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| 3/4/2009 2:47:00 PM | Email this article • Print this article | Hardin Northern controls Gophers in first round
By Virginia Bandy
Ada Herald Editor
It was a sloppy first round of sectionals at Bath Tuesday night between the Hardin Northern Polar Bears and the Ridgemont Golden Gophers. Bad passing and multiple turnovers plagued both teams, but the Polar Bears managed to defeat Ridgemont 61-50.
Hardin Northern stepped it up in the second quarter, when they held off a Gopher score until there were only 40 seconds left in the stanza. HN Head Coach Mark Thompson said, "In the beginning, we were way off again, then we caught fire again and our defense really picked it up. A lot of our points came off of turnovers and layups, and when we can do that, we can score."
Coach Thompson continued, "The kids did a great job on defense, they went 11 minutes without letting them score. They played hard and did what I asked them to do."
Ridgemont came out at the half trying to rally, and three players hit five treys to keep the quarter even at 19 points each. The Gophers outscored HN in the fourth, but the original lead held.
Leading the Polar Bears were Tommy Wheeler with 13 and Tyler Wilson with 12. Joe Walter added nine points.
3-pointers: Tyler Wilson (1).
Earning 11 points for the Gophers were David Shroyer and Davante Ratleff, and Caleb Scott added 10 markers.
3-pointers: Ratleff (3), Shroyer (2).
HN 12 15 19 14 61
Ridg 9 3 19 19 50
Coach Thompson commented on next season, saying that "we bring everybody back except for Tyler Wilson, so hopefully we've laid the groundwork, and bring the kids back and get in the gym this summer."
Hardin Northern advances to the next round of sectionals to face Ada in the first game on Friday night at Bath. "Ada handled us easily the last time," Coach Thompson said. "We need to play a tough defense but you never know. We earned the right to go play them."
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