Maxfield, Northeastern take over Gettysburg late
Gettysburg sped to an eight-point lead in the first quarter, but Northeastern chipped away at the Warriors and eventually emerged with a 68-54 victory in YAIAA Division II boys' basketball action Tuesday night at Gettysburg.
The Warriors built a 13-5 lead in the first quarter and led 13-7 when the quarter ended.
"We were pretty prepared tonight. We had a plan and we executed it well early in the game," Gettysburg head coach Jeff Bair said. "Having four practices since our last game gave us time to get ready for tonight."
Northeastern (9-1, 6-0) tied the score at 19 on Kobi Nwandu's free throws with 3:21 left in the first half, which ended with Gettysburg in front, 24-21.
"Jeff does a good job of coaching his kids. They switch up their defense often, giving us multiple looks and make it tough on us," Northeastern head coach Jon Eyster said. "Especially in their gym. It's tough for us to shoot at the one basket every time we come to this gym to play."
Gettysburg (9-3, 4-3) caught the Bobcats sleeping to start the third quarter when Max Lampe's long inbounds pass to Connor Weikert resulted in a layup to start the second half and give the Warriors a 26-21 edge.
The Warriors managed just one point over the next five minutes, though. And in that time frame, the Bobcats went from down five to up nine with a 15-1 run. The visitors took their first lead of the game on Fred Mulbah's bucket with 4:45 left in the quarter.
A 9-4 spurt by Gettysburg to end the quarter made it 40-36 in favor of Northeastern heading for the final stanza.
Northeastern senior Donovian Maxfield, who was held in check for the first three quarters with seven points, took over the game in the fourth quarter, starting on the first possession of the frame.
The southpaw pocketed a triple from the left wing with 7:42 left in the game and then hit two more 3-pointers with 6:02 and 5:40 left that pushed the lead to 49-41.
"Once we got them out of their zone, it opened things up for us," Eyster said. "We made a few shots, got the lead and that forced them to play us man-to-man."
Maxfield stopped another short Gettysburg burst with a trey with 3:46 remaining and then capped his perfect quarter with a pull-up jumper in the lane with 2:10 to go that made it 61-50.
For the quarter, Maxfield hit all six of the shots he attempted, including a quartet of 3-pointers. He finished with 16 points in the stanza and a game-high 23 for the night.
"I was trying to stay under control and play within the offense for most of the night," Maxfield said. "Coach told me to shoot the ball when I was open and I got some good looks at the basket in the fourth quarter."
Mulbah (16 points) and Nwandu (14 points) joined Maxfield in double figures for the winners. Meanwhile, Weikert paced Gettysburg with 16 points and Ravaughn Dillard added 15 points and 10 boards.
Both teams return to action with division road games on Friday as Gettysburg plays at Eastern York, while Northeastern plays at West York.
Northeastern (68)
Coleman 2 0-2 4, Donovian Maxfield 9 0-0 23, Fred Mulbah 5 6-8 16, Reynolds 0 2-5 2, Kobi Nwandu 4 6-6 14, Rizzuto 2 2-3 7, McCarter 0 0-0 0, Zirkle 0 2-2 2. Totals 22 18-26 68.
Gettysburg (54)
Eckhart 0 0-0 0, Camel 3 0-1 7, Biggins 0 0-0 0, Max Lampe 4 5-6 14, Ringler 1 0-0 2, Connor Weikert 6 2-2 16, Sherman 0 0-0 0, Ravaughn Dillard 4 7-10 15. Totals 18 14-19 54.
Northeastern _7 _14 _19 _28 - _68
Gettysburg _13 _11 _12 _18 - _54
3-point goals - Ne 6 (Maxfield 5, Rizzuto), Get 4 (Weikert 2, Camel, Lampe).
JV score - Northeastern 41, Gettysburg 26