Jimtown High School

NorthRidge escapes upset bid at Jimtown By Red Williams Freelance Sportswriter ELKHART - Playing with the “big guys” isn’t so daunting after all. Jimtown High School’s men’s basketball team nearly pulled off an improbable upset Saturday afternoon (2.7.26) with ninth-ranked NorthRidge (Class 4A) in town, forcing the Raiders into overtime before claiming victory, 55-54. An enthusiastic partisan crowd was on hand for the contest, and many Jimmy fans were thinking “upset” from the start. The game was decided by a successful free-throw from the hands of Hayden Johnson with 2.6 seconds remaining. That was on the second of two charity tosses. Jimtown (11-5) threw the inbounds pass the length of the floor, hoping for someone to toss in a basket for a winner, but the throw was intercepted by Brady Scholl, and time ran out. “Jimtown really battled,” said Raider Coach Scott Radeker. “They gave us everything and more. “But I’m proud of our guys for grinding away when we got behind by eight one time, then four. “When you’re 17-1, you’ve got a bullseye on your back wherever you go,” he added. Jimmy Coach Ryan Varga also expressed pride in his squad: “We executed well and did exactly what we needed to do. NorthRidge is extremely well-coached, and Scholl was unstoppable.” Scholl had a double-double for the Raiders with 32 points and 19 rebounds. Will Spurgeon sparked the Jimmies with 20, including some clutch free tosses down the stretch. Dom Fey followed with a dozen, and had to sit out nearly four minutes at the start of the fourth quarter. He nailed a six-foot jumper in the lane with one second to play in the third stanza and took a hard fall to the floor. Tre Baldwin (6-foot-5) topped the Jimmies with 12 rebounds, most of them while battling Scholl (6-8) in the lane. Fey’s closing shot gave the Boys of Baugo a slim 35-33 lead going into the final period. Jimtown actually took a five-point advantage with 3:30 left in the game on a trey and two free throws by Spurgeon and a short put-back and free toss by Baldwin. But NR went on an 11-3 spree to regain the lead before Whitaker’s heroic three. A pair of lay-ins by Scholl and two free ones by Hayden Gorball at :23 gave Ridge a 51-48 lead, Jimtown’s Zander Whitaker sent the game into overtime with he threaded a trey from the side at :09. But the Jimmies only managed three free throws in the OT. Both coaches expressed this was the kind of game they needed as the season closes in on the state playoffs. The Jimmies hope to rebound on Tuesday (2.10.26) in a visit to Mishawaka Marian. Score by quarters: NorthRidge 12 11. 10 18. 4 55 Jimtown 14 8 13 16 3 54 Officials: Don Sills, Mike Winter, Sean Westman