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You know things are going your way when the cheers you get when you sky to the basket and grab a ball that gets stuck on a free throw are as loud as the ones you get knocking down 14 points and helping your team to a 56-37 win in an early season showdown of league powers.
That was the reaction Barneveld's 6-7 senior Sam Nechkash got when he pulled down a stuck basketball so play could continue.
No doubt the 35-12 scoring difference at the time (5:55 left in the third quarter) had something to do with the cheers, too.
Nechkash did his damage early and his 10 first quarter points sent the Golden Eagles to a 15-5 lead over the Monticello Ponies, the team they shared the Six Rivers East crown with the past two seasons. When the Ponies turned their defensive attention to Nechkash the Eagles attacked the perimeter, nailing six three pointers and getting double figures from senior Sawyer Lee along with sophomore Jeremy Whitish.
Lee led the scoring with 21 points and drilled a trio of three pointers. Whitish ran the show from the point, finished with 11 points and also netted three baskets from three point land.
The Eagles were never threatened and turned their first quarter lead into a 29-9 halftime advantage. They hung around the 20 point difference the rest of the way and were in command at 50-30 with 3:30 left in the game when Lee knocked down one of his threes.
Monticello had a run of threes late in the game but it was too little, too late.
"We are an inside-out team," said Barneveld coach Shawn Sullivan said. "And today Sam did his job. When they covered him he kicked the ball out and we got our shots. He did a good job passing it out with the attention he was drawing."
"We are a good team when we got inside-out," Sullivan said.
"We have a tough stretch coming up with Juda there Thursday," Sullivan added. "They will be a big test. And, Monticello will be there at the end of the season. We can be satisfied with the win but we have to keep on working."
SCORE BY QUARTERS
M 5 4 13 16 37
B 15 14 10 17 56
BOX SCORE
MONTICELLO 37: (fg-ft-tp) Klitzke 0-0-0, Kolasch 1-4-7, Schultz 1-0-3, Hefty 1-0-2, Steffen 5-0-14, May 0-0-0, Marty 4-1-10, Rufener 0-1-1, Gilbertson 0-0-0 Totals 12-6/12-37 Fouls-9
BARNEVELD 56: Lee 9-0-21, Hellenbrand 0-0-0, Hodgson 2-0-6, Nechkash 7-0-14, Owens 0-0-0, A. Moyer 0-0-0, J. Whitish 4-0-11, Hummel 0-0-0, H. Whitish 1-0-2, C. Moyer 1-0-2 Totals 25-0/0-56 Fouls-17 Fouled out-Hodgson
3 point goals
M-Kolasch 1, Schultz 1, Steffen 4, Marty 1
B-Lee 3, J. Whitish 3