The 8th annual Bob Wettig Memorial Tournament began on Thursday. Here is a running recap of the first round games.
Scecina Memorial wasted little time taking control of the game against Greenfield-Central. Huntington University signee Zach Rutland did a great job of setting up his teammates for easy looks early in the game. He had six first half assists.
Tate Hall finished with 10 points and four rebounds for Greenfield-Central.
Scecina won 62-37. They will play Hamilton Heights tomorrow.
Hamilton Heights vs. Valparaiso
The marquee matchup of day one at the Bob Wettig Memorial Tournament was Hamilton Heights against Valparaiso. The game certainly lived up to the hype as it went down to the wire.
Hamilton Heights started off quickly behind Purdue signee Grant Weatherford. His all-around game helped the Huskies to a 14-9 lead after one quarter.
Valpo came back in the second period. Junior forward Conner TenHove provided the Vikings with confidence and momentum going into the locker room for halftime. Hamilton Heights led by two points at the intermission.
Senior guard Jadon White caught fire in the third quarter for Hamilton Heights as Weatherford and Hunter Crist took a back seat to White's shooting. White hit three triples in the quarter. TenHove continued to play well for Valpo.
The game was back and forth in the fourth quarter. It looked like Hamilton Heights missed its chance at the victory when Weatherford missed both of his free-throws around the 1:15 mark of the fourth quarter. White came to the rescue with a scramble three-pointer with under a minute left in the game to tie it up.
Senior Drew Paul answered right back for Valpo. He hit a step-back 18-footer with just five seconds left on the clock. It looked like Valpo was going to be able to squezze the victory out after all.
The inbound pass went to Weatherford. He attacked the defense with little resistance. He made it all the way to the basket for an uncontested basket sending the game into overtime.
In overtime, Weatherford and Hamilton Heights controlled the action. Valpo was held to two points in the extra period. Hamilton Heights advanced with a 58-53 victory. Weatherford led the way with 19 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals. Conner TenHove led Valpo with 17 points.
Hamilton Heights 14 12 12 13 7 ---58
Valparaiso 9 15 17 10 2 ---53
HH: Weatherford 19 points (5-8 FG, 9-17 FT), Hunter Crist 12 points, Jadon White 20 points, Garrett Paull 4 points, 4 rebounds, Kurry Miller 3 points
Valpo: Conner TenHove 17 points (7-11 FG, 5-5 FT), Drew Paul 10 points, Steve Helm 10 points, Evan Walls 5 points, Brandon Nicholas 4 points, Jay Bisacky 4 points, Cole Wolf 3 points
Franklin Central vs. Portage
Franklin Central controlled from the tip. Portage made a mini-run in the fourth quarter but it was a case of too little, too late. Marcus Burk played well throughout the game for Franklin Central. The junior wing shot the ball well. He finished with 26 points.
Grant Pedigo had an efficient game around the basket for Franklin Central. He finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds.
Portage was led by Tim Bryant's 16 points.
Franklin Central won 75-52.
Bedford North Lawrence vs. Fort Wayne North
Bedford North Lawrence came out with more focus and it allowed the Stars to jump out to an early lead. BNL led North Side 17-11 after one quarter. The same trend continued in the second period behind the effort of Blaze Byrer. He had 16 points in the half. Bedford North Lawrence was up 11 at the break.
Fort Wayne North turned up the intensity in the third quarter. The increase in energy helped cut into BNL's lead. Byrer made sure that the lead did not completely disappear. Jaylen Butz blocked and changed my shots at the basket, but Byrer kept challenging him and scoring over Butz.
The fourth quarter saw North get hit with technical foul after technical foul. At one point, Braxton Day went to the line for eight straight free-throws. He hit seven of them. North kept playing hard and made it a game despite all of the free-throws.
North cut the deficit to 61-58 with 1:35 left. The comeback came up short in the end. Bedford North Lawrence won 70-63.
Ricmond vs. Indianapolis Tindley
Richmond jumped on Indianapolis Tindley right from the beginning. Davious Webster was aggressive immediately and got Richmond rolling. He scored 11 points in the first half. Richmond was leading 39-23 at the half.
Joel Okafor also had a solid night for Richmond. He scored 15 points including many pull-up jumpers.
A bright spot for Tindley was freshman Eric Hunter. He ended with 14 points.
Norwell vs. Zionsville
Norwell used the shooting of Ian Kissell to take an early lead. Kissell was hitting shots from well beyond the arc. He scored 11 first half points. Austin Hayden also gave Norwell a boost. He had nine first half points.
Jake Mann was the main scoring option in the first half as center Derrik Smits picked up two early fouls. Mann also scored 11 points in the opening half. Fellow senior Braden Hall was a steady force on the offensive end for Zionsville. He had a nice, quick drive to end the half giving Zionsville the lead at the break.
It was a low scoring third quarter but Derrik Smits did commit his third foul. Norwell took a three point lead to the final period.
Zionsville took the lead early in the fourth quarter behind the play of Hall once again. First, he found Mann open for a three-pointer after penetrating the defense. Then he scored against contact on the fast break to give Zionsville the lead. The Eagles took full control from there opening up an eight point lead with 2:43 left.