No. 1 Norwood gets win over rival, No. 6 Hartville

With the parking of cars going from Norwood High School to almost the four-way in town, a standing room only crowd attended last Friday night’s match-up between the Pirates, the No. 1 team in Class 2, and the No. 6 Eagles from Hartville.
While the game was tight throughout, Norwood’s quickness helped them create just enough separation in a 42-36 victory, putting them in a good position to possibly win a Summit Conference title and possibly claim the top seed in a district that both teams are a part of.
Hartville led early, 3-2, but took a big hit when Payton Cogdill was whistled for a second personal foul just 2:29 into the contest.
The Pirates answered with a quick 5-0 run and added a 7-0 run a couple of minutes later to go up, 14-7.
Peyton McDaris scored seven points in the opening frame for Norwood while Mason Cogdill had six points early for Hartville.
It was tight through most of the second quarter. Gus Sinning would pick up his third foul at the 4:26 mark, though it was just a one-point game at the time.
Up by just one point, Gary Williams provided the Pirates with a big spark with a three-point play. Williams scored five big points before halftime as Norwood would take a 26-19 lead into the break.
Both teams combined to miss their first six shots from the field in the third quarter before Noah Drake scored to put the Pirates up eight.
Hartville answered with a 6-0 run. Boone Garrison would later steal the ball and make a layup to cut the lead to just one point at 30-29 at the end of the quarter.
Cooper Vaughan’s basket with 4:01 left in the game put the Pirates up five.
Turnovers would plague Hartville down the stretch as they coughed it up twice in a 10 second window, taking the game into the final minuted of play.
With 17.1 seconds remaining, Drake picked up a steal and was fouled. He made two free throws to put Norwood up by seven. Gunner Bradshaw added a late free throw to seal the six-point victory.
McDaris led the Pirates with 11 points, six rebounds, two assists and one steal; Vaughan tallied nine points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals; Drake had eight points, four rebounds and two steals; Williams had seven points and one rebound; Carder Kelly had four points, one steal and one rebound; and Gunner Bradshaw added one point and one rebound.
Meanwhile, Hartville was led by Mason Cogdill’s 12 points, three rebounds and one assist; Jackson Ward added 10 points, four rebounds and two assists; Garrison had eight points, two steals, two assists and one rebound; and Payton Cogdill had six points, six rebounds, one assist and one steal.
As a team, Norwood made 12-of-26 shots from the field and 13-of-20 free throws. Hartville made 10-of-30 shots from the field and 10-of-13 free throws.
Before the win over Hartville, the Pirates cruised past Houston, 73-38.
Norwood made three, 3-pointers in the first half as they outscored the Tigers, 43-28. The Pirates’ defense held Houston to just 10 points in the final two quarters to pull away for the big win.
Kelly had a big game, scoring a team-high 20 points with the help of four, 3-pointers.
Drake added 14; Andrew Bradshaw scored 10 points; Gunner Bradshaw added eight points; Vaughan had seven points; Williams added six; McDaris had five; Laken Coatney scored two points; and Hunner Finch had one point.