Normal Community, Normal West prevail on opening night of Intercity Tournament
BLOOMINGTON – As the Shirk Center doors to Dennie Bridges Court opened a half hour before tipoff Monday, about 25 Normal Community High School students rushed in to occupy seats close to the floor.
The much anticipated NCHS basketball show was about to start.
The tall and talented Ironmen did not disappoint, roaring out to 14-0 lead and slamming down 11 dunks in a 69-43 victory over Bloomington on the first night of the Intercity Tournament.
“Opening night. It’s fun to get back to it and get back to Intercity with the big crowds,” NCHS coach Dave Witzig said. “We learned a lot about our team.”
In the second game, Normal West controlled the second half to topple Central Catholic 55-44.
The tournament continues Wednesday with BHS facing Central Catholic at 6 p.m. and NCHS playing University High at 7:30.
NCHS-BHS
The Ironmen’s first points of the season came on a Jaheem Webber dunk, and a Niko Newsome alley oop slam off a Braylon Roman assist made it 8-0.
Roman and Noah Cleveland both turned steals into breakaway dunks as the NCHS margin swelled to 14-0.
“Our guards do a good job getting in the passing lanes, and our big guys can block shots and go the other way,” said Witzig. “We were able to fast break Bloomington. That’s something Normal Community hasn’t been able to do very often in our history. We were able to get some easy fast break buckets.”
BHS connected on four second-quarter 3-pointers but still trailed 48-27 at halftime.
“I felt like we handled their multiples punches very well. We never folded,” Purple Raiders coach Spencer Johnson said. “All I was looking for tonight was energy and effort. I felt like we did a pretty good job with that.”
NCHS has eight players on its roster taller than 6-foot-3, while BHS has none.
“Our defense wasn’t very good tonight because Bloomington did a good job of really attacking us,” said Witzig. “That’s where we have to really get after it.”
A Wright State recruit, Webber led all scorers with 21 points. Cleveland, a 6-8 senior who sat out last season, had 18 points and eight rebounds in his first game back.
“I needed a break from the game so that’s what I did,” said Cleveland, whose older brother Zach plays at Liberty University. “I was missing it. I played with my brother over the summer and I was doing good. It’s my senior year so I thought I would come back.
"I was nervous coming out because I haven’t played in a while. But after the first couple plays I was good.”
Another reason expectations are sky high for the Ironmen is the addition of 6-6 senior Newsome, who was a Pantagraph All-Area player at BHS last season.
“It was very exciting. We played decent, but we’re way more talented (than we showed),” said Newsome, who had six points. “We have a really great team this year. I think we can go far.”
Roman added 10 points and Conner Smith, a transfer from Rantoul, had eight.
Robert Clark topped BHS with 12 points. Evan Reed chipped in nine.
West-Central
Defending tournament champion West closed the third quarter on a 10-3 surge that opened up a 44-38 edge on Central Catholic.
An Alex Austin 3-pointer from the corner extended the Wildcats’ advantage to 10 and West did not falter down the stretch.
“It was an ugly win, but we have some youth on our team that’s inexperienced. It was a good experience for them to play in that game,” Wildcats coach Ed Hafermann said. “And we’ve got some seniors whose role has changed quite a bit. We’re going through some growing pains.”
Nate Moore scored eight of his 18 points in the second quarter for West.
“We started passing the ball more the second half and got open looks,” said Moore. “The first half we were kind of selfish with the ball.”
The Wildcats’ Austin added 13 points off the bench.
Trey Eller scored 18 points and TJ Larson 11 for the Saints.
“The reality is we had plenty of guys with experience, but they had not played in those roles,” Central Catholic coach Jason Welch said. “To get out there on the main floor with a great crowd, I thought our kids did some things right. Ultimately, our defense broke down the third quarter, and they ended up getting us.”
The Saints played without its top two scorers from its Class 2A second-place team last season. All-Stater Cole Certa transferred to IMG Academy in Florida, while Colin Hayes will sit out the Intercity Tournament because of the wear and tear of football season.
“From a safety standpoint, we’re going to make sure he’s completely healed up,” said Welch. “He’ll be fine.”
Busy Saturday
Day four of the tournament on Saturday will feature earlier starting times to accommodate an Illinois Wesleyan men’s game.
Central Catholic will meet U High at 4 p.m. and BHS and West will tangle at 5:30 p.m. Intercity tickets will be honored at IWU’s 7:30 matchup with the University of Chicago.
Photos: Normal Community vs Bloomington during Intercity boys basketball tournament at Illinois Wesleyan Comments Love Get in the game with our Prep Sports Newsletter Sent weekly directly to your inbox! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy . Randy Reinhardt Sports Reporter Get email notifications on {{subject}> daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}>Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.
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