By Tom Reck
JASONVILLE — Shakamak concluded a 2-0 weekend in high school boys basketball Saturday, defeating North Central 63-56.
In following up a victory over Class A No. 3-ranked Barr-Reeve on Friday, the No. 10-ranked Lakers improved to 12-5 for the year and assumed first place in the Tri-River Conference with a 3-0 record with Saturday’s victory.
The Lakers bested North Central for the second time and, as in the first meeting, had to rally to win. Shakamak defeated the Thunderbirds 72-64 in overtime in the Greene County Invitational.
North Central connected on 9 of 13 shots with three 3-pointers in the first period and took a 22-15 lead into the second stanza. The Lakers outscored North Central in the second period but still trailed the T-Birds 31-28 at the intermission.
Shakamak scored the first 10 points of the third canto to take a 40-31 lead and never trailed again, taking a 48-36 lead into the final frame.
Billy Newton had the Lakers’ first six points of the second half and had 11 of his team’s 20 points in the period and finished with a game-high 21 points. He also had a game-high eight rebounds, three steals and a blocked shot in spite of fouling out in the final minute and picking up his second foul early in the
second stanza.
John Smith played the game for Shakamak under difficult circumstances and had 14 points, hitting 10 of 13 free throws, and five boards. Jarred VanHorn also was in double digits for the winners with 12 points and had four rebounds.
Four players were in double figures for the Thunderbirdsds, now 6-7 for the year after losing twice in Greene County in weekend games.
Jordan Stefancik led the team with 16 points, scoring seven in the first period, while spending much of his time on defense against Newton, holding him to four points in the first half.
Ethan Stanifer and Tyler Howkinson each had 12 points and Bobby Swaby had 10 for North Central, still playing without Cody Cox, out with
an injury.
Stanifer was playing his first game in the gymnasium where he had played with the home team prior to this season.
Shakamak coach Steve Brett was pleased with the weekend play of his team against two good teams. He said he had talked to the team about coming back with a good effort following Friday’s victory.
“We played better in the second half. Billy and the others got going. I was proud of the way Smith played,” he said.
North Central coach Ryan Kamman said his team made shots in the first quarter, then had problems against the taller Lakers. “Newton got going in the third quarter and we had players in foul trouble,” he said.
• Friday recap — Both teams were in action in Greene County on Friday.
At Jasonville, Shakamak defeated Barr-Reeve 58-53, defeating the Vikings for the first time in four games.
The Lakers led most of the way and scored the second-most points of any opponent this season against the 21st-ranked defense in the state, hitting free throws at the end to secure the victory.
Billy Newton led the Lakers with 28 points and had nine rebounds. Trey Hughes had 16 for the 12-3 Vikings.
At Bloomfield, the host team snapped a four-game losing streak against the Thunderbirds with its 64-53 victory in a game that was close most of the way.
The Cardinals led by a point after one quarter , held a 22-18 lead at the half and took a 37-32 lead into the final frame.
Ryan O’Neall had 17 points for 4-12 Bloomfield. Andy Cochrane had 15 and Bryce Lindsey 11. Lindsey was 5 of 5 from the field.
Ethan Stanifer and Bobby Swaby each had 13 points for the Thunderbirds and Jordan Stefancik scored 12.
Barr-Reeve 14 9 12 18 — 53
Shakamak 17 12 9 20 — 58
North Central 10 8 14 21 — 53
Bloomfield 11 11 15 27 — 64
