“We got down early but came back and went toe-to-toe with them for most of the game,” Northmont coach Collin Abels said. “My kids continued to battle, and even though we’re hurting that we lost, there’s a lot of good things to take from it. I’m very proud of the way they competed.
“When you come into a tough environment against a tough team on the road, you find out what your team’s made of. I like what I saw.”
Northmont finished the third quarter on an 8-4 run to take a 38-35 lead. The Thunderbolts held a four-point lead with four minutes to play, but Danny Davis and Leonard Taylor hit baskets off the glass for Springfield to tie the game 47-47. Davis then hit a 3-pointer from the right wing with 1:47 left to give Springfield a three-point lead.
The Thunderbolts had a chance to force overtime. After Michael Wallace hit two foul shots for the Wildcats, Northmont quickly got the ball up the floor to Jabari Perkins in the left corner. Perkins shot a 3-pointer at the buzzer as a Springfield player collided with him. The shot was no good, and no foul was called.
Rodney Richardson led Northmont with 16 points. He hit several big shots throughout the game, including a 3-pointer with 12 seconds left that brought the Thunderbolts within one point. Perkins and Christian Wilson both added 10 points.
Five players average over eight points a game for Northmont, and the balanced scoring helped the team win its first five games. Friday’s loss was Northmont’s first of the year.
“We’ve got a great group of seniors and a nice group of guys that come off the bench and really play to their strengths,” Abels said. “I like where this team and program is at. I love the versatility and depth that we have.”
Northmont heads to Jefferson City, Missouri next week for three games in an invitational tournament. Abels has coached at Northmont for close to two decades, and he says he’s unaware of any other instances that the program has been invited to an out-of-state tournament.
“That speaks to the growth that the program has made,” Abels said. “It’s going to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience for some of these guys, and I told them that we’re going to have fun, but we’ve got some business to take care of. We want to go out there and show them what Ohio basketball is about.”
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