Newton County High School overcome a short roster to come from behind to victory against the Mayan Puppies on Tuesday night.
Playing at home in front of a crowd of fifty, including a few who weren't related to the players or coaches, the Steelworkers had the best seats in the house for a pair of quick three-pointers in the opening minutes.
"I saw a fair amount of walking going on out there... we're done with that now, right?" demanded the coach.
The barrage of marksmanship only peaked the tide of momentum against Newton County as they fell behind 10-2. The team was without starting point guard Manny Duzzwell (magic act mishap) and clutch guard Justin Sane (funeral for hamster) and was unable to penetrate the Pups' zone defense.
Fortunately emergency point guard Wade Forgreen planted two treys of his own to swing the game permanently in the Workers' favor. Showing unprecedented sharpshooting, NCHS proceeded to drain over 50% of their outside shots to negate the complete absence of a post game. Even Reed Morbooks found the bottom of the net from the left corner as the first half horn sounded, his first career triple, to nudge his team ahead 24-22 at the half.
A halftime adjustment set up a high-low post game that paid dividends early and often. Forward Russ Shower found open shooters on the wing and under the basket with regularity, and was perfect from the free throw line. Guard Jack Klantern provided crucial minutes of defensive muscle against the lead Puppy, and his teammates spread the offensive firepower with four players between 7 and 11 points.
By the end of the game, what originally looked to be a yawner of a contest turned out to be nearly so - in favor of the resilient Steelworkers, who capped a 16-point turnaround from the early deficit.
"We didn't panic," said assistant coach Joe McDonald. "We showed the toughness that's our motto, and the selflessness to make us tough to beat."
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