(PHOTOS BY JACOB KESSLER / THE VILLAGE REPORTER)
BASELINE DRIVE … Swanton’s Brady Haselman drives past a Viking defender during Swanton’s 62-61 nonleague win at Evergreen.
EVERGREEN VIKING … John Herdman rises above the Swanton defense for a bucket in Friday night’s loss to the Bulldogs.
By: Joe Blystone
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
publisher@thevillagereporter.com
METAMORA (December 6, 2024) – Three times Swanton threatened to score a substantial win over rival Evergreen, including the last time having a 61-51 lead with 53 seconds left.
Three times Evergreen roared back but the Bulldogs, who are one of the favorites to take the NWOAL title this year, held on for a 62-61 nail-biting win.
From the opening tip, Swanton went to 6’10” big man Charlie Wood time and time again, as he scored 10 points early to boost the Bulldogs to an 18-6 lead with a minute left in the first quarter.
Evan Reinhard’s drive to open the second kept Swanton with a double digit lead at 20-9, but Wood went to the bench with his third foul and the Vikings mounted their first comeback.
Quinn Eisel’s two hoops, one off a turnover and another by Chris Shrader off another of Swanton’s five second quarter turnovers chopped the margin to 20-18 with 4:21 left.
Reinhard’s move inside doubled the Swanton advantage but Evergreen countered as Wil Ruetz scored a three-point play, Wil Johnson got a layup and Ruetz hit from the middle of the key for a 25-22 Viking lead.
Logan Young’s triple and layup regained the lead for the Bulldogs before George Allendorf’s long range radar shot began a back-and-forth series of lead changes that was capped by Reinhard’s basket with 11 ticks left to regain a Bulldog halftime lead.
What had been a 12 point lead had been sliced to one with Wood on the bench. “He has certainly improved and when he was sitting next to me proves that he is extremely valuable to us,” Bulldog coach Bruce Smith said of what happened with Wood on the bench.
“We were up a dozen and before I knew it we were a negative one. Give (Viking coach) Kyle Bostater credit, they just kept coming and coming.”
With Wood back in the game Swanton again threatened to take total control in the third. Wood scored nine quick points in the first three minutes and Reinhard hit a triple to put the Bulldogs up 43-34.
Again, the Vikings battled back. Allendorf found john Herdman for a hoop, then after consecutive Swanton turnovers, Allendorf nailed another three-ball and Johnson scored off his own miss to make it 43-41.
Troy Manz’s missile with 38 seconds left got Evergreen even closer at 45-44 heading into the fourth. Again, Wood went off, scoring at will inside with four more baskets around three-pointers by Brady Haselman and Brady O’Shea to give Swanton a 61-51 bulge with 1:31 left in the game.
However, the Vikings, who forced 22 Swanton turnovers, including seven in the fourth quarter used three of those to get right back in the contest.
Ruetz and Allendorf got layups off two Bulldog miscues, then after Reinhard was called for a push-off trying to get open on an inbounds, Eisel hit a bucket and added an “and-one” with 12.6 to go shaving the Swanton lead to 61-58.
Evergreen (0-2) fouled three times quickly, the last putting O’Shea at the line with 4.9 left. O’Shea hit one 1-2, making Allendorf’s last triple one that only closed the final gap.
“That last 50 seconds or so we couldn’t get out of our own way and every timeout we said, ‘do not foul, do not foul’,” Smith said after. “You can’t guard a free throw and the clock is stopped.”
The Bulldogs (2-1) covered up those 22 turnovers by shooting 26/47 from the field. Evergreen had just six turnovers but was 24/69 from the floor, including a massive number of missed layups.
Wood had 28 to lead the Bulldogs while Reinhard added 13. Allendorf led the Vikings, scoring 19 while Ruetz had 13 and Eisel 10.
SWANTON (62) – O’Shea 10; Young 5; Ruiz 0; Isaiah Bolyard 0; Reinhard 13; Haselman 6; Lemon 0; Wood 28; Totals: 20-6-4
EVERGREEN (61) – Manz 5; Ruetz 13; Herdman 4; Allendorf 19; Eisel 10; Fritsch 3; Rafferty 0; Johnson 5; Schrader; Totals: 18-5-10 – 61
SWANTON 18 13 14 17 – 62
EVERGREEN 9 21 14 17 – 61
