Indians use pair of second-half rallies to stay in first place in PAC-7 with 64-58 win over Mustangs.
TUSCARAWAS TWP. Two-and-a-half quarters through Friday night's game between neighboring Northwest and Tuslaw, the home-standing Mustangs were controlling the play. More importantly, they were also controlling the scoreboard.
That's when the Indians turned up the intensity on defense. That helped them turn things around as they won their second PAC-7 game in as many nights with a 64-58 win at Tuslaw.
That defensive intensity, which Northwest showcased in a 75-38 rout of Fairless the night before, came back into play to help change the momentum. After forcing just five turnovers in falling behind the Mustangs 33-30 at halftime, the Indians forced 12 in the second half to key their comeback.
"We just planned to keep the ball out of the post," said Northwest senior guard Cooper Ross after he and his teammates improved to 11-3 overall and 6-1 in the PAC-7. "We needed way better help backside. We just locked down defensively and took this game back."
The Indians never led - but was tied four times - over the first 18-plus minutes of the game. With 5:26 left in the third quarter, Tuslaw's Austin Patterson dropped in a basket for a 37-32 lead.
That's when Northwest found its legs. It forced four Tuslaw turnovers in six possessions, while scoring on six consecutive trips down the floor for a 13-2 run and a 45-39 lead on Grant Baughman's basket with 2:39 left in the third.
The run started with Scott Wormald dropping in a 3-point basket. It was the fourth of five 3-pointers for the Indians' leading scorer, who finished with a game-high 26 points.
However, Wormald was just one of five different Northwest players to score on the run. Kyle Luhring had two of his 10 points; Luke Fennell had four of his 11, including the basket to put the Indians in front for the first time all night at 41-39; and Justin Gunter added a basket.
"We have a couple of guys who come off the bench, Jordan Appleman and Kyle, and they get steals," Ross said. "Grant Baughman, he's our defensive leader. He'll sit down and guard all five positions on the court and that helps out a lot."
The problem for Northwest was one position in particular. That was wherever Patterson, the Mustangs 6-foot-6 post, was on the floor.
Patterson scored eight of his team-high 24 points in what was a 15-6 Tuslaw run to surge back in front 54-51 with 4:22 remaining. Jaden Rambo had the other seven points for the Mustangs in the run.
"We wanted to get it in (to Patterson)," Tuslaw coach Lynn Wess said. "We wanted to get it in. I would've liked to have gotten it in more."
For Wess, whose team falls to 7-9 overall and 1-7 in the PAC-7, the game was more of the same. The Mustangs' biggest lead was 15-7 in the first quarter, and they led 33-30 at halftime thanks to Anthony Fraelich's 3-pointer just before the buzzer.
However, it was yet another bad third quarter - a reoccurring issue on the season - which helped open the door for the Indians to walk through.
"We just can't make the big play to turn it around for us," Wess said. "It came down to a couple of possessions for us. On both sides of the ball for us."
Northwest made most of those plays down the stretch, including a game-tying Wormald 3-pointer almost immediately after Patterson put Tuslaw up three. The Indians then created back-to-back turnovers by the Mustangs, plus a missed shot, turning a tie game into a 60-54 lead with 42.8 seconds remaining.
Wormald, Ross and Eric Landrum each went 2-for-2 from the foul line in those final 42.8 seconds. Ross and Landrum both made their pair in the final 24.4 seconds after Tuslaw pulled to within 60-58.
"To get back and to use as much energy as we did to get the lead and then to give it back away, that says a lot about our kids," Northwest coach Mike Lower said. "Then to hit the big free throws down the stretch. The other side of that is that Tuslaw has given us two unbelievable games. We were fortunate to win."
Reach Chris at 330-775-1128 or chris.easterling@indeonline.com
On Twitter: @ceasterlingINDE