By Nate Smith
ELNORA — North Daviess won another deliberate SWIAC battle withBloomfield on Homecoming, 33-27, at the Cougar Den Friday.
The Cougars (11-5, 4-0) got key buckets from two of its seniors,Kendall Wittmer and Stetson Townsend, to seal the victory. The Cardinals (5-13, 2-5) kept the game close until late, but both Wittmer and Townsend had key buckets late that put the Cougars ahead for good.
ND Coach Brent Dalrymple knew the win was ugly, but had to be with two teams that hold the ball.
“It’s one of those things where both teams have the same style,” Dalrymple said. “Neither team wants to run up and down the floor. Neither team wants a high scoring game and so when you have two teams that try to control tempo, you are going to get some of this.”
Wittmer led the Cougars with 13 points, with six of those coming in the final frame. Townsend had four of his total eight points in the fourth, both coming from offensive rebounds. Although Bloomfield’s Drake Vandeventer kept the Cardinals close with two threes, Wittmer was fouled late and was 4-4 from the line. Dalrymple said to Bloomfield’s credit, they did not give his scorers much space to work with.
“But also give credit to Kendall for staying patient and not forcing bad shots,” Dalrymple said. “He stayed within the team and made big free throws.
“I felt for the most part we all handled the ball really well. The first quarter started slow as both North Daviess and Bloomfield had dueling 2-3 zones to start. Only a bucket by Townsend and a couple of threes by Andy Cochrane from the wing was all the offense from either team could muster. Cochrane led Bloomfield with 10 points.
Nelson Graber lit up in the second quarter with a three and drive with 3:30 left, but the Cougars could not pull forward. Wittmer, the Cougars’ leading scorer, could not find space until 1:54 left in the second, when he made three points the old way. Both entered the locker room tied at 13. Graber was much of the Cougar offense throughout the first three quarters. He ended up with nine points.
North Daviess did not find the rim kind, shooting 36 percent from the field in the first half but Bloomfield was not much better, hitting 33 percent in the first half. Dalrymple said that is what they expect from Bloomfield, under first-year coach John Bucher but still retains many of their traditional Bloomfield, slow-paced fundamentals.
“What (the slow pace) does for you, it prepares you for later on down the road,” Dalrymple said. “Every possession is crucial. Every shot is crucial and I think we stepped up and took care of business.”
The third quarter saw the shooting woes for both teams continue as both the Cougars and the Cardinals tried to dial in from long range only to be hung up on. Both teams could only rack up six points each.
Freshman Nick Crays, usually behind Wittmer in the scoring column for much of the season, could not find space and ended up with two points.
Also joining the Cougars in the scorebook was Matt Miller with a freethrow. For Bloomfield, Vandeventer finished with eight points,
Holden Hamm and Ryan O’Neall scored three points each, Payton Karl had two points and Bryce Lindsey had a bucket.
The Cougars travel to Bicknell tonight to take on North Knox.
North Daviess took the junior varsity win over the Cardinals, 36-20.
Luke Detweiler led the Cougars with eight and Connor Wikle and Lewis Nugent chipped in six points each.
