By Tom Reck
TERRE HAUTE — Terre Haute North concluded the home portion of its boys basketball schedule on a winning note Tuesday, defeating Evansville Reitz 67-40.
It was the final game in the North gymnasium for seniors Thomas Anderson, Chris O’Leary, Andrew Gauer and Jordan Marshall.
“I was happy we could send the seniors out on a winning note,” said North coach Todd Woelfle.
North is 16-5 and closes out the regular season Friday at Lawrence North.
The Patriots displayed their usual defensive prowess, holding the Panthers to their lowest point total of the season and to 17.5 percent field-goal shooting while shooting 50 percent from the field and 50 percent from 3-point range themselves. Both teams were sharp from the free-throw line: Reitz made 25 of 29 and the Patriots canned 17 of 20 and both teams took good care of the basketball. North had nine turnovers and Reitz erred 11 times.
The score was tied twice in the first frame but North closed with a 10-0 run and took a 21-10 lead into the second period.
North held Reitz to eight points in the second and third quarters, holding a 39-18 lead at the half and a 54-26 advantage after 24 minutes.
North hit one field goal in the final period — Daniel Gabbard hit a 3-pointer as time expired in the contest.
North had two players in double figures. Justin Grant led the way with a double-double of 14 points and 11 rebounds and he also had two steals.
O’Leary tallied 11 points while Ross Sponsler had nine points and Gauer eight points along with six boards.
Senior Clinton Happe led the Panthers, now 12-8, with 19 points. He was good on 13 of 15 free throws.
“I thought we did a nice job defensively. We took them out of what they do well which is their excellent 3-point shooting,” said coach Woelfle.
The Panthers hit 1 of 11 3-pointers.
“It was just a great team effort for us. A lot of guys stepped up and played well. We were patient on the offensive end and we had guys step up and knock down some shots,” he added.
“I am very pleased with our performance and hope we can continue that Friday and in the tournament. We want to make sure we don’t have a letdown at Lawrence North and be ready to go next week in the sectional,” he said.
North’s junior varsity was a 44-30 winner to improve to 15-2 and can claim an undisputed Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference championship by winning at Lawrence North.
Evansville ReitZ 40
Player fg 3pt ft r s pf tp
Happe 3-12 0-4 13-15 6 1 1 19
Adams 1-8 1-6 0-0 2 1 4 3
Brinkmeyer 0-8 0-0 6-6 7 1 3 6
Rust 3-5 0-0 2-2 6 2 2 8
Riffert 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 2 0
Roeder 0-3 0-0 0-0 2 0 3 0
Kirsch 0-4 0-1 4-6 0 0 1 4
Totals 7-40 1-11 25-29 *27 5 16 40
Terre Haute North 67
Player fg 3pt ft r s pf tp
Gant 4-11 1-1 5-8 10 2 3 14
Anderson 2-6 0-0 0-0 7 0 3 4
Shipley 2-3 2-3 0-0 3 1 4 6
O’Leary 2-3 1-1 6-6 2 0 2 11
Jones 2-4 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 4
Sponsler 3-6 3-6 0-0 3 0 3 9
Bolden 2-3 0-0 0-0 1 2 1 4
Gauer 3-4 0-1 2-2 6 1 3 8
Marshall 0-1 0-1 2-2 0 0 0 2
Gabbard 1-1 1-1 2-2 0 0 1 5
Totals 21-42 8-16 17-20 *34 6 20 67
Evansville Reitz 10 8 8 14 — 40
Terre Haute North 21 18 15 13 — 67
FG Pct. — ER .175, THN .500. 3pt FG Pct. — ER ..909, THN .500. FT Pct. — ER .862, THN .850.(*) includes team rebounds — ER 4, THN 2. Turnovers — ER 11, THN 9.
JV — Terre Haute North 44 (Calvin Blank 15), Evansville Reitz 30 (Matt Gray 9)
Next — Both teams have games Friday. Terre Haute North (16-5) is at Lawrence North. Evansville Reitz (12-8) is at Evansville Bosse.
