WOOSTER — Black River’s boys basketball team sailed into the Wooster High School gym Monday night and blasted Norwayne broadside on the way to a 71-46 win in a Division III sectional semifinal.

The Pirates (9-11) caught the Bobcats completely by surprise with a harassing defense and precision shooting in the first quarter. Putting together runs of 6-0, 7-0 and 6-0 they jumped out to a 21-11 first-quarter lead.

“We wanted to pressure Norwayne right off the opening tip,” Black River coach Bryan Morgan said. “That was one of the best starts we have had this year, both defensively and offensively.”

It didn’t get better for Norwayne ( 4-17) in the second quarter as the Pirates put together another 14-6 run at the end of the period, highlighted by a 3-point buzzer-beater from Carl Younglas (24 points, 4 rebounds, 3 steals).

“I think that trey at the end of the half got us really fired up going into the locker room,” Younglas said. “In the past, we have had troubles in the third quarter, but tonight we didn’t fade.”

In the opening 16 minutes, the Pirates forced Norwayne into 18 turnovers (11 Pirate steals) and connected on
56 percent (14-of-25) from the field.

‘It was a great start, but I still was worried about what we would do in the second half,” Morgan said. “We haven’t done that well in the third quarter all year.”

Morgan shouldn’t have worried.

Black River — led by the rebounding of Jon Sas (17 points, eight rebounds), the ball handling of Curtis Klosski (12 points, only one turnover) and Younglas — outscored the Bobcats 18-9 to end the third quarter ahead 58-32, basically ending any hopes Norwayne harbored.

“We played great team basketball tonight,” Sas said of the Pirates’ third straight win. “I really felt especially good about my game. This is the first time since I’ve been back from the broken foot that I felt like I really played a solid game.”

Most of the Pirates stepped up and hustled, forcing Norwayne into 30 turnovers. The Pirates ended with 18.
“Our team played its best game yet,” Morgan said. “We have been improving every week since the loss to Hillsdale. We hope we can continue to carry that improvement into Friday’s game with Orrville.”

Black River 71, Norwayne 46

NORWAYNE (46): Nick Davis 0-0 0-0 0, Bryce Maxwell 1-6 4-4 6, Cameron Tasker 5-7 0-2 12, Dylan Crawford 2-3 1-2 5, Adam Wallace 4-10 3-8 11, Brad Chaffin 0-0 0-0 0, Jacob Schnedetz 1-5 0-0 3, Jon Mailbach 1-3 0-0 2, Brandon Hall 0-0 1-2 1, Nate Davis 0-1 0-0 0, Corey O’Dell 0-0 0-0 0, Derrick Fry 2-3 1-1 6, Mark Minks 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-38 10-19-46.

Black River (71): Curtis Klosski 3-9 4-6 12, Jacob O’Connor 1-3 0-0 2. Joe Tutie 1-1 0-0 2, Carl Younglas 11-17 0-0 24, Jon Sas 6-7 5-6 17. Mat Stuart 3-4 0-0 7, Dean Finkel 0-0 0-0, Cody Klosski 1-5 2-2 4, Brian Clements 0-0 0-1, John Guilford 0-0 3-4 3, Matt Joppeck 0-1 0-0 0, Nick Morrow 0-0-0. Totals 26-47 14-19-71.

Norwayne 11 12 9 14 — 46

Black River 21 19 18 13 — 71

Three-point goals: Norwayne 4-9 (Tasker 2-4, Fry 1-2, Schnedetz 1-3), Black River 5-12 (Youglas 2-4, Curtis Klosski 2-3, Stuart 1-2, Cody Klosski 0-2, O’Connor 0-1). Rebounds: Norwayne 26 (Wallace 15), Black River 26 (Sas 8). Assists: Norwayne 8 (Maxwell 3), Black River 13 (O’Connor 4). Turnovers: Norwayne 30 (Crawford 7), Black River 19 (O’Connor 7). Steals: Norwayne 11 (Maxwell 4),Wallace 4), Black River 18 (Curtis Klosski 4). Blocks: Norwayne 1 (Wallace 1), Black River 3(Curtis Klosski, Stuart, Guilford). Fouls: Norwayne 18, Black River 17. Fouled Out: None. Technical Fouls: None.

Contact Ho Hoffman at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.

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