BEVERLY – Issues didn't get off to begin for the Fort Frye cadets Tuesday night time as they celebrated their 5 seniors earlier than internet hosting arch-rival and neighbor Waterford Wildcats at Dan Lietdke Courtroom.
Sparked by contributions from all 5 seniors, the Cadets turned issues round and ran away with a 58-44 win over the Wildcats.
The Cadets trailed by as many as 11 factors within the first quarter, began to play higher within the second quarter after which performed nearly as good basketball as they’ve all season within the second half to tug off an exciting senior victory .
Waterford got here into the sport on a roll as they’d gained 4 straight video games, all by 9 factors or extra, and early on it regarded like they may simply make it 5 as senior Jarrett Armstrong scored 13 factors within the first quarter to steer them at 19. -10 lead.
Fort Frye trailed by as many as 11 within the first quarter, however started to chip away on the Wildcat lead a bit within the second, going as little as 4 due to Chatum Courson's three-pointer.
Waterford responded by getting a pair of layups from Armstrong and a Three-pointer from junior Cole Sparling to increase their lead again to 9.
Cadet senior Zach Huffman accomplished an old style three-point play to chop the result in six within the last minute, however Alec Johnson capped the half with a two-pointer to ship the 'Cats into the locker room with a 28- 20. .
Armstrong, the all-time main scorer in Waterford historical past, scored 17 factors within the first half because the Wildcats knocked down 5 Three-pointers.
Fort Frye scored the primary run of the second half, however Johnson answered first with a two-pointer after which a triple, and identical to that, the Wildcats tied their largest lead of the sport at 11.
There have been occasions this season the place the Cadets have let issues get away from them at this level in a recreation, however this may not be that form of night time by any stretch of the creativeness.
Huffman's Three-pointer preceded a 2-pointer from fellow senior Braden Morgenstern to shortly reduce the lead again to 6.
Waterford answered with one other triple from Sparling, however the Cadets bought an old style three-point play by junior Clayton Miller to make it a six-point recreation once more.
Johnson's layup for 2 made it 38-30 with three and a half minutes to play within the third quarter, however that might be the final bucket of the third interval for the guests.
The Cadets wanted a spark and Morgenstern delivered with back-to-back Three-pointers to convey the Cadets followers to their toes.
Morgenstern made it eight straight factors when he caught a go within the air from Courson and put it as much as tie the sport at 38-38.
The fort wasn't achieved but within the third interval as Miller scored on an help from Morgenstern and Courson made a pair of subject objectives to provide them a four-point lead heading into the ultimate eight minutes of play.
Fort Frye prolonged its run to 14-Zero on a basket by senior Tavin Brooks to open the ultimate quarter earlier than Waterford lastly stopped the bleeding with a two-pointer from junior Max Roberts.
That bucket solely briefly halted the Cadets' momentum as they responded with six extra factors, together with a clutch drive to the basket by Kaden Dowler, one other senior.
The Wildcats reduce it to seven on a Max Roberts Three-ball, however that might be as shut as it might get because the Cadets took care of issues on the charity stripe the remainder of the best way to tug off an enormous win.
Maybe probably the most spectacular efficiency of the night time was the work the Cadets protection did within the second half on Armstrong, holding him scoreless for the ultimate 16 minutes.
“Waterford are very able to scoring a variety of factors for those who allow them to and Armstrong and Johnson get misplaced within the first half and kill us,” mentioned Henniger, whose crew additionally outrebounded the Wildcats 32-20. “We did a a lot better job of discovering them within the second half and performed lots higher defensively and that was the massive distinction.”
Huffman led the best way for the Cadets with 18 factors, together with 4 from behind the arc.
“Zach has been a frontrunner for us for some time and this 12 months he actually stepped into that function.” Henniger mentioned. “Tonight he hit some big photographs once we wanted them probably the most.”
Morgenstern went on senior night time to have the most effective video games of the season, if not his profession, as he scored 16 factors, pulled down a game-high seven rebounds and dished out six assists as effectively.
His vitality appeared to ignite the cadets on the essential second of the sport.
“Braden could be very succesful and when he does every thing proper, he can do some issues on the market.” Henniger mentioned. “It was good to see him have a fantastic second half and it made a giant distinction within the recreation.”
The opposite seniors contributed, as Brooks completed with 9 factors and 6 rebounds, whereas Dowler and Sebastian Huck began and gave the Cadets some high quality minutes all through the sport.
“Having all 5 seniors contribute all night time was very particular,” Henniger mentioned. “They’re 5 nice children and will probably be unhappy to see them go.”
Waterford was led in scoring by Armstrong and Johnson with 17 and 16 factors respectively.
The loss dropped the Wildcats' season mark to 11-9 with a recreation on the highway Friday at Belpre subsequent on the agenda.
Fort Frye improves to 11-10 with the win and can host Wheeling Central Catholic on Thursday within the common season finale.