SHARPSHOOTER … Jonas Tester, who had 13 points on the night, fires a three-pointer in the first half against Evergreen. (PHOTO BY RICH HARDING, STAFF)
By: Nate Calvin
METAMORA, OHIO-It was a tale of two halves in a matchup of the current co-leader in the NWOAL and last year’s league champion.
Evergreen was able to overcome eight first half turnovers by shooting 10/14 to take a 24-15 lead at halftime.
The second half was a different story as Wauseon cranked up the defensive pressure to rally for the 40-34 win to remain undefeated in the NWOAL.
Evergreen got off to solid start with a three-point play from Evan Lumbrezer and basket from RJ Shunck to grab an early 5-0 lead.
Wauseon (13-2, 4-0 in NWOAL) responded though with a 9-2 run that included field goals from Connar Penrod, Issac Wilson, and five points by Jonas Tester to take their first lead of the night at 9-7
The Vikings scored the last four points of the opening quarter as Lumbrezer and Shunck had field goals to give Evergreen a 11-9 after one quarter.
The Vikings started the second half with buckets from Lumbrezer and Ethan Loeffler to help them take a 16-11 lead and forcing a Wauseon timeout with 5:05 to go in the half.
Evergreen (12-4, 2-2) continued their push against the 1-2-2 half court defense by Wauseon as Loeffler added a three-point play, Lumbrezer had a jumper, and Austin Lumbrezer added a bucket to give the Vikings a 24-15 halftime lead.
The Indians would go cold from the field in the second quarter as they were just 1/11 and finished the first half 5/20 (25%).
A two-point field goal by Tester and a triple by Penrod started the third quarter for Wauseon as they quickly trimmed the Evergreen lead to 24-20.
Evan Lumbrezer had a response though with a three-point play to push the lead to 27-20.
At that point Isaac Wilson made his presence felt inside for the Indians with an offensive rebound putback that led to a three-point play to make it 27-23.
Tester then added two buckets, the first one on an offensive rebound, to tie the game 27-27 with 2:14 left in the third quarter.
Once again Evan Lumbrezer responded, this time with a triple from the top of key at the buzzer to give Evergreen a 30-27 lead after three quarters. Lumbrezer had all six of Evergreen’s points in the quarter.
Wauseon’s tenacious man to man defense continued to cause problems in the final stanza and after field goals by Koleton DeGroff and Wilson, Wauseon had the lead 31-30.
Another hoop by Wilson, who had nine points in the second half, and a three-pointer by Penrod gave Wauseon a 36-32 lead with 3:00 to go.
Wauseon closed out the game with DeGroff going 2/4 at the free throw line and a field goal from Wilson as Evergreen couldn’t connect from deep in the waning seconds. Evergreen was 0/8 shooting in the fourth quarter.
After the 10/14 first half, Evergreen was just 2/13 for 15% in the second half and finished the game 12/27 from the field with 15 turnovers.
For Wauseon, they would go 10/19 (52%) in the second half and went 15/39 on the night with only five turnovers.
Wauseon held a slim 19-18 total rebounding edge but had a 10-3 advantage on the offensive glass.
Tester and Wilson led the Indians in scoring with 13 points apiece while Evan Lumbrezer had a game-high 17 for Evergreen.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Wauseon 9 6 12 13 40
Evergreen 11 13 6 4 34
Nate can be reached at publisher@thevillagereporter.com
