The Krebehenne boys, Aaron (22) and Tyler (21) encounter a pair of Indian Lake players going for the ball. The Wildcats topped the Lakers, 58-53.
(Photo submitted)
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North Union’s Zach Vernon is jostled by an Indian Lake opponent while going to the basket. Vernon hit key free throws to help NU to victory.
(Photo submitted)
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The ability to make free throws has not been much of a concern this season for the North Union boys basketball team.
NU, though, found it difficult to find the range from the charity stripe against Indian Lake.
But when crunch time arrived in the closing seconds, the dead-eye shooting returned and North Union came away with a 58-53 victory.
Leading 54-52 with 29 seconds left in the game, NU’s Zach Vernon dropped in a pair of free throws.
Owen Davis followed 13 seconds later with two more to seal the win.
For the game, the Wildcats were eight-of-18 from the free throw line.
Prior to the contest, North Union was hitting at a 76% clip.
“That is the worst we have shot free throws this year,” North Union head coach Brian Terrill. “But in the end, we hit the pressure free throws.”
The triumph allowed the Wildcats to finish in second place in the Mad River Division of the Central Buckeye Conference, one game in front of Indian Lake.
They finished 8-2 in league play and are now 16-4 overall. Indian Lake drops to 14-8 on the year.
Urbana won the division with a 9-1 mark and is 16-6 overall.
There was a lot of back-and-forth between the two teams with no more than six points separating them at any one time.
A pair of baskets by Davis midway through the first quarter gave North Union a 9-6 lead.
His inside hoop with one tick left upped the advantage to 14-10.
Indian Lake came out quickly in the second quarter, scoring 11 of the first 13 points.
North Union battled back to take the lead with an 8-2 run.
Max Parish started the spurt with a basket. Davis scored on a rebound basket and Vernon tallied four points as the Wildcats led 24-23 with 1:26 left in the frame.
The Lakers regained the lead on a basket by Caiden Nicol, but a steal and layup from Parish allowed the Wildcats to hold a 26-25 edge at the half.
A three-point goal by NU’s Aaron Krebehenne pushed the margin to 31-25 in the early minutes of the third quarter.
Indian Lake countered with a surge of points and led 34-32 with 4:44 left.
The Lakers bumped the margin to 43-38 with 39 seconds left on a three-point play by Luke Jackson.
Parish sliced the margin to 43-40 with two seconds to play on an inside basket.
Midway through the fourth quarter, a rebound basket by Vernon gave NU a 45-43 lead.
Another stickback from Parish at the 2:25 mark gave North Union a little bit of breathing room at 52-46.
A layup by Caleb Wurster brought Indian Lake to within two at 54-52, setting up North Union’s free throw shooting at the end.
Vernon finished with a game-high 25 points, including 11 in the fourth quarter. He also had 12 rebounds.
“We did a good job of running our offense and getting the ball to Vern,” Terrill said. “It was a really good team win.”
Davis also scored in double figures with 13 points, while Krebehenne and Parish respectively counted nine and eight points.
Nicol notched 18 points to pace Indian Lake.
Indian Lake won the junior varsity game 64-52.
Tyler Krebehenne and Tyler Huff each had 16 points for North Union while Miles Hall added 14.
North Union will host Northmor for a non-conference game on Friday.
North Union
Vernon 10-4-25, Parish 4-0-8. Bolander 1-0-3. Davis 5-3-13, A. Krebehenne 3-1-9. Three-point goals: Krebehenne 2, Vernon, Bolander.
Indian Lake
Nicol 6-5-18, Wurster, Schwieterman 2-0-5, Tuttle, 1-2-4, Jackson 4-3-12, Evans 1-0-3. Three-point goals: Nicol, Schwieterman, Jackson, Evans.