Trojans escape nail-biter against Mustangs

By Phil Cobb | January 10, 2017 |

Getting above the incoming pressure from North Nodaway defenders, Logan Zimmerman of Nodaway-Holt sinks a third quarter jump shot in his team-leading 11-point performance as the Trojans win 45-44 over the Mustangs.

It came down to the final second of the game before a winner was decided in the fourth/fifth seed matchup between Nodaway-Holt (fourth) and North Nodaway (fifth) Tuesday in the Fairfax Tournament.

Sustaining a three-to-five point lead for much of the game, Nodaway-Holt allowed a late-game attempt by the Mustangs just before the buzzer as August Hoepker stepped to the line for three free throws after being fouled from outside the arc. North Nodaway trailed 45-42.

“I can honestly say that I was pleased with the way we played tonight,” North Nodaway head coach Jake Shipman said. “It’s hard to lose a game like that, but that was honestly one of the best games we had all year, and I can’t say enough about how our defense played. It’s just hard to contend when eight different players of theirs score. That’s just hard to overcome.”

They made just two of the three, and Nodaway-Holt secured the rebound for the final second. The Trojans came out of the dogfight with the victory to play on in the tournament.

The Mustangs had a hot start to the game with an 8-0 run that the Trojans just couldn’t defend. Changing to a press, Nodaway-Holt stopped the bleeding and built its way back to an 8-7 game behind North Nodaway with three minutes left in the first quarter, taking a 13-11 lead into the second frame.

Steady defenses on both sides forced a number of turnovers and rushed possessions making for a heavily back-and-forth game. Tied at 15-all with just three minutes into the half, an and-one play by Nodaway-Holt’s Eli Sloniker boosted the Trojans to a 19-15 lead. In the final minute of the second quarter Nodaway-Holt returned to the press and it paid off with a 25-19 lead as North Nodaway struggled to break that press a second time.

“I’ve felt all season long like our press gets things going for us,” Nodaway-Holt head coach Kevin Dodson said. “And when you have players under the basket like Logan Zimmerman and Carey Volner stepping up to pressure anyone in the paint, you have a great shot at getting good rebounds, and we were able to do that tonight when we needed to.”

After a quiet first half, Nodaway-Holt’s Logan Zimmerman, a 6-3 senior, made his size known at both ends with a barrage of rebounds. Zimmerman ended up with seven of the team’s 10 points total in the third quarter, just one point behind a Peyton Coleman-led North Nodaway.

The matchup of the night was Peyton Coleman versus Zach Walker. After securing an early three-pointer, nine of Coleman’s 22-point performance was from the line. Those nine were out of 10 total free throws.

“When you have someone as talented as Peyton, I’ll take that,” Dodson said of his team’s defense.

Steals by North Nodaway helped the Mustangs retain possession and knock Nodaway-Holt’s lead down to 30-28 with under two minutes to play in the third quarter. Late baskets by Sloniker and Zimmerman helped build that score back up to 35-30.

As the Trojans attempted to slow down the possession, North Nodaway continued to nab a few steals, but had trouble converting them to baskets.

Coleman steps to the line at 1:35 in the fourth quarter to close the gap to 45-40. After running the clock down inside one minute, Nodaway-Holt took a timeout with :38 to play. A bad inbound allowed North Nodaway to take over and Coleman sunk a late basket to make it a three-point game.

Twice Nodaway-Holt stepped to the line for one-and-ones, but neither was converted and instead allowed North Nodaway the ball with 13 seconds. Moving down the court, the ball hit the hands of Hoepker who shot from about three feet outside of the arc. The shot fell short, but Hoepker was contacted, allowing the senior a shot at tying the game with one second remaining. The first sank, but the second bounced off the rim. The third sank, but Nodaway-Holt was able to run out the clock to the 45-44 win.

The Trojans will play top-seeded East Atchison Wednesday at 6 p.m. in the semifinals.

NODAWAY-HOLT: POINTS (FG, FT made-att, 3PT)- Logan Zimmerman 11 (5, 1-3, 0); Carey Volner 7 (2, 0-0, 1); James Chesnut 6 (3, 0-0, 0); Brody Day 6 (2, 2-3, 0); Eli Sloniker 5 (2, 1-1, 0); Tucker Schwebach 4 (2, 0-0, 0); Kaiden Vance 3 (1, 1-4, 0); Zach Walker 3 (1, 1-2, 0).

NORTH NODAWAY: POINTS (FG, FT made-att, 3PT)- Peyton Coleman 22 (5, 9-10, 1); Dakota Smyser 6 (3, 0-0, 0); August Hoepker 5 (0, 2-3, 1); Cole Bird 5 (2, 1-2, 0); Arron Coleman 3 (1, 1-4, 0); Tyler Bix 3 (1, 1-4, 0).

The matchup of the night was North Nodaway’s Peyton Coleman, who is driving the lane against Nodaway-Holt’s Zach Walker, who was matched up with Coleman for most of the night.