Robert Smith
Tyler Smith
WINCHESTER, Ind. – The Northeastern boys basketball team grabbed a share of its third straight Tri-Eastern Conference title on Friday night with a 75-53 win over Winchester.
It was the 21st TEC win in a row for the for the Class 2A No. 3 Knights, who are 18-3 overall and 6-0 in the conference.
“They’re not easy,” Northeastern Head Coach Brent Ross said. “None of them. We’re ecstatic we won the conference.”
“I looked all the way back to 1993, and the biggest win that we have had against Winchester, home or away, was 10 points,” Ross added. “It hasn’t been easy.”
It was the largest victory margin for the Knights over the Falcons at the Winchester Fieldhouse since a 71-41 win at the end of the 1983-84 season.
It’s the fifth conference crown for Northeastern to go with championships in 1983, 1984, 2014 and 2015. The Knights can clinch the outright title with a win over Union City next Friday.
“My first year we came up short,” said Northeastern senior Robert Smith, who scored 19 points. “It was devastating. I wanted to win it really bad. Winning three straight is good.”
The game was tight early as Northeastern led 18-15 after one quarter before the Knights were able to expand their advantage to 37-26 by the intermission as they looked for an eight consecutive victory.
The Knights opened up a 43-28 lead early in the third quarter before the Falcons (13-7, 4-3) rallied to close the gap.
Kiante Enis
Michael Georgi hit a pair of free throws to cut the Winchester deficit to 43-34 with 4:52 on the clock, but that is as close as the Falcons could get the rest of the way.
“Our rebounding is still not where it needs to be,” Winchester Head Coach Matt Fine said. “That’s something we’ve stressed and worked on, and obviously we’ve got to continue to do that against good teams.”
Northeastern had a 41-23 advantage in rebounds.
“We didn’t do a lot of other things well, but it starts with our lack of toughness on the glass,” Fine said. “Give credit to Northeastern, they came out and were determined to kick our tail.”
Tyler Smith led Northeastern with 21 points with seven rebounds. Bailey Stewart added 14 points.
Kiante Enis finished with a game-high 27 points. Georgi tossed in nine points.
Winchester won the JV contest 57-19.
Jordan Key led the Falcons with 14 points with Lukas Mills adding 13. Isaiah Jordan-Miller tossed in 10 points. Blake Hancock led Northeastern with 10 points.
Both teams return to action on the road Tuesday night. Northeastern travels to Connersville and Winchester visits South Adams.
Box Score
NORTHEASTERN (18-3, 6-0) – Tyler Smith 8 5-8 21, Bailey Stewart 5 4-6 14, Robert Smith 8 3-3 19, Nate Reynolds 3 0-0 8, DaShawn Hampton 0 0-0 0, Austin Clay 1 0-2 3, Harrison Rice 3 0-0 6, Kaleb Mikesell 2 0-0 4, Jalen Hillard 0 0-0 0, Gabe Beatty 0 0-0 0, Alex Reynolds 0 0-0 0, Blake Hancock 0 0-0 0. Team – 30 12-19 75.
WINCHESTER (13-7, 4-3) – Kiante Enis 11 5-10 27, Michael Georgi 2 4-4 9, Austin Lawrence 0 0-0 0, Elias Gates 2 0-0 5, Arick Miller 1 2-2 4, Cullen Hall 2 2-4 6, Trestan Enis 0 0-0 0, Aaron Wallace 0 2-2 2, Jordan Key 0 0-0 0, Isaiah Jordan-Miller 0 0-0 0. Team – 18 15-22 53.
Northeastern 18 37 56 75
Winchester 15 26 39 53
3-pointers – Northeastern 3 (N. Reynolds 2, Clay 1), Winchester 2 (Georgi 1, Gates 1). Rebounds – Northeastern 41 (T.Smith 7), Winchester 23 (Georgi, Miller 5). Turnovers – Northeastern 13, Winchester 13. Fouls – Northeastern 16, Winchester 16.