With one-fourth of the season in the books, what was once thought to be Bowling Green’s strengths have
become weaknesses.
An inability to shoot well from the perimeter as well as 6-foot-7 junior center Vitto Brown avoiding foul
problems doomed BG in its 68-56 loss to the Napoleon Saturday. Toss in another slow start to a game, the
fourth in five contests this season, and the Bobcats drop to 1-4 overall and 1-2 in the Northern Lakes
League. Napoleon improves to 4-1, 3-0. PHOTO
GALLERY
“We
need to shoot it better,” said BG coach Von Graffin, whose squad hit just 22-of-65 (34 percent) from the
field including just 4-of-16 (25 percent) from downtown. “Coming into the season, I thought one of our
pluses was our perimeter shooting and that hasn’t been the case so far.
“I do know this, when Vitto Brown doesn’t get in foul trouble, we win” added Graffin. “When he’s been in
foul trouble, we’ve had trouble scoring.”
From the outset, the Wildcats, led by 6-5 junior Jordan’s Lauf’s 10 first-quarter points, had their way
on both ends of the court. Brown, who led BG with 15 points in about 15 minutes of playing time, picked
up is second foul just over a minute into the game and didn’t return until 5:17 was left in the half. In
the interim, Napoleon closed the first quarter on a 9-0 run to lead 19-4 after one period of play.
“We have to have some urgency early,” said Graffin whose team converted just 2-of-14 field goals in the
first quarter while giving Napoleon second shots on the defensive end. “We have to make shots. We have
to make stops. We have to have an urgency about our approach to things.”
With both teams in the penalty nearly the whole second quarter, play became erratic; yet, BG, with five
different players scoring, closed to within 26-16 on Brown’s put-back with 5:01 left in the half.
Napoleon senior Jordan Myles, who led all scorers with 25 points, answered Brown’s hoop with three
consecutive baskets in an 8-0 run which saw the Wildcats take their largest lead, 34-18. The teams went
to the break with Napoleon enjoying a 34-20 advantage.
Down 39-22 with six minutes left in the third quarter, BG sprang to life courtesy of 6-6 junior post
Nolan Dill who propelled the Bobcats on a 13-0 run. Dill, who scored five of his nine points in the
third quarter while pulling down seven of his team-high 12 boards, was relentless on the offensive
glass. With Brown’s put-back at 2:53, BG had clawed back to within 39-35. A 4-0 spurt in the last 45
seconds had the Bobcats within 45-41 with a quarter to play.
“Nolan (Dill) is starting to come into his own a little bit, doing some nice things,” praised Graffin.
“If Nolan’s giving us 10 (points) and 8 (rebounds) a night, you’re getting a great contribution from
that position.
“When there’s an urgency, we’re pretty good,” said Graffin whose team, thanks to a 24-10 second half
differential on the boards, won the rebounding battle, 39-30.
Brown’s inside hoop early in the final frame had BG down just 45-43. The Wildcats regrouped for a 6-0 run
as senior guard Fulton Lankenau (12 points) began and ended the spurt around two free throws by Lauf (20
points and 12 boards) lifting Napoleon to a 51-43 edge with 6:31 to play. BG, behind a nine-point
quarter from junior guard Andrew Herringshaw (14 points) would get no closer than five points the rest
of the contest as Napoleon made 9-of-10 from the line (13-of-20 for the game) during the final quarter
with Brown fouling out on an offensive charge with 4:43 to go.
“I thought Andrew Herringshaw stepped up in the fourth quarter, had a nice fourth quarter,” said Graffin.
“We’ve got some work to do, some growing to do. We’ll keep getting better. It’s a marathon, not a
sprint.”
Napoleon, one of the NLL preseason favorites, sank 25-of-55 (45 percent) including 5-of-16 from beyond
the arc. Napoleon had just four turnovers to BG’s nine miscues.
The Napoleon junior varsity team downed BG, 0-5 on the season, 56-46. David Fouts and Mitchell Gardner
paced the Bobcats with nine points apiece.
NAPOLEON 68, BGHS 56
NAPOLEON
Brown, 0-1-0—3; F. Lankenau, 3-1-3—12; Plassman, 1-0—2; Homan, 0-0—0; Harris, 0-0—0; A. Lankenau, 0-0—0;
Myles, 8-2-3—25; Lauf, 5-1-7—20; Schlade, 2-0—4; Huber, 1-0—2. TOTALS: 20-5-13—68.
BOWLING GREEN
Stone, 1-0—2; Nichols, 1-2—4; Herringshaw, 2-3-1—14; Dunn, 0-0—0; Gardner, 3-1-0—9; Brown, 7-1—15;
Dennis, 1-1—3; Dill, 3-3—9. TOTALS: 18-4-8—56.
NAPOLEON 19 15 11 23 —68
BGHS 4 16 21 15 —56
Junior varsity score: Napoleon, 56-46.