By Jeffery R. Ratliff

Northwest Signal

ARCHBOLD — After struggling on offense for most of the first half, Archbold exploded to start the second half and used a pair of big third quarter runs to pull away for a 62-46 win over Eastwood Tuesday night in the Thunderdome.

Cade Brenner sparked the second-half rally, scoring 17 of his game-high 19 points after intermission.

“In the first quarter we were terrible,” said Archbold coach Joe Frank. “We were missing shots, turning the ball over. It was abysmal. Even with all that we were only down two baskets, which was a good sign. That is why you always have to compete on the defensive end.”

Archbold, which ended the first half with an 8-2 run to lead 19-16 at halftime, opened the third quarter with an 11-4 run.

Brenner and Chase Miller started the period with buckets, and after a three-pointer by Eastwood’s Dayquan Oliver, Jayden Seiler capped the run with consecutive buckets, including a three-pointer for a 30-20 lead.

With 3½ minutes remaining in the third quarter, Archbold went on a 10-0 run to push its lead to 42-22.

Micah Nofziger and Brenner each had a pair of baskets during the run, while Sonny Phillips had a basket and a pair of assists.

“We didn’t talk too much about this or that (at halftime),” said Frank. “(Eastwood) did a god job, especially in the first quarter, playing the gaps. In the second half, we stated knocking down shots. That made them come out to guard us, which made the gaps bigger for us to attack the basket.”

Eastwood battled back, scoring the final six points of the third quarter to cut Archbold’s lead to 45-30. After a basket by Miller to open the final period, Badenhop drilled a trey and Lewis scored to take the Streaks’ lead down to 47-35.

After a time-out by Archbold, Brenner put the game away with back-to-back three-pointers, pushing the lead back to 18 points with 5½ minutes left on the clock.

“Cade struggled in the first half, but good players find a way to make plays,” said Frank. “Credit our guys for finding him in spots to make those shots.”

The Eagles jumped out to a 7-2 lead to start the game, with Oliver hitting a pair of buckets and Andrew Badenhop burying a three-pointer.

Archbold closed the gap to 8-6, but Badenhop scored on a putback in the final seconds for a 10-6 lead. A triple by Drew Kachmarik to start the second period pushed Eastwood’s lead to 13-6.

“We had too many turnovers,” said Eastwood coach Jason Faykosh. “I did like the way we started the game. That is something we have struggled with, starting games, this season. We were ready today and we competed.”

The Bluestreaks picked up the defensive effort, holding the Eagles to three points over the final 5½ minutes of the first half. A 6-0 run by Archbold gave the Streaks a 17-14 lead before Andre Lewis scored for Eastwood.

Archbold held for the final play of the half, with Brenner driving and dishing to Miller for a lay-up with 1.2 seconds remaining.

“I told our guys he (Brenner) is one of the best players we are going to see,” said Faykosh. “I thought we did a wonderful job on him in the first half. I told them he was going to be hungry in the second half, and he was.”

Along with Brenner’s 19 points, Archbold received 11 points from Nofziger. Phillips, Seiler and Miller each added 10 points for the Bluestreaks, who improved to 7-0.

Eastwood (4-4) was paced by Oliver with 14 points, while Badenhop added 10 points.

The Eagles host Bellevue Saturday, while Archbold is home against Pettisville Friday.