'We knew they'd be coming back for revenge': Norwayne survives another test from Chippewa

CRESTON — Trey Bayless' stats hardly ever jump off the page in scorebook.

And they didn't Friday night against Chippewa either — six points and three rebounds while playing big minutes for Norwayne. Yet, without several huge plays from their sixth-leading scorer, the Bobcats could have very well left the gym with their first Wayne County Athletic League loss of the season.

Instead, Norwayne survived another serious test from Chippewa, ending up with a 66-62 win over the Chipps and improving to 10-0 in the WCAL and 14-1 overall.

"The kids know what's going on," Norwayne coach Brian West said. "We preach all the time, if you want to win the league, you have to win every home game. I feel we kind of stole one over there and we knew they'd be coming back for revenge."

That revenge was never quite realized, as Norwayne extended its winning streak to 12 games, and three plays from Bayless ended up being some of the biggest difference-makers.

The first came at the end of the third quarter. Chippewa star Caleb Gasser had just hit a tough step-back 3 — three of his team-high 21 points — to pull his team within one as it tried to spring the upset. It appeared the Chipps would go into the fourth quarter trailing 52-51, with all the momentum on their side.

That changed quickly when Bayless launched a 3 from near halfcourt just before the buzzer, improbably banking it in to give the Bobcats a 55-51 lead, giving them a little extra breathing room heading into the fourth.

"We were trying to get it up (the court) as fast as we could and I figured I didn't have time to get another pass off," Bayless said. "I tried to shoot it, and lost control of it at first, but I somehow got it off and it went in."

The shot invoked some deju vu for the two teams, as Ethan Hann hit a long buzzer-beater at the end of the third quarter during Norwayne's comeback win in Doylestown earlier this season.

"It's crazy because they make the same — almost identical — shot at the end of the third quarter as they made at our place," Chippewa coach DJ Schrock said. "That was their momentum changer. Tonight, the same thing happened but we came back out in the fourth quarter, and we did not let that change the momentum much."

Bayless made two critical plays in the fourth as well, scoring one of the Bobcats' three field goals over the final eight minutes and securing an offensive rebound off a missed free throw that led to an extra possession, and ultimately a Justin Rupp layup that gave the Bobcats a 62-56 lead with 1:54 to go.

"Trey is one of those glue guys; even keeled all the time," West said. "He's never too high, never too low. The moment is never too big for him. He's always smiling. No matter what, he's smiling. He's one of those kids — similar to Justin, and I have a lot of kids like that — who will do whatever it takes to win."

Still, despite Bayless' clutch plays, a big game from Rupp and more second half heroics from Ethan Hann, Chippewa (10-6, 4-6) had a chance to win until the very end.

Norwayne fouled Tillman Brown on a 3-pointer with five seconds to go, leading 64-61. However, referees whistled Chippewa for a lane violation on the first free throw, forcing Chippewa into a different strategy. Brown made the second free throw and missed the third purposely, but didn't hit the rim, so Norwayne received automatic possession.

Hann knocked down two free throws with 3.9 seconds left to seal the win.

In a game featuring some of the top players in the WCAL, Rupp stood out Friday, finishing with 21 points, 12 rebounds, three blocks and two steals. After struggling somewhat against Chippewa's length in their first meeting, Rupp asserted himself right away, scoring eight points in the first quarter as Norwayne jetted out to a 22-14 lead.

"Justin is one of those kids who refuses to lose," West said. "He'll do whatever it takes to win. Tonight, he knew he was going to have to come out and carry us offensively to get us going."

Once again, Hann turned it on late when the Bobcats needed it most, scoring two tough layups late in the third after Chippewa tied it up at 46-all. He scored 14 of his 18 points in the second half. Braden West also scored 10 points and Parker Metsker had seven points, seven rebounds and three assists.

Meanwhile, Gasser starred for the Chipps, hitting tough shots all night, including multiple step-back 3s and an and-one that cut Norwayne's lead to two points with 36 seconds to go.

"You never know what he's going to do," Rupp said of Gasser. "You can try to do whatever you want — force him right, force him left, get up on him — but he can shoot it and he can drive it. He can do just about everything. He's really tough to guard."

Brendan Donnelly added 13 points for Chippewa, Nick Tsimpiris had eight points and four assists and Russell Gabor added nine loud points off the bench.

While Chippewa didn't get the result it wanted, coming to Creston and giving Norwayne everything it could handle was a step in the right direction. The Chipps have lost four of five and six of their last nine after a 7-0 start.

"We don't want moral victories because we want pure victories," Schrock said. "But I was proud of them on the fight tonight."

The Chipps may be out of league contention, but they still have potential for a tournament run with their size, skill and athleticism.

"They're a matchup nightmare for us," Brian West said. "No disrespect to anyone in our league because we have great teams in our league, but I think (Chippewa) in particular is the hardest team for us to match up with. They're so long and athletic and have guys that can score."

Meanwhile, Norwayne is focused on capturing its first WCAL title since 2014, a quest that continues Tuesday when the Bobcats make the trip to Smithville, where they haven't beaten the Smithies since 2019.

"Every game from here on out is the biggest game, as far as county goes," Rupp said. "It's at Smithville. That's always a tough one. We just have to keep going."

This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Boys Basketball: Norwayne beats Chippewa, stay unbeaten in WCAL