach Mings, Marshfield; Grant Culver, Hartville; and Gage Blevins, Forsyth.
Scoring for Norwood: Garrett Davault, 28; Gavin McGraw, 8; Jacob Sinning, 8; Justin Chadwell, 6; Peyton McDaris, 4; Max McGowan, 3.
Scoring for Marshfield: Zach Mings, 15; Peyton McBride, 10; Owen Curley, 8; Tegen Curley, 7; Luke Cochran, 4; Merrick Dennis, 2.
