By GARY KAUFFMAN
For the first half of Saturday's Northeast Corner Conference championship game, it was pretty much Seth Wagler against Angola.
The Westview junior guard scored all 10 of his team's first quarter points and 16 of the 20 for the first half. He also had five rebounds and was a whirling dervish on defense.
"He's really hard-nosed and fearless," Warrior coach Rob Yoder said. "He penetrates hard and puts the other team back on their heels. He rebounds and he's probably our best defender."
Fortunately for the Warriors, the rest of the team caught up to Wagler in the second half and they rallied from an eight-point third quarter deficit to defeat Angola, 51-45.
"That's two gutsy wins in a row," Warrior coach Rob Yoder said, referring to a 36-33 squeaker over Fairfield the night before. "Our kids never gave up."
Wagler played every minute of the game.
"It was tiring, but you're playing for the championship so you have a little extra in the tank," he said.
Westview was playing with a further handicap of injured players.
The Warriors had only eight players for the game, one a freshman who hadn't been on the tourney roster. Complicating matters, leading scorer Dominique Neely missed a large chunk of the first half with foul trouble.
As a result, Neely was scoreless through the first 2 1/2 quarters and Wagler was left carrying most of the load.
That allowed the Hornets to build a 34-26 lead midway through the third quarter. Then Neely finally found his opening.
At the 3:34 mark he drained a 3-pointer. A minute later he hit another and the comeback was on.
"If they're going to be in a zone for a long stretch, we know Dom's going to come loose," Yoder said.
Kyle Mishler followed Neely's 3's with a basket and Westview went into the fourth quarter down by only a point.
Nick Burlingame scored to boost Angola's lead to three again at the start of the fourth.
Neely then scored on a short jumper and Darrin Schwartz made a free throw to tie the game at 36.
After an Angola basket, Wagler nailed a 3 at the 3:08 mark for Westview's first lead in the game. Neely followed nearly a minute later with another trey.
The Hornets closed to within two, but Schwartz converted a three-point play at 1:25. Westview then made seven of eight free throws in the final 46 seconds to ice the game.
A key to the Warriors's success was nearly flawless ball handling. After two turnovers early in the first quarter, Westview had only one more turnover in the game on a player-control foul.
Angola played nearly as well, with just five turnovers. Neither team turned the ball over in the second quarter.
Wagler finished the game with 23 points, eight rebounds and three assists. Neely finished with 15 points.
Westview visits Fairfield on Friday in the second game of a girls-boys varsity doubleheader.
