HAGERSTOWN, Ind. – The Northeastern boys basketball team won its fourth straight Wayne County Tournament championship and 13th overall with a 61-37 victory over Hagerstown on Saturday.
“We were trying to carry the tradition and make four years pretty special,” Northeastern senior Harrison Rice said. “I love the fellow seniors. We’ve been though a lot.”
“We executed the game plan,” Rice added. “(Northeastern) coach (Brent Ross) has everything out for us. We played tough. We’ve had a problem lately closing people out and I think we did that well.”
Ross was pleased with the Knights.
“Tonight was a good win for us,” he said. “We haven’t been able to expand a lead on teams. It’s getting better.”
“I’d like us to finish a little better,” Ross added. “The start of third quarters are hurting us. Two games in a row we’ve not scored in the first four minutes. We’ve got to do a better job.”
The Knights built a 23-9 advantage at the first stop and a 33-19 halftime lead.
In the third period, Hagerstown’s Jared Andis hit a 3-pointer to cut into the lead at 33-23 with 5:25 remaining.
“Defensively, we had to focus on Jared Andis,” Ross said. “The goal was to keep him under 10 and we were able to get that done.”
Northeastern held on to lead 42-30 after three frames and the Knights out scored the Tigers 19-7 in the final period.
Jalen Oliver led the Tigers with 19 points and a game-high six rebounds, while Andis tossed in nine.
Tyler Smith topped the Knights with 21 points. Freeman Brou and Jalen Hillard each finished with nine points. Alex Reynolds added eight.
Hagerstown (10-2) faces Tri-Eastern Conference foe Winchester at home Friday. Northeastern (10-3) is back on the court next Saturday as Knightstown visits Fountain City.
Box Score
NORTHEASTERN (10-3) – Tyler Smith 9 2-7 21, Jalen Hillard 3 2-2 9, Freeman Brou 4 0-1 9, Nate Reynolds 2 2-2 7, Harrison Rice 1 0-0 2, Alex Reynolds 4 0-0 8, Jordan Stolle 2 0-1 5, Kaleb Mikesell 0 0-0 0. Team – 25 6-12 61.
HAGERSTOWN (10-2) – Trey Kelley 1 1-4 3, Jared Andis 3 0-0 9, Jalen Oliver 8 0-3 19, Evan Hoover 1 0-0 2, Silas Parsons 0 0-0 0, Drew Pyle 2 0-0 4, Mason Hicks 0 0-0 0, Trent Weiss 0 0-0 0. Team – 15 1-7 37.
Northeastern 23 33 42 61
Hagerstown 9 19 30 37
3-pointers – Northeastern 5 (Smith, Hillard, Brou, N. Reynolds. Stolle), Hagerstown 6 (Andis 3, Oliver 3). Rebounds – Northeastern 21, Hagerstown 25. Turnovers – Northeastern 16, Hagerstown 27. Fouls – Northeastern 13, Hagerstown 16. Fouled out – None.