Louisville Scores 58 in 1st Half in Win Over Norton – Boys Basketball
Louisville 78, Norton 59
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The Louisville Leopards Boys Varsity Basketball Team defeated the visiting Norton Panthers 78-59 Tuesday Night at Louisville High School. With the victory, Louisville improves to 14-5 on the season.
Aljancic Scores Game High 27
Junior guard Will Aljancic made 3 three-pointers and scored 23 of his game high 27 points in the first half to lead the Leopards. Sophomore guard Hayden Nigro also finished with 16 of his 20 points in the first half as well.
Freshman guard Beau Siegfried matched Aljancic with 3 three-pointers and hit double figures with 10. Senior guard Tyler Bolden also added 8 for LHS.
Leopards Erase Early Deficit with 9-0 Run
Louisville trailed for the majority of the first quarter as Norton went up 13-8 early on. The Leopards captured their first lead via 9-0 run in response and never looked back.
Nigro made a three from the right wing to the cut the deficit to 13-11. Then junior forward Chase Mueller intercepted a bounce pass on the other end and heaved it down court. Nigro was the recipient and he bounced the basketball to Aljancic for an easy two to tie the game at 13-13.
Sensing the change in momentum, the Leopards shifted to full-court press on defense. Seconds later Siegfried recorded a steal in the back court and Aljancic was there to pick up the loose ball and lay it in for the go-ahead score. That put Louisville in front for the first time all night at 15-13 with 3:10 to go in the first quarter.
After a Norton timeout, the Leopards defense brought the pressure again. This time they trapped the Panthers in the right corner of the backcourt forcing an ill-advised pass. It was deflected away by Bolden perfectly into the hands of Nigro in the key who laid it home for two more to complete the run putting Louisville in front 17-13.
Louisville Explodes for 58 Points in 1st Half
The two teams exchanged scoring through the remainder of the first quarter. The period ended with Siegfried hitting a buzzer beating three-pointer from the left wing to give the Leopards their largest lead to that point at 29-23. The 29 points ties the known team record for points in the first quarter, they also scored 29 points in the opening quarter against Alliance on February 13, 2015.
That buzzer beater kickstarted an 8-0 Louisville run that put them ahead by double digits at 34-23 early on in the second quarter. The Leopards surrendered a three on the other end, but would double up Norton for the remainder of the half 24-12 to take a commanding 58-38 lead into the locker room.
The 58 points is the most points scored by Louisville in a half in known team history.
The Leopards would go on to outscore the Panthers 18-10 in the third quarter to take a 76-48 lead in the final stanza. Louisville cleared the benches in the fourth and it was all academic after that. Norton managed to win the final period 11-2, but that didn’t get in the away of LHS claiming its third straight victory.
Lewis Leads Norton with Team High 14
The Panthers (8-8) were led by sophomore Andrew Lewis who made 3 three-pointers and finished with a team high 14. Sophomore Andrew Willig also dropped in 12 and Senior forward Noah Dobben added 8 for Norton.
The Leopards are now 5-1 against the Panthers all-time, which includes an undefeated 3-0 mark against Norton when playing at Louisville. LHS has taken all five meetings in the recent series since 2018.
<<< Previous 2021 | Norton All-Time Series
UP NEXT: The Leopards will next host the Massillon Tigers on Friday, February 11. JV will begin at 5:30 PM and Varsity will follow around 7:00 PM.
COVER PHOTO BY THE LOUISVILLE HERALD
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Varsity Statistics
LEOPARDS 78, PANTHERS 59
Team 1-2-3-4–TOTAL
Norton 23-15-10-11–59
Louisville 29-29-18-2–78
PANTHERS: Lewis 5 2-2 15, Willig 6 0-0 12, Etheridge 4 0-0 10, Dobben 3 2-4 8, Hoffman 0 7-8 7, Newman 1 0-0 3, Duncan 1 0-0 2, Moore 0 2-2 2. TOTAL 20 13-16 59.
3-Pointers (6): Lewis 3, Etheridge 2, Newman
Team FT: 13-16 81%
LEOPARDS: Aljancic 11 2-4 27, Nigro 8 2-3 20, Siegfried 3 1-2 10, Boldon 3 2-2 8, Lingenhoel 1 3-4 5, Gross 1 2-2 4, Mueller 1 0-0 2, Roberts 1 0-0 2. TOTAL 29 12-17 78.
3-Pointers (8): Aljancic 3, Siegfried 3, Nigro 2
Team FT: 12-17 71%
Fouls: 16-14 Louisville
Turnovers: 17-14 Norton
Records: Louisville 14-5, Norton 8-8
JV: Louisville 53, Norton 48
JV Statistics
LEOPARDS 53, PANTHERS 48
Team 1-2-3-4–TOTAL
Norton 12-16-6-14–48
Louisville 12-10-17-14–53
PANTHERS: Duncan 3 3-4 9, Lewis 2 3-4 9, Pazdornik 3 0-0 9, Goff 3 0-2 6, Hoffman 3 0-1 6, Dedomonic 2 0-0 5, Phelps 2 0-1 4. TOTAL 18 6-12 48.
3-Pointers (6): Pazdornik 3, Lewis 2, Dedomonic
Team FT: 6-12 50%
LEOPARDS: Marshall 4 4-6 13, Aljancic 4 0-0 12, Loy 4 2-3 10, Vesely 3 1-2 8, Wymer 2 1-2 6, Duskey 2 0-0 4. TOTAL 19 8-13 53.
3-Pointers (7): Aljancic 4, Marshall, Vesely, Wymer
Team FT: 8-13 62%
Fouls: 14-13 Louisville
Turnovers: 19-17 Norton
Records: Louisville 11-4
