The Wauseon Indians were outscored 20-5 in the first quarter but outscored the Delta Panthers 65-26 the rest of the way for a 70-46 non-league win.
Delta’s Justin Callahan got Delta out of the gate quickly with four three-point shots in the first quarter as the Panthers were up 14-4. The Indians only scored one more point in the first eight minutes on a foul shot from Noah Castle.
Slowly but steadily the Indians began to close the gap during the second quarter. The Tribe scored the first six points of the quarter as they closed to within 20-11. Delta scored it’s only two points of the quarter with a basket from Bailey Monroe at the 4:33 mark of the quarter. From there the Indians took charge coming back from the 20-5 deficit to tie the game up at 22-22 as the half ended.
Castle, Jacob Newlove and Kris Boysel led the charge in the second half with aggressive, physical play. Castle was battling near the basket and accepting nicely conceived passes from Newlove as the 6’5″ junior put up a season high 28 points. He also crashed the board for 18 rebounds giving him an impressive double-double.
During the first quarter the Panthers put up seven shots from the floor. Over the next three quarters they tallied the same total as the Indians defense formed a solid wall.
It was Wauseon’s 10th victory in 13 tries this season. The league game with Delta happens in a few weeks. First on the thoughts of the minds of the talented bunch of Indians is their rivals the Archbold Blue Streaks. The game happens Friday evening at Archbold high school.
Beside Castle, Boysel and Newlove each finished with 13 points apiece in the great team effort and victory.
“I know that the Panthers will be out for revenge in a few weeks when it counts in the league standings,” coach Chad Burt said. “They are a very solid team and we will have to again be at our best to get past them.”