Notre Dame spoils Western's homecoming game

When the varsity contest tipped off, it was apparent that the Indians were undersized in the paint compared to the Titans. Western’s tallest players stand at 6-feet, 2-inches. The Notre Dame starting lineup included two players who stand 6-3, Cody Metzler and Carter Campbell, and another, Dominic Sparks, who towered over everyone at 6-7.

Western fell behind 5-0 early in the contest. Chase Carter finally broke through for the Indians using an assist from Kameron Janes to score on a reverse layup, avoiding a potential block. The defenses continued to battle each other with Notre Dame holding the 5-2 edge. In the final 2:30, both teams put up eight points, as each had two triples and a bucket. Notre Dame led 13-10 going to the second quarter.

Western’s scoring to finish the first quarter was back-to-back trifectas from Logan Lightle and Drew Haggy. Western’s three-point shooting continued to open the second quarter, as the Indians added three more in the first two minutes of play, making it five straight. Daniel Rodriguez had the first triple on an assist from Haggy after Haggy skied to secure an offensive rebound. Then Haggy had the next two three-pointers as Western moved ahead 19-17. That was the start of an 11-0 run by the Indians to end the second quarter.

With Western’s Zach Teed denying Sparks in the post, Janes managed to get the ball and come away with a steal, scoring on a layup. Carter had the next Western basket. Then Janes made off with a steal and scored on a layup. Defensively, Rodriguez was able to force a five-second call, and later Haggy had the final bucket of the half by getting his own rebound and going back up with the ball. At the break, Western led 27-17.

The second half was an entirely different story. Notre Dame went to a zone defense, and the outside shots weren’t falling for the Indians. The Titans cut the lead down to five, 27-22, in the first three minutes of play. Teed was able to score inside on a pass from Carter, pushing the advantage up to seven again briefly. But that was the only offense Western could produce. Notre Dame finished the third quarter on a 9-0 run, moving ahead 31-29.

Haggy brought the game to a tie briefly, 31-31, by providing the first basket of the fourth quarter. The Titans regained the lead for good when Myles Phillips responded with a trifecta. Teed had the next Western basket to cut the advantage back to one, 34-33.

The Titans took off, scoring the next 11 points while the Indians went 0-for-6 shooting, including 0-for-4 from beyond the arc. Haggy broke through with Western’s final field goal of the game with about three minutes remaining, cutting the Notre Dame lead to 10, 45-33. The Titans finished the final 2:30 by outscoring Western 11-1, making the final score 56-36.

Unofficially, Western was 10-of-25 from two-point range, 5-of-20 from beyond the arc, and 1-of-9 from the line. The only made free throw for the Indians came late in the fourth quarter. The Titans went 17-of-33 from two-point range, 5-of-13 from three-point land and connected on 7-of-8 free throws. Western had 14 turnovers, while Notre Dame had eight. Two of those Notre Dame turnovers came on five-second calls with Rodriguez and Janes denying the ball.

Individually, Haggy led Western with 15 points and six rebounds. Carter added seven points and five rebounds. Janes provided three rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals.

Notre Dame was led in scoring by Carter Campbell with 20 points. Sparks followed with 16 points and eight rebounds.

With the loss, the Indians dropped to 8-8 overall and 5-4 in the SOC I. Western remained at home Tuesday and faced New Boston. Then on Jan. 28, Western will travel to Symmes Valley for a “Super Saturday” matchup. The junior varsity boys game will begin at 4 p.m., followed by the varsity girls game at approximately 5:30 p.m. Then the varsity boys contest should tip off around 7 p.m.

BOX SCORE:

Friday, Jan. 20, 2023

Boys Varsity Basketball

Notre Dame 56 @ Western 36

NDHS — 13 4 14 25 — 56

WHS — 10 17 2 7 — 36

NOTRE DAME (56) — Landon Barbarits 3 0 0-0 6, Aaryn Bradford 0 0 0-0 0, Cody Metzler 1 2 0-0 8, Carter Campbell 7 1 3-4 20, Myles Phillips 0 2 0-0 6, Dominic Sparks 6 0 4-4 16, TOTALS 17 5 7-8 56.

WESTERN (36) — Daniel Rodriguez 0 1 0-0 3, Logan Lightle 0 1 0-0 3, Drew Haggy 3 3 0-0 15, Kameron Janes 2 0 0-3 4, Chase Carter 3 0 1-6 7, Colt Henderson 0 0 0-0 0, Zach Teed 2 0 0-0 4, TOTALS 10 5 1-9 36.