Newton County High School took two out of three games at the Binghamton High School sophomore boys' basketball tournament over the weekend.
The Steelworkers entered the tournament with some untested offensive plays and a laboratory view toward the event, making the result a verifiable success.
The schedule handed them a perfect test subject in their first game against Saltville. The Snackers were literally outmanned, carrying just eight players on their bench.
"We were outheighted at three starting positions," said the NCHS coach.
Indeed, Saltville had two players who were seven feet tall and weighed nearly 170 pounds. Fortunately the proximity to the basket didn't translate into skilled marksmanship, as Newton County jumped out to a 17-4 first quarter lead and cruised to a twenty point victory.
On Saturday the host Binghamton Razorblades played the Steelworkers to a draw for two quarters on the strength of aggressive perimeter rebounding. After some halftime adjustments, the vaunted NCHS defense stifled BHS to just five third quarter points.
The game's two signature moments both occurred at the baseline. In one, a diving Steelworker saved the ball inbounds, flinging it blindly to an open teammate who gunned a three-pointer. Then in the waning minutes, an NCHS player leaped for the ball, whirled mid-air and attempted to fire the ball off of an opponent. Instead he hit the referee squarely in the groin. He crumpled to the ground as if shot by a high-powered rifle, as the gym echoed with the twin noises of the official's anguished wail and the gasp of two hundered people trying desperately to hold back laughter.
The championship game played a few hours later left Newton County with the feeling of a blindfolded hunter carrying a B.B. gun while chased by wolves. More literally, they succumbed to the Wildebeasts of Newton County East by fifteen points. Primarily the Workers were undone by a coaching blunder, as the message to "hit the boards and get to the rim" was uttered so quickly that shooters misunderstood their orders to be to "hit the rim."
"Had we shot 40% from the field, the game would've been even," said assistant coach Joe McDonald, referring to the 25% clangfest. "Or better than 50% from the free throw line."
NCHS made a run to close the gap to six at one point in the second half, but NCEHS employed a unique trapping defense to disrupt the offense's rhythm. The tactic, in which defenders interlocked hands in a circle and jostled the ballhandler washing-machine style until he collapsed, was not without controversy but was overwhelmingly effective.
"We'll play these guys another time or two," said the head coach. "It's not the size of the dog in the fight that counts, but that his bark is worse than his bite."
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