Lakers top North Central at county tournament

North Central's Dylan Walker (24) tries to get to the basket while being defended by Shakamak center Jordan Langford (33) during a Greene County Invitational boys basketball game at Switz City Tuesday night. John Smith (23) prepares for a rebound. (By B.J. Hargis/Greene County Daily World). [Order this photo]

SWITZ CITY -- Shakamak took its first step toward defending its Greene County Invitational championship with a 60-55 victory over North Central in the first round of the 39th annual tournament here Tuesday night .

Shakamak, who snapped a two-game losing skid to improve to 6-3, went ahead 53-40 with three minutes and 32 seconds remaining after the second of back-to-back scores in the paint by T.J. Hill, who returned to the Laker line-up after missing nine games with a severely sprained ankle.

North Central, who lost for the first time in five games, shook off the rust of not having played in 18 days as they forced a rash of Laker turnovers, cutting the lead to 53-48 with 102 seconds to play. Bobby Swaby missed a lay-up after another T-Bird steal, which would have trimmed the deficit to three points.

The Lakers then made 5 of 7 free throws to close out the Thunderbirds.

"We had little bit better effort in spurts," said Shakamak coach Steve Brett, who earned his 400th career victory in his first Greene County tournament game. "Our execution left a lot to be desired.

"But overall, I thought our defense played pretty well. But once we got up by 10 or 12 points, we got a little lackadaisical on defense. We got in a hurry and turned the ball over late. They took advantage of some quick shots and some turnovers to get back into the game."

North Central coach Ryan Kamman's team also played in spurts, falling behind 4-0 early before scoring 10 unanswered points to go ahead 10-4. The Thunderbirds, who have never won the Greene County Invitational, led 12-11 after the first quarter.

But Shakamak's zone defense and 7 of 12 shooting by the Lakers in the second period left North Central on the short end of a 26-17 score at intermission.

"They hurt us with their 3-2 zone," said North Central coach Ryan Kamman. "We knew they were going to play it and had worked on it in practice.

"I don't know if the layoff hurt us or not, but we just came out flat. We were not as aggressive as we had been in our first four games."

Shakamak had a stretch of almost eight minutes where they never led by less than 10 points. The Lakers, who had 17 assists on their 25 baskets, went ahead by 14 points twice in the fourth quarter, the last one coming at 50-36 with 5:27 to play after a basket by Hill, who finished with six points, five rebounds and two blocked shots.

"It was good to have T.J. back. He gives us a lot of bulk inside," said Brett. "He got a couple of baskets and contributed on the boards as well."

Brett added that Hill, Jordan Langford (six points, two rebounds and one block) and Jarred VanHorn (six points on 3-for-3 shooting) all played well in the post.

Brett praised everyone that played, including John Smith (10 points, seven rebounds and seven assists), Tyler Richardson (four rebounds, four assists, two steals and five points), Ethan Stanifer (eight points, three assists, one steal and one block) and Jordan Crowe.

Billy Newton, who missed five days of practice with an unknown virus, came off the bench and played the final 24 minutes, finishing with a game-high 19 points on 7-for-10 shooting. He also had one steal, two assists, one rebound and a blocked shot.

"We are just taking it one game at a time," said Newton, who went for the 1,000-point plateau for his career.

"I did not know that Billy was that close to 1,000," said Brett. "That was nice."

Derrik Enstrom paced North Central with 17 points and eight rebounds, keying a 30-21 edge on the boards. Dylan Walker added 10 points.

A.J. Boyll and Donnie Abrams both returned for injury and played off the bench for the T-Birds.

"We have just been playing six players," said Kamman. "It was good to have A.J and Donnie back.

"Donnie missed some easy shots that he would normally make. Hopefully they will continue to make progress in getting back to 100 percent."

North Central will play at 6 p.m. Thursday in the consolation round. Shakamak will play in the first semifinal at 6 p.m. Friday.

NORTH CENTRAL (55) -- Derrik Enstrom 7-11 2-2 17, Dylan Walker 5-6 0-0 10, Corbin Rehmel 1-2 0-0 2, Bobby Swaby 4-15 1-1 10, Storm Lindsay 0-5 1-2 1, A.J. Boyll 1-2 0-0 2, Jordan Stefancik 5-6 0-0 11, Donnie Abrams 1-4 0-0 2. Totals 24-51 4-5 55.

SHAKAMAK (60) -- T.J. Hill 3-5 0-0 6, Jordan Langford 3-6 0-0 6, Tyler Richardson 1-5 2-2 5, John Smith 4-9 0-1 10, Ethan Stanifer 4-7 0-0 8, Billy Newton 7-10 5-8 19, Jordan Crowe 0-0 0-0 0, Jarred VanHorn 3-3 0-0 6. Totals 25-45 7-11 60.

North Central 12 5 12 26 -- 55

Shakamak 11 15 14 20 -- 60

3-point shooting -- North Central 3-11 (Enstrom 1-1, Stefancik 1-2, Swaby 1-8), Shakamak 3-10 (Smith 2-4, Richardson 1-2, Newton 0-2, Stanifer 0-2). Fouls -- North Central 14, Shakamak 10. Fouled out -- Langford, Enstrom. Rebounds --North Central 30 (Enstrom 8), Shakamak 21 (Smith 7). Assists -- North Central 10 (Swaby 4), Shakamak 17 (Smith 7, Richardson 4). Steals --North Central 4 (Swaby 2), Shakamak 5 (Richardson 2). Turnovers -- North Central 10 (Boyll 3), Shakamak 9 (Hill 2). Blocks -- North Central 1 (Enstrom), Shakamak 5 (Hill 2).