PREP BOYS BASKETBALL: Eldridge, Bechtel lead Goshen over East Noble
Dec. 21—GOSHEN — The Goshen boys basketball team will enter Christmas break with a 5-3 record following a 63-53 victory over East Noble Tuesday at Interra Gym.
Leading 46-36 going into the fourth quarter, Goshen turned to Ryan Eldridge to be the offensive catalyst in the final frame. The 6'7" junior delivered in the clutch, scoring 11 of his 18 points in the final eight minutes of play.
For the game, Eldridge shot a perfect 8-of-8 from the field. Five of those field goals came in the fourth, with a free throw added on to one of them following a foul.
Eldridge's counterpart on the post, 6'7" senior Lleyton Weddell, also had a solid outing, finishing with eight points on 4-of-6 shooting.
"Both big guys played well," Goshen coach Michael Wohlford said. "We had 52 paint touches (Tuesday). That was kind of our goal: offensive rebounds, drive it, pass it. We had 52 of those tonight, and against Northridge (this past Saturday), we didn't have many. A little different opponent, but still, it was a concerted effort (Tuesday) and it was good to see our guys execute it."
A 9-0 run to start the third quarter gave Goshen the breathing room it needed. Senior Quinn Bechtel scored the first five points, followed by back-to-back buckets from Weddell.
After scoring 10 points in the first half, Bechtel scored seven in the third quarter and two more in the fourth to give him a game-high 19 points.
"He drove the ball well," said Wohlford of Bechtel. "I think he had 12 paint touches on his own, so that was really big. He did a nice job in there."
The two points from Bechtel in the final frame gave Goshen its largest lead of the game, 61-41, with 3:01 remaining.
It was a close first half between Goshen and East Noble (0-6). The Knights scored the first five points of the contest, only for the RedHawks to rattle off the next eight. By the time the first quarter had ended, Goshen led 16-11.
Fouls then became an issue for the RedHawks in the second quarter. Both Eldridge and Weddell picked up their third personal fouls in the frame, sending both to the bench and forcing the Goshen lineup to go small.
All of the fouls also sent East Noble to the free throw line a lot, and they made the RedHawks pay by sinking 12-of-13 attempts from the charity stripe in the frame. This helped the Knights outscore Goshen in the second quarter, 17-14, making it only a 30-28 RedHawk lead at halftime.
"We were a little too aggressive, defensively, in the first half," Wohlford said. "That's my fault. We wanted to pressure them, and that's not really how we play. We were out of position, defensively, and we swung our arms too much. We fouled too much."
East Noble had three players reach double digits offensively: Hunter Kline with 16, Nathan Bowker 12 and Owen Ritchie 11. As a team, the Knights scored 18 of their points from the free throw line.
Rounding out the scoring for Goshen was six points each from Deecon Hill and Gage Worthman, three from Aiden Ebright-Zehr, two from Nate Pinarski and one from Noah Alford. Worthman also led the team with 11 rebounds and seven assists.
The RedHawks don't play again until the new year begins. They travel to Wabash Jan. 3 for an 8 p.m. varsity game against the Apaches, who have a 5-2 record in games played through Dec 20. Wabash will play three more games before facing off with Goshen.
"Wabash is a very good opponent," Wohlford said. "A 2A school doesn't schedule a 4A school if they don't think they're good. They only lost to Marion, 72-66. They've beaten Warsaw in the past, three years ago. So, they know they're good, and it's going to be one of those games where we're going to have to be ready to defend a high-octane offense."
As for the immediate future?
"We'll take a few days off, enjoy Christmas, enjoy our families, hopefully get everywhere safely with this weather and then get back at it on the 27th," Wohlford said.
Austin Hough can be reached at austin.hough@goshennews.com or at 574-538-2360. Follow him on Twitter at @AustinHoughTGN.
