Bailey Stewart
FOUNTAIN CITY, Ind. – Northeastern’s Bailey Stewart reached an individual milestone on Wednesday night as the Class 2A No. 3 Knights defeated Franklin County 75-55 in Larry Moore Gymnasium.
“We hung in there and we did what we had to do to get the win,” Northeastern Head Coach Brent Ross said of his team’s fifth straight victory. “When we build a lead, we’ve got to learn how to play with the lead a lot better.”
Stewart, joined teammate Tyler Smith, with his 1,000th career point. Smith reached that plateau last week and currently has 1,054 points, which is sixth best in Northeastern history.
A transfer from National Trail, Stewart joined the Knights this year and now has 1,013 career points after he scored 15 points on Wednesday.
“It feels amazing,” Stewart said. “I’ve been working toward this since my freshman year. I’m glad I got to do it with these guys.”
Beginning this season with 766 points, Stewart entered Wednesday night just two points shy of the mark.
“I’m extremely proud of Bailey,” Ross said. “He brings a lot to the table.”
“He plays all of the facets of the game and he does all of them very well,” Ross added.
Stewart took care of his personal business early in the contest against the Class 3A Wildcats (10-7) with the first basket of the game. Moments later, he tossed in 3-pointer to give the Knights a 5-3 advantage with 5:59 left in the opening period.
By the end of the frame, Northeastern led 18-9. The Knights led 41-25 at the intermission.
Northeastern increased its margin to as much as 21 points in the second half, but Franklin County closed the gap to a dozen in the final stanza
“Every time we hit that 20-point mark, we lost a little focus on defense and even some on offense,” Ross said.
“They’re a pretty good basketball team,” Ross added. “I can see why they’ve won 10 games.”
One thing that really pleased Ross was how his team got its mission accomplished on offense.
“We had 19 assists on 26 baskets, which is pretty good as far as sharing the basketball,” Ross said.
Tyler Smith led the Knights with 22 points, seven assists and eight rebounds. Robert Smith added 20 points and also grabbed eight rebounds.
Stewart was next with his 15, while Nate Reynolds tossed in a dozen.
Franklin County won the JV game 65-54. Northeastern was led by Jalen Hillard, who had 17 points. Blake Hancock finished with 14 points.
Northeastern (15-3, 3-0) is back at home on Friday night against Union County (12-7, 3-2) as the two teams meet for the second time this season with this time counting in the Tri-Eastern Conference standings. The Knights won 62-56 in the championship game of the Northeastern Tournament on Dec. 29, 2015.
Box Score
FRANKLIN COUNTY (10-7) – Ben Krider 1 4-7 7, Tyler Miller 10 2-3 24, Cole McCreary 2 0-0 5, Layton Bowling 1 0-0 3, Kannon Sams 2 2-5 6, Dylan Little 1 0-0 3, Sam Krider 0 0-0 0, Johnathan Hagerty 1 0-0 3, Brandon Ball 2 0-1 4. Team – 20 8-16 55.
NORTHEASTERN (15-3) – Tyler Smith 7 6-10 22, Bailey Stewart 6 0-0 15, Robert Smith 6 8-11 20, Nate Reynolds 4 2-2 12, DaShawn Hampton 0 0-0 0, Kaleb Mikesell 1 0-0 2, Harrison Rice 2 0-0 4, Austin Clay 0 0-0 0. Team – 26 16-23 75.
Franklin Co. 9 25 39 55
Northeastern 18 41 60 75
3-pointers – Franklin County 7 (Miller, 2, B. Krider 1, Little 1, Hagerty 1, McCreary 1, Bowling 1), Northeastern 7 (Stewart 3, T. Smith 2, Reynolds 2). Rebounds – Franklin County 32 (Ball 6), Northeastern 33 (T. Smith 8, R. Smith 8). Turnovers – Franklin County 18, Northeastern 15. Fouls – Franklin County 16, Northeastern 16.
Northeastern 1,000-Point Club
1. Cory Ryan (1995-1999) 1,445
2. Daryl Lane (1967-1970) 1,239
3. Brent Ross (1983-1987) 1,116
4. Cory Ross (1999-2003) 1,106
5. Ryan Kaufman (1998-2002) 1,067
6. Tyler Smith (2012-2015) 1,054
* Bailey Stewart is not listed because he has only 247 points for Northeastern.