(PHOTOS BY JACOB KESSLER / THE VILLAGE REPORTER)
REJECTION … Zach Whitley of North Central flies in to block the shot attempt of Mason Leininger in the first quarter.
LEADING SCORER … North Central’s top scorer on the night, Jackson Poynter, drives baseline with Fayette’s Dane Andrews (right) defending.
By: Joe Blystone
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
publisher@thevillagereporter.com
PIONEER (February 18, 2025) – Everyone faces adversity in life. How you handle it will determine your success. With 4:55 left in the game, North Central’s Zach Whitley left the game after landing hard on the floor with his head.
After getting checked out, Whitley returned and made every big play in the last 68 seconds to vault North Central past a spirited Fayette team 54-53, in the opening round of the Division VII Sectionals.
North Central (8-15) now travels to Pettisville (17-4) Friday night for a sectional final game against the top-seeded Blackbirds. Fayette’s season ends at 2-21.
“I don’t know if there is a tougher individual in our gym than Zach Whitley,” North Central coach Ben Scofield said. “I don’t know if there is anyone who loves the game more in our gym than Zach Whitley.”
“When I first got here, he was the first person I met, I’ve always had a connection with him, and I can’t say enough about the kid.”
North Central was sloppy in the opening six minutes, turning the rock over five times, three of those converted into buckets from Wyatt Bieber, Mason Leininger and Xander Goble that gave Fayette an 11-7 lead.
Trenton Douglas came off the bench to bag a pair of triples to forge a 13-13 tie, then Jackson Poynter picked a pass and turned that steal into the three-point play with 00.5 on the clock in the middle of a 10-0 run, that pushed North Central up 16-13.
Poynter’s score off another Fayette turnover and Anton Hegler’s post move made it 20-13, but consecutive baskets from Goble and Leininger’s steal, and score brought Fayette back to 23-20.
Working for the last shot, Tyler Meyers again beat the buzzer for North Central, this time with a tough jumper in traffic to regain a five-point lead at the break.
North Central made up for 12 first half turnovers, shooting 9/14 from the field for 64 percent. Fayette was just 9/22 in the first half, but those figures would soon change.
Whitley’s three-pointer with 4:16 left in the third capped an 11-4 start to the second half and gave North Central a 36-24 lead.
It took Goble all of 71 seconds to slice that margin to 36-35 all by himself. The Fayette senior canned a corner triple and was fouled.
With the foul ruled after the shot and Fayette regaining possession, Goble struck again from outside the arc 12 seconds later to make it 36-30.
After North Central was assessed a technical foul, Goble hit both ends from the line, then drilled another corner three-ball with 2:17 left.
Hegler and Poynter both scored from close range to bump the lead to 40-35, but Goble nailed his fourth bomb of the quarter and Kruez Lichtenwald knocked one off glass from outside the arc to give Fayette a 41-40 lead.
Again, North Central finished the quarter with possession, and Hegler made good on an out-of-bounds play with 1.3 left to regain a one point North Central lead after three.
“That’s been a point of emphasis for us all the time, at practice we go through that with end of quarter situations a lot,” Scofield said of his team’s end of quarter scores in each period.
“We know those situations are very important, as they were tonight, we want to have the last possession and make good with it.”
Bieber’s third chance score off the offensive glass, Goble’s fifth triple of the second half and bucket off the loose ball where Whitley was injured gave Fayette a 49-43 lead.
Again, how you handle adversity determines your success. Meyers found Poynter for a layup, then hit 2/2 from the line.
Caden Leininger’s basket out of the spread doubled the Fayette lead to 51-47 with 2:30 to go.
Poynter’s force off glass at the two minute mark brought North Central within a basket, then after a Fayette turnover, Whitley scored off an out-of-bounds play to knot the game 51-51 at the 1:08 mark.
Another Fayette miscue led to Whitley’s layup with 46 ticks left that put North Central back up 53-51.
Bieber had a good look at a baseline jumper, but it hit front-back and rolled out with 8.5 to go with Whitley getting the rebound and being fouled.
Whitley hit 1/2 but when Goble made a move on the perimeter, he stepped inside the arc on his jumper that went through with 1.5 left to rather than tie, it left Fayette a point short.
Poynter led North Central with 17 but had a lot of help. Whitley and Meyers each had 10 to support Poynter’s night.
“We don’t want to be a one man show,” Scofield explained of his team’s balance. “We want everyone to score and be involved. That’s a philosophy I have in basketball, it’s good to watch and is very successful when we do that.”
Goble had a career-high 29 to lead all scorers, 21 of those coming in the second half.
FAYETTE (53) – Beauregard 0; C. Leininger 4; M. Leininger 4; Lichtenwald 6; Bieber 9; Andrews 1; Xander Goble 29; Totals: 14-7-4 – 53
NORTH CENTRAL (54) – Hegler 6; Douglass 7; Poynter 17; Meyers 10; Reinbolt 0; Whitley 10; St. John 0; Clark 4; Totals: 16-3-13 – 54
FHS 13 7 21 12 – 53
NCHS 16 9 17 12 – 54