Tue Feb 09 2010
By BRUCE HEFFLINGER
Who says size matters?
On Friday night it was the size of the heart not the player that meant the most as the much smaller Wildcats of Napoleon outhustled Defiance en route to a 49-36 win in the season opener for both squads.
"Who outworked who?"asked DHS coach Kirk Lehman following the game. "The team that outworked the other team won the game. That's the bottom line."
Defiance appeared in control early on taking a 13-5 lead on an Alex Keel driving layup at the 1:19 mark of the first quarter. But even with starting guards Joel and Lee Hunter on the bench with two fouls, the Wildcats were able to capture the momentum by going on a 16-5 run for a 21-18 halftime lead.
"I don't know if we got comfortable or what," said Lehman, whose team blocked three shots and outrebounded Napoleon 11-5 in the opening stanza. "We had a couple blocked shots that looked like a top 10 play on ESPN but I don't know if we got too comfortable, too cool or what."
Jordan Kruse, who came off the bench to hit a 3-pointer late in the fourth quarter, added two more buckets in the second quarter to key the spurt by Napoleon, which had 10 second-chance points in a period the Wildcats dominated the rebounding 10-5, including six on the offensive end.
"Give Kruse credit, he took over the game offensively," Lehman noted. "He hit some big shots."
A three-point play by Joel Hunter and consecutive treys by Kruse, who led the Wildcats with 15 points, expanded the Napoleon advantage to 30-19 three minutes into a second half that saw the Bulldogs missed their first nine shots from the field.
A pair of buckets by Steven Hammersmith and a two-pointer by Keel, who paced DHS with 11 points, pulled Defiance within 34-27 with 2:03 left in the third quarter. But after a Napoleon timeout came perhaps the biggest possession of the game.
Kyle Niermann was off the mark on a 3-point shot from the right of the key but the 6-0 senior was there for the rebound and putback bucket.
Moments later a Neirmann steal and pass to Joel Hunter for a layin gave the Wildcats a 38-27 lead entering the final quarter and Defiance never got closer than eight points the rest of the way.
"When we made the run to get it to seven they missed the three and got the rebound and put it back in," a disappointed Lehman said. "Rebounding was supposed to be an advantage for us but it was an advantage to them."
While Napoleon had no player taller than 6-2 see action, Defiance had five players taller than that.
It didn't matter.
"That's something we'll have to deal with all year long," said Tim Badenhop after his first game as Napoleon head coach. "We tell them rebounding is a mindset. You've got to work for it."
The Wildcats certainly did that, outrebounding the Bulldogs 24-23 after the first quarter.
"Supposedly going in we had an advantage on the boards," Lehman said. "That (getting outrebounded) takes the wind out of your sails."
Add in a 14-for-47 shooting night from the field (30 percent) and it was far from the season opener the Bulldogs had anticipated.
"There's a tendency when you're outworked you don't shoot well," Lehman explained. "We tightened up and their effort was better."
Enough so to make Badenhop's debut a successful one.
"A lot's made of winning my first game, but I'm more happy for the team than me," Badenhop said. "We'll use this as a springboard for the season. That's what we're going to do."
Defiance, which is back in action Friday at Paulding, was a 38-26 winner in the junior varsity contest. Preston Pixler scored 10 points while Josh Scott and Doug Herrett added 9 apiece for the Bulldogs. Andy Durham had 9 points for Napoleon.
BOX SCORE
NAPOLEON (49) -- J. Hunter 13; L. Hunter 4; Rettig 0; Niermann 9; Keller 2; Kruse 15; Plassman 2; Brownson 4. Totals 19-48 8-10 49.
DEFIANCE (36) -- T. Keel 1; Nofziger 3; A. Keel 11; Kime 0; Hammersmith 9; Gutman 2; Parsons 8; Stapleton 2; Spitnale 0; Beverly 0; Burkhart 0. Totals 14-47 5-9 36.
Three-point goals: Napoleon - Kruse 3. Defiance - Parsons 2, Nofziger.
Rebounds: Napoleon 29 (Keller 8, J. Hunter 6). Defiance 34 (A. Keel 9, Hammersmith 7).
Turnovers: Napoleon 7, Defiance 12.
Napoleon 7 14 17 11 - 49
Defiance 13 5 9 9 - 36
Reserves: Defiance, 38-26.
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