Thunderbolts senior Chisom Ibe had a game-high 25 points, sophomore Ja’Kye Hoard had 15 and sophomore Kaleb Kelly added 14. Northmont (4-3, 2-1) won its fourth straight game after an 0-3 start.
Springfield seniors Sherrod Lay had 17 points and senior Charles Cunningham had 16 for the Wildcats (3-2, 1-2 GWOC), which dropped their second straight game after a 3-0 start.
The Wildcats went on a 17-1 run to open the game. They held the Thunderbolts without a field goal in the first eight minutes, taking a 17-4 lead after one quarter. They took a 27-14 lead into the half.
“We preach resilience, we preach handling adversity,” said Thunderbolts coach Allen Spears, “and so really what it became was an opportunity, and that’s kind of what we just kept talking about, was to stay the course, keep doing the things that we talked about leading up to today. You don’t lose the game in the first quarter or the second quarter and I think they bought into that.”
The Thunderbolts exploded for 26 points in the third quarter, including nine from Hoard, with the majority coming from pressure and offensive rebounds. They took the lead for good at 38-37 on a 3-pointer by sophomore Keegan Anderson with 33.8 seconds remaining in the period.
“(Anderson) came in and offered us a spark defensively, and then hit a big three,” Spears said. “I think when others seen that, it created a sense of belief that we could at least get back into it.
“Sometimes you need something to make you believe. I go back to that moment, and then once they kind of got that anxiety off of them — like, ‘I can’t believe we’re in this situation’ — and they cut loose and start playing.”
They increased their lead to 45-37 on a turnaround jumper by Ibe with about six minutes remaining.
The Wildcats cut the lead to four points three times, but couldn’t get any closer.
“It’s been an Achilles heel of ours all season talking about defensive rebounding and ball security,” said Wildcats coach Matt Yinger. “Unfortunately, we didn’t play 32 consistent minutes. Second half, way too many turnovers. First half, way too many offensive rebounds by Northmont.
“We flinched at their pressure. We worked on press break all week. We knew that it was going to come. We just didn’t handle it well.”
After spending more than 15 seasons as an assistant coach in the GWOC, Spears — who took over the program this season after serving as Darnell Hoskins’ assistant the last two seasons — knows what it means for his young team to earn a win at Springfield.
“It’s tough to come here and win, so for me, it’s a relief, and I’m happy for them, but I’m happy with what it can do for us, and the growth that we can have for the remainder of the year, and the rest of this GWOC schedule that we’ve got to face.”
The Wildcats travel to Miamisburg on Tuesday. They’ll get a boost from junior guard CJ Wallace, who is expected to return from injury.
“It’s a long season,” Yinger said. “It’s a marathon. We’re still looking to get healthy, but we got to be more consistent. We got to be more tough, physical and disciplined, and make sure that we have ball security. ... We just want to put this behind us and keep getting better.”
After an 0-3 start, the Thunderbolts are proving they can compete in the GWOC. They host Springboro on Tuesday.
“We came into the season thinking that, absolutely, it’s a lot of parity, and we think we have the personnel that can compete,” Spears said, “but, you know, saying it is different than doing it and tonight is just, it’s kind of a feather in our cap. ... We got to take it a game at a time and just keep getting better. But one of our mottos is being process-driven, and this is just part of the process.”
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