Massive rally propels Wapak past Wildcats
Niekamp heats up from long-range in win
WAPAKONETA — Sophomore Zac Niekamp scored 16 second-half points to spark Wapakoneta during its 50-46 comefrom-behind nonconference home win over Delphos Jefferson on Friday in the season-opener for both schools.
The Redskins found themselves trailing 20-2 early in the second quarter before rallying within a 10-point margin (2414) at halftime.
Niekamp capped a 7-4 WHS eruption with his first of four 3-point baskets during the final 20 minutes to trim Wapakoneta’s deficit to 28-21 at the 3:36 mark in the third quarter.
Niekamp’s second 3-pointer trimmed the Wildcats’ lead to
31-26 with 32 seconds left in the third quarter before Colin Bailey
made a pair of free throws to hand Delphos Jefferson a seven-point lead heading to the fourth quarter.
“Zac had a tremendous game. He can definitely shoot the
ball,” Redskins coach Trey Elchert said. “It was a big stage for
him. It was Game 1 for him as a sophomore and his first varsity minutes. He
ultimately led the charge to get us back
into it. Zac also had a couple of big defensive plays, some deflections. Kudos to
him for helping propel us to victory.”
Bailey led all scorers with a game-high 27 points on eight field goals, including
three 3-pointers and a 10 of 12 effort at the free-throw line. He
slowed down a little
in the later stages of the game, scoring
seven points in the final 12 minutes of the contest.
“Colin is a tremendous player who we
had fits trying to defend him last year,” Elchert said. “He’s difficult to guard because he’s a strong, physical driver who gets to the rim in a lot
of different ways. We ran some different
bodies at him, and I thought Zach Rogers did really good job of
staying in front of him, as best you can. Colin is a really tough
kid to keep off the free-throw line.”
Elchert said he gave Niekamp a boost of confidence.
“It was getting close to halftime and I told
him, ‘Go back in there. You’ll be fine,’” Elchert said of Niekamp. “He played a couple of quarters in the JV game tonight and he might have been 0 of 4 from 3-point range. He missed his first three or four 3-pointers in the first half of the varsity game, too. But Zac is a kid who can
really shoot it. With
him, we believe the odds are in our favor after missing a few (shots). Chances are
he will hit the next one.”
Niekamp said he remained confident.
“I wasn’t hitting those shots to start,
but I knew they would come because I
trust myself,” Niekamp said. “I was
confident in myself. I knew after I hit the first one that more would come.”
Andrew Miller
(eight points) handed
the Wildcats a 38-31 lead on right-wing 33 with 5:54 left in regulation time. But Wapakoneta went on
a 10-3 run that featured a layup from Kaden Siefring, two
more 3’s and a floater inside the lane from Niekamp to tie the game at 41 with 2½
minutes left in the fourth quarter.
A driving layup from Rogers in overtime kept the momentum going for the Redskins, who received a steal and assist from Niekamp before Braeden Goulet (3 points, 13 rebounds) produced a layup and a 45-41 WHS lead in extra time. That 4-0 run to
start the extra session was Wapakoneta’s
first advantage of the game.
“Braeden can do so many things for us, and he scored the ball a little bit more for us tonight than what he
normally h’es done in the past which we’re going to need,” Elchert said. “He’s a gamer who played 36
minutes tonight and was not on the bench
for a single second. We needed him on the floor.”
Niekamp turned in a solid defensive effort.
“We knew coming into the game that if we pressured (Jefferson) it would cause turnovers,” Niekamp
said. “Heading into that play, I just wanted to take the ball away, look up and get it to one of my teammates.”
After Bailey drained a 3-pointer to pull the Wildcats within a 4746 deficit in overtime,
Goulet sealed a WHS victory by hitting 1 of
2 free throws and Kaden Siefring (six points) added a layup in the closing seconds.
“It was a less than ideal start,” Elchert
said. “We talked after the game and said, ‘In a lot of ways, it was
Jefferson’s night.’ They started 4 of 4 from 3-point range
and we couldn’t throw the ball into the ocean at that
point. We had some good looks both
around the rim and from the perimeter, and couldn’t put the
ball in the hole. We didn’t necessarily
come out great, defensively, but late in the game they were
banking in free throws and banking
in corner step back 3’s.