Aaron Krebehenne (22) of North Union leaps for a jump shot as a pair of Centerburg defenders pressures his attempt. Krebehenne tallied eight points during the Wildcats’ 60-45 tournament win. (Journal-Tribune photo by Sam Dillon)
It was a game that saw 33 fouls and North Union’s shooters struggle to find the bottom of the basket from beyond the arc.
The Wildcats, though, pulled off a 60-45 win over Centerburg during the Division III Central District sectional finals on Saturday.
NU coach Brian Terrill was a little surprised by the amount of fouls.
“We haven’t been in a game all year that has been called like that,” he said.
With the Wildcat shooters struggling from the outside, Terrill made the call to find their 6-9 post player Zach Vernon down low.
Vernon tallied six points and added a long shot from the top of the arc to pick up nine points in the opening quarter.
The NU defense settled into its press in the opening quarter and was able to keep the Trojans to only nine points.
The press, however, came at a cost.
The Wildcats picked up five fouls in the opening eight minutes, but also took a 14-9 lead into the second quarter.
Terrill tried to take the good with the bad.
NU decided to switch its defense in favor of a 2-3 zone.
The move worked well to slow down the foul calls.
It also limited Trojans to only scored two points in the set.
“They (Centerburg) are a really good shooting team and it’s kind of unorthodox to say you are going to run zone against a shooting team, “ said Terrill. “It worked, so we stuck with it.
“It wasn’t the plan coming into it.”
North Union took a commanding 31-11 lead into the locker room at the half.
The second half saw the Wildcats’ bigs – Owen Davis and Vernon – in foul trouble. The pair each picked up their fourth foul in the third quarter, ushering in a group of NU shooters.
Preston Crabtree got a pair of mid-range jumpers to fall, while Nolan Draper hit one of the Wildcats’ three treys.
As a result, NU took a 39-22 lead into the fourth quarter.
Terrill was pleased with his players who were able to compete through the foul trouble.
“I thought we were able to handle it even with both of our big guys (Vernon and Davis) in foul trouble,” he said.
Vernon returned to open the fourth quarter.
He didn’t waste any time finding his points.
The post player drove the lane for a pair of lay-ups, while Crabtree hit a couple of jumpers.
With the foul total high, both teams entered the bonus with more than six minutes left in the game.
NU, which finished the regular season with the best free-throw shooting percentage in the Central Buckeye Conference, had no problems.
The Wildcats went nine-of-10 from the stripe down the stretch to hold onto their lead.
“Overall, we are a really good free-throw team, knock on wood,” Terrill said with a smile. “So that helped a lot, especially in a game that was getting called like this.”
The Wildcats will now move on to the Central District semifinals game against Liberty Union. The contest is scheduled for Tuesday at 7p.m. at North Union High School.
North Union
Vernon 8-2-19, Crabtree 7-4-18, Feasel 2-4-8, Krebehenne 2-1-6, O. Davis 1-3-5, Draper 1-0-3, H. Davis 0-1-1. Totals: 21-15-60.
Three-point goals: Vernon 1, Krebehenne 1, Draper 1
Centerburg
Jones 6-5-19, Martin 3-2-9, Houck 2-2-6, Gregory 1-0-3, Johnson 1-1-3, Mead 1-0-3, Griffith 1-0-2. Totals: 15-10-45.
Three-point goals: Jones 2, Martin 1, Gregory 1, Mead 1