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THE NEWS SUN
SPORTS •
kpcnews.com
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2014
Pacers beat Kings, clinch spot for Vogel INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — There’s something about teams on a hot streak that makes the Indiana Pacers want to beat them. Don’t expect to leave with momentum after playing in Indianapolis. “It’s a different story when you come to play here,” Paul George said. “Whatever you’ve done previously, when a team comes in hot, we make that commitment that it’s going to be tough to play here.” George scored 31 points, making four 3-pointers, to lead the Pacers to a 116-92 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday night. David West had 16 points and eight rebounds, and Lance Stephenson added 13 points, five rebounds and five assists for the Pacers (30-7), who have won five of six. The victory clinched the Eastern Conference coaching spot for Frank Vogel, since the Pacers are guaranteed to have the best winning percentage in the conference through games of Feb. 2 with Miami’s Erik Spoelstra ineligible after coaching last year. “My name is on the release, but this is recognition of our team’s success,” Vogel said. “It’s a team honor and I’m really excited about it.” George was fouled driving to the basket with 8:36 remaining and converted the three-point play before Luis Scola made a free throw to cap off a 16-2 run in the fourth quarter. George sparked the big run for Indiana with a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Pacers an 86-74 lead at the end of the third quarter. The shot took away any hope the Kings (13-23) had left after Marcus Thornton made a 3 with seconds left to put
AP
AP
Indiana Pacers guard George Hill, left, tries to makes a pass after picking up a loose ball in front of Sacramento Kings guard Isaiah Thomas,
Sacramento within nine. George then opened the fourth with another 3-pointer. “Throughout our whole locker room we’ve built that culture as we’re going to be dominant at home,” George said. “And we’re working towards being that team on the road as well, but it’s just something about home that we just try to protect.”
The NBA’s top defensive team had little trouble against a Sacramento team that scored over 100 points in 18 of the previous 19 games and held the Kings to under 100 points for the first time in 12 games. Sacramento coach Mike Malone said taking care of the ball played a big role. Indiana forced 15 turnovers and
Eastside boys defeat CN in NECC opening round
scored 22 points off the Kings’ mistakes. “To win on the road in the NBA against a great team, we cannot have the kind of turnovers we had,” he said. “They’re the No. 1 defensive team in the NBA for a reason.” And despite breaking away with 19 third-quarter points, DeMarcus Cousins, who finished
Local Sports Briefs • Basketball Barons up next for East Noble hoops KENDALLVILLE — The East Noble boys basketball game at Westview that was postponed from last week has been rescheduled for Feb. 1 at Westview. The Knights will play their next game on Friday at home against DeKalb. East Noble ventured to Homestead for a NHC tussle on Saturday and fell 48-26. Junior Colten Williams led the Knights with six points. freshman Brandon Nichols stepped into the lineup and scored five points, with three points each for John Thompson and Michael Sharp. Sharp had six rebounds. The squad is off to an 0-9 start on the season.
BY JEFF JONES jjones@kpcmedia.com
BUTLER — The name of the game at tournament time is advance. That’s just what the Eastside boys basketball team did, defeating the Central Noble Cougars 65-52 in Northeast Corner Conference tournament action at Butler Tuesday. The Blazers (5-5) will play Fremont, a 59-35 winner over Hamilton, in the second game tonight at Eastside. The Central Noble girls will face Fremont in the first game at 6 p.m. “The name of the game is to advance,” Eastside coach Ryan Abbott said afterwards. “This is the first time in four years we’ve been able to advance in the conference tournament, and that means something to our players.” The Blazers got contributions from all eight players who saw action, with seven figuring in the scoring. Senior Ryan Liechty and junior P.J. Dean had 13 points each to lead the way. Senior Kadis Renier and junior Rob Singer had nine points each, and junior Ethan Moughler added eight. Freshman Cade Willard had seven and junior Austin Baker had six. Eastside got its transition game going late in the first quarter, with a rebound basket and score by Singer, a three by Liechty and a fast-break bucket by Renier, to lead 14-8 after one. The Blazers extended their lead to 13 late in the second on an inside score and later two free throws, all by Dean, to make it 29-16. The margin got to 14 on Singer’s three-point play early in the third, but by the end of the quarter, the Cougars were within 10, 42-34, following Connor McCoy’s rebound basket in the final minute. Central Noble (1-9) hung around, but got no closer than eight the rest of the way. McCoy, the lone senior for the Cougars, led all scorers with 24 points. Junior Brock Noe chipped in with 13, and classmate
center, as center DeMarcus Cousins reaches for the ball in the first half of an NBA basketball game in Indianapolis on Tuesday.
with 31 points and 13 rebounds, caused few problems for the Pacers. He scored 12 points in the first half, with just three defensive rebounds, before he scored nine of Sacramento’s first 13 to open the second half. “He was really the only one to go off,” Roy Hibbert said. “Everyone else was under their average, so I’m happy about that.” Rudy Gay, who finished with 12 points, was the only other player to reach double-figure scoring for the Kings, whose season-best, three-game winning streak was snapped. “I thought we reverted back to our old ways tonight,” Gay said. “We have to do a better job of proving we are a changed team.” Cousins picked up his third foul with 5:22 left in the third when Hibbert went up for a follow shot. Hibbert split from the line to give Indiana a 68-58 lead and Indiana kept just enough room. The Pacers host New York and the Los Angeles Clippers before making a trip to the West Coast for five games. Indiana didn’t waste any time taking a lead on the Kings, opening the game on an 11-2 run. Hibbert converted a three-point play, George Hill made a layup and George dunked before Stephenson and West scored to give the Pacers the early lead with 8:27 remaining in the first quarter. Then the Kings scored eight straight. The Kings went on a late 7-2 run, but West scored to give the Pacers a 59-45 halftime lead. Notes: Vogel is 141-81 as Pacers coach. … Thornton and Isaiah Thomas, Sacramento’s starting guards, combined for one assist.
Swimming EN downed by Snider KENDALLVILLE — East Noble’s swimming teams were each defeated by Fort Wayne Snider on Tuesday. The boys fell 125-55 and the girls were defeated 133-53. Mackenzye Dafforn-Koebler swam to firsts in the 50 and 100 freestyle. Seconds went to Alyn Clark in the 50 freestyle and Ashley Clark in the 100 fly. For the boys, Matt Lewis won the 200 freestyle and
was second in the 100 backstroke. Phillip Phan added a first for the Knights in the diving competition and Anthony Phan was second in the 100 backstroke.
Wrestling Knights top three NHC opponents OSSIAN — Fresh off a first-place finish in the East Noble Invitational, the Knights registered three Northeast Hoosier Conference wrestling victories on Monday at Norwell. East Noble defeated Dekalb 61-16, topped Bellmont 37-22 and defeated Norwell in dominating form, 70-6. Going 3-0 on the day for the Knights were Garrett Pepple (113 pounds), Connor Knapp (120), Jake Weimer (145), Ernest Vincent (182) and Brandon Joest (220). With two victories were Nate Weimer (106), Sterling Lutter (126), Nate Housholder (132), Mason Diffenderfer (138), Riley Jones (152), Jesse Maley (160), Skyler Haas (170) and Hayden Weber (195). The Knights wrestle at the Garrett Invitational on Saturday.
East Noble 70, Norwell 6 106 - Nate Weimer (EN) pinned Luke Fullens (N) 1:00; 113 - Garrett Pepple (EN) pinned Trevor Wilson (N) :24; 120 - Connor Knapp (EN) pinned Paul Jensen (N) 2:42; 126 - Sterling Lutter (EN) pinned Nick
Gordon (N) 1:48; 132 - Nate Housholder (EN) by ft.; 138 - Mason Diffenderfer (EN) d. Ashton McCune (N) 10-2; 145 - Jake Weimer (EN) by ft.; 152 - Riley Jones (EN) pinned Dylan McCune (N) 3:15; 160 Jesse Maley (EN) by ft.; 170 - Skyler Haas (EN) pinned Chandler Schoeff (N) 2:27; 182 - Ernest Vincent (EN) pinned James Ladis (N) 1:30; 195 - Jeremy Davis (N) pinned Hayden Weber (EN) 1:58; 220 Brandon Joest (EN) by ft.; 285 - forfeit.
East Noble 37, Bellmont 22 106 - Mason Mendez (B) pinned Nate Weimer (EN) 3:50; 113 - Garrett Pepple (EN) pinned Jon Becker (B) 5:14; 120 - Connor Knapp (EN) d. Daniel Gunsett (B) 2-0; 126 - Trevor Gray (B) d. Sterling Lutter (EN) 3-2; 132 - Diego Hutker (B) d. Nate Housholder (EN) 4-2; 138 - Mason Diffenderfer (EN) d. Danny Baker (B) 3-0; 145 - Jake Weimer (EN) d. Logan Neher (B) 8-0; 152 - Brock Bravn (B) pinned Riley Jones (EN) 1:16; 160 - Bryce Baumgartner (B) d. Jesse Maley (EN) 4-3; 170 - Brett Baker (B) d. Skyler Haas (EN) 10-0; 182 - Ernest Vincent (EN) d. Corey Coshow (B) 9-5; 195 - Carter Friedt (B) pinned Hayden Weber (EN) 1:29; 220 - Brandon Joest (EN) d. Fletcher Shaneyfelt (B) 12-5; 285 - forfeit.
East Noble 61, DeKalb 16 106 - Nate Weimer (EN) pinned Trevor Boyce (D) 1:36; 113 - Garrett Pepple (EN) pinned Derek Wilson (D) :57; 120 - Connor Knapp (EN) pinned Kyle Davis (D) 1:03; 126 - Sterling Lutter (EN) d. Chase Gish (D) 7-0; 132 - Nate Housholder (EN) by ft.; 138 - Zach Krumlauf (D) Mason Diffenderfer (EN) 9-0; 145 - Jake Weimer (EN) pinned Logan Williams (D) 4:23; 152 - Riley Jones (EN) pinned Chris Hamlin (D) 2:51; 160 Jesse Maley (EN) d. Dominic Fiig (D) 10-0; 170 - Stephen Lynch (D) by ft.; 182 - Ernest Vincent (EN) pinned Collin Bice (D) 1:51; 195 - Hunter Martin (D) Hayden Weber (EN) :45; 220 - Brandon Joest (EN) pinned Ross Thompson (D) 2:33; 285 - Wyatt Robinson (D) by ft.
North tops Hannah Holstein contest KENDALLVILLE — Jim North of Wolcottville won the News Sun Hannah Holstein contest, missing just three picks. Just behind, missing four picks were Dave Spencer, Dean Domer and Hal Fisher.
Michigan downs Nittany Lions JEFF JONES
Guarded by Eastside’s Rob Singer, Central Noble’s Connor McCoy (22) looks for an open teammate during Tuesday’s Northeast Corner Conference tournament game at Butler. The Blazers won, 65-52 despite McCoy’s 24 points.
Zack Robinson added 12. “Tonight, we were able to get out in transition a little more and we were able to get in the bonus early, and I think that was key,” Abbott said. “For a 32-minute game, we were the aggressors for probably 26 of those minutes. For those six minutes, (Central Noble)
got after us. They play really hard and they’re very well-coached.” The Blazers were 21-of-54 (39 percent) from the field, but were 19-of-23 (83 percent) at the free throw line. The Cougars were 22-of-47 (47 percent) from the field, but just 7-of-20 (35 percent) at the stripe.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Nik Stauskas scored 13 of his 21 points in the second half, and Michigan remained unbeaten in Big Ten play with an 80-67 victory over Penn State on Tuesday night. The Wolverines (12-4, 4-0) led 47-45 when a 3-pointer by Stauskas started a 19-5 run that gave Michigan a comfortable advantage. Derrick Walton added 16 points for the Wolverines, and Glenn Robinson III scored 15. D.J. Newbill and Tim Frazier scored 17 points apiece for Penn State (9-9, 0-5), but those two backcourt standouts weren’t enough against a balanced Michigan team. The Wolverines have
won six straight, all without star big man Mitch McGary, who is out indefinitely with a back injury. Michigan and rival Michigan State are the Big Ten’s only teams without a conference loss. Michigan led by as many as 14 in the first half, but it was 40-33 at halftime, and the Nittany Lions hung around for a while. With the Wolverines ahead by only two, Stauskas connected from beyond the arc to make it 50-45. Newbill answered with a jumper, but Michigan scored the next nine points, including a three-point play by Caris LeVert and an alley-oop dunk by Robinson from LeVert that made it 59-47.
Walton, a freshman, has been gaining confidence after taking over the point guard duties when Trey Burke went to the NBA. Walton made a big driving layup at the end of Michigan’s win at Nebraska last week, and he scored the first eight points of Tuesday’s game on two 3-pointers and a layup. Michigan led 8-0, and at that point Penn State had four turnovers and only one shot attempt. After a 3-pointer by Spike Albrecht and a dunk by Jordan Morgan, the Wolverines led 30-18. Penn State upset Michigan in February for one of its two Big Ten victories last season.