Titans sink Tigers with game-winning shot

Posted: December 11, 2009
By Peter Adelsen

It all came down to one shot.

With just under two minutes remaining in a tied game Friday, the Taylor High School Titans had possession of the ball. They would not relinquish the ball until junior Reomey Northington took the final shot from within the free-throw line with 0.8 to go and he sunk the shot.

The game was not over, however, as the Northwestern High School Tigers had a set play to score quick points. As the Tigers attempted a full-court pass to the other end of the court, Northwestern sophomore Kylan Dubbels was fouled by Taylor senior Drake Herr on the far end of the court. This gave Northwestern a chance to force overtime, but with heavy pressure Dubbels missed the foul shots. Taylor defeated its Mid-Indiana Conference rival Northwestern 55-53 at Taylor High School.

“Eight-tenths isn’t a lot of time to work with, so I tried to manufacture something at that point,” Northwestern coach Jim Gish said. “We put ourselves in position to tie the game. “

Northwestern struggled at the free-throw line shooting 50 percent and could not stop Taylor junior Reomey Northington who scored 29 points for the Titans.

“You just don’t win basketball games shooting 50 percent from the line,” Gish said. “What’s discouraging is that we gave such a good, hard defensive effort tonight. Taylor is a really good basketball team.”

The game was close throughout with the largest lead being only six points when Taylor was up on Northwestern 16-10 in the first quarter. The first quarter ended with a 16-16 tie as Northwester scored the last six points.

Throughout the remaining quarters, Taylor’s Northington’s tough defense forced steals that led to easy layups.

In the fourth quarter, with a 50-50 tie, Northington hit a three-pointer with just over two minutes to go in the game. When Northwestern got the ball back, junior Brett Galloway answered the basket with a three-pointer of his own to tie the game again. This would be the last time Northwestern had the ball until under a second remaining. The Titans controlled the ball until Northington made the game-winning basket with 0.8 remaining.

“Reomey is the key,” Taylor coach Jeff Fisher said. “He gets lots of picks, scores easy baskets and scores 29. He hits the game winner. I can’t ask him to do much more than that.”

Taylor was led in scoring by Northington’s 29 points. He also had five steals. The other Titan in double-figures scoring was junior Seth Vautaw with 13 points.

Northwestern’s had three players who scored in double-figures. Senior Jared Treadway led the Tigers with 15 points. Junior Brett Galloway had 11 points and senior Brayden Merrell had 10 points.

Taylor (no. 15 in 2A at 3-1) next takes the court on December 18 when they face the Lewis Cass Kings (1-3) in Mid-Indiana Conference play. Northwestern (1-2) next takes the court at home against Mississinewa (no. 17 in 3A at 4-0) on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

Scores by quarter:

Northwestern 16 14 13 10 =53

Taylor 16 15 15 9 =55

Other area scores from Friday:

(#14-4A) Kokomo 70, Muncie Central, 64

Western 61, (#18-2A) Eastern 55

Maconaquah 72, Wabash 43

Hamilton Heights 65, Lewis Cass 47

(#10-3A) Peru 49, Plymouth 42

Previous games of the week:

Week One: Western at Kokomo

Week Two: Northwestern at Western