The Northern Heights boys took their third consecutive Herington Tournament championship on Saturday, defeating Centre 67-31 to finish up an undefeated run at the tourney.
Nick Tabares scored 17 points for the Wildcats on 7-of-10 shooting and knocked down all three of his 3-pointers, and Kenneth Bronson made 7-of-11 shots and scored 15.
“Our kids are really beginning to gel as a team,” Heights coach Lanny Massey said. “... Nick Tabares and Kenny Bronson had really nice nights from the floor for us. Offensively we have room to improve, but things are really starting to click for us and our kids are getting an understanding of what we are trying to do. We are starting to really find the open man with his feet set to knock down the shots.”
Defensively, Heights held Centre to just 25.6 percent shooting and forced 22 turnovers, including 14 steals. Bronson had four thefts, Roman Murray and Teeino Tabares each had three and Nick Tabares had two. Centre missed all 11 of its 3-point attempts, while Heights connected on 7-of-10 from beyond the arc.
On Tuesday, the Wildcats (3-1) will host Mission Valley.
Northern Heights 67, Centre 31
Northern Heights 17 17 22 11 — 67
Centre 9 10 9 3 — 31
Northern Heights (3-1) — Heins 2, D. Swanson 7, Arndt 7, Murray 7, N. Tabares 17, Bronson 15, Campbell 5, T. Tabares 7.
Centre — Antoszyk 2, Hajek 11, Methvin 7, Weber 2, Troutt 6, Burhoop 2, Harding 1.
Rebounds — Northern Heights 27 (D. Swanson, R. Swanson 7), Centre 27 (Hajek 10). Total fouls — Northern Heights 15, Centre 11. Fouled out — None.
Northern Heights girls 58, Centre 25
The Heights girls also took home the Herington tourney title after concluding their run with a blowout win over Centre, grabbing more steals than Centre had points.
Amy Lee led Heights with 13 points, Christena Zumbrum added 10 and Andrea Miller just missed on both ends of a double-double, with nine points and nine rebounds. Centre didn’t score more than seven in any quarter, and the Wildcats had 26 steals. Amy Boline led the way with six steals for Heights.
“We did a good job (after) turning around and playing a late game last night and being a little tired, (and) keeping our focus and executing,” Wildcats coach Tim Riemann said. “We did a real good job of recognizing defensively what they were trying to do and had a lot of steals that led to some easy baskets.”
Sky Linsey and Sarah Boline each had four steals for Heights, and Lee, Zumbrum, Kaylee Eklund and Alex DeLong each had two. DeLong led the Wildcats with four assists.
“It was good to see our girls win this tournament and give us some confidence for down the road,” Riemann said.
Northern Heights girls 58, Centre 25
Northern Heights 13 14 13 18 —58
Centre 7 7 6 5 —25
Northern Heights (4-0) — Hobson 2, Linsey 2, Lee 13, Miller 9, A. Boline 7, Zumbrum 10, Eklund 4, DeLong 6, S.Boline 5.
Centre — Deines 2, Pankratz 7, Shields 2, Howard 6, Simons 2, Peterson 6.
Rebounds — Northern Heights 28 (Miller 9). Total fouls — Northern Heights 20, Centre 14. Fouled out — A. Boline.