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By Amanda Perkins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
The Norwood Pirates are Summit League Conference Champions for the first time in 10 years.
The Pirates topped the Mansfield Lions at home Tuesday night, 71-62, in front of a packed house.
“I’m super proud of our kids, our school, our community,” said Norwood head coach Shane Chadwell. “This is a big deal. We’re the smallest school in our conference, and it is a really tough conference. We haven’t done this in ten years and we won it outright. We knew we had to take care of business to not be a three or four-way tie. Mansfield came in and hit us in the chin, and they are a good club, but we bounced back.”
Chadwell said his team’s application of pressure in the second began to turn the tide for Norwood, which closed the first quarter with an 8-point deficit.
“We also had some young kids come in and make some big shots,” he said. “Gavin McGraw and Noah Drake had big threes. Garrett Davault went out of the game with a nose issue and we went on a 6-0 run with him on the bench, so our bench was big for us and came in and gave us a lift. Justin Chadwell did a good job on their inside guy and grabbed some big boards. Garrett distributed the ball well, and Peyton McDaris had an and-one and some big threes for us. Collectively they came together and gave it their best shot.”
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“It was a good game, and they have a good squad,” said Mansfield head coach Cody Shelton. “We started out playing well in the first half, which gave us a chance, but they turned us over and gave us trouble getting into our offense in the second half. I think that was the difference in the game.”
Garrett Davault led all scorers with 22 points for Norwood, and Chase Cartwright added 20 for Mansfield. Teammate Tom Emerick had 19 points on the night.
“Tom had three threes, and Chase Cartwright, our point guard, did a good job until he fouled out at the end,” said Coach Shelton. “He attacked the basket and did a good job breaking the pressure.”
Mansfield came out of the gate hot with back-to-back threes from Chase Cartwright and Tom Emerick. Garrett Davault added two from the charity stripe, then drove the length of the floor for a layup to put Norwood on the board. Five quick points from London Dennis pushed the Lions ahead, but Davault answered with a shot from downtown. Stone Sawyers and Landen Campbell closed out the quarter with a bucket and a three, respectively, to take the 8-point lead for Mansfield.
In the second frame, Emerick extended the lead with another deep shot. Norwood’s Peyton McDaris made a layup closely followed by a layup and a foul shot, and Max McGowan connected for three. McDaris added his own from behind the arc, and as the Pirates applied pressure, they continued to chip away at Mansfield’s lead. McGowan, Davault, and Justin Chadwell each contributed from the free throw line in the quarter, then Davault hit a big three to tie the game. A floater from Cartwright took Mansfield into the locker room with a one-point lead.
The teams tied again late in the third, but a big three followed closely by a bucket from Noah Drake made the crowd go wild. Norwood led by three going into the final quarter, and Gavin McGraw’s 10 points in the fourth helped lead the Pirates to victory.
The Pirates host Lutie Thursday night and have a bye for the first round of district play. Mansfield will travel to Fordland Thursday night, then face Houston to begin the Class 3 District 10 tournament as the three seed.
Scoring for Mansfield: Chase Cartwright, 20; Tom Emerick, 19; London Dennis, 11; Landen Campbell, 5; Stone Sawyers, 4; Chase Kelley, 3.
Scoring for Norwood: Garrett Davault, 22; Gavin McGraw, 15; Max McGowan, 10; Peyton McDaris, 9; Justin Chadwell, 7; Noah Drake, 5; Jacob Sinning, 3.
