As Marquette boys basketball coach Kevin Schultz sees it, Northwest is a team to be reckoned with down the road.
“You can tell they are a group of kids who like each other and play well together,” Schultz said after his Mustangs defeated the visiting Lions 42-32 Friday. “They’re very competitive and are going to sneak up on some teams this year. They’ve got some nice players and some nice pieces. They’re well-coached and are going to beat some teams this year.”
The Lions trailed 14-10 after one quarter and 26-17 at halftime, then scored only two points in the third quarter. They outscored Marquette 13-10 in the final period. Northwest guard Austin Brown finished with 10 points while Luke McClain added seven and Luke Thorburg contributed six points and eight rebounds.
Mustang senior guard Nick Bulanda led all scorers with 21 points. Jack Messmer, another senior in the backcourt, added 10, including a trio of 3-pointers.
Northwest coach Buddy Sodemann said he was pleased with the effort by his players.
“The kids played hard,” Sodemann said. “Our zone was good but we struggled to score. We got exactly what we wanted out of our zone. The team’s grown a ton and they’re not giving up and I love that about them.”
Marquette improved to 5-8, including a 2-0 mark in the Suburban West Conference, while Northwest fell to 3-9 and 1-2.
Bulanda went 11-of-13 from the free-throw line. Two of those charity shots came after technical fouls against the Northwest bench in the first half that helped the Mustangs grab a 26-12 lead at the break.
Brown made a long jumper midway through the fourth quarter that brought the Lions within 11 points at 37-26. The Lions cut it to 10 points in the final minute.
Both teams struggled at times on offense and Northwest got to the free-throw line just one time all night while Marquette finished 13-of-17 from the line.
Bulanda, a first team all-conference performer last season, responded at crunch time for the Mustangs.
“Nick is kind of our spark,” Schultz said. “He’s got a very dynamic game. He can get to the basket and hit the perimeter jumpers. He did a really nice job tonight of pacing us offensively.”
Sodemann said Marquette is one of the toughest teams in the Suburban West, and one of the best coached teams.
“We’re going to sneak up and beat somebody here pretty soon,” Sodemann said. “I tell these guys we have to keep going out there and earning other teams’ respect.”
Northwest’s Derek Tettaton finished with five points while Seth Fortner and Clayton Wisdom each had two.
Lions girls lose
The varsity doubleheader at Marquette didn’t go any better for Northwest’s girls, who couldn’t keep up with the speedy Mustangs in a 64-41 loss.
Marquette led 16-6 after one quarter and 36-19 at halftime. Marquette center Hannah Drumm pounded the Lions inside, finishing with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Chayleb Deves finished with 11 points and Sara Winkler added eight.
Northwest was led by sophomore Megan Fortner, who finished with 23 points. The Lions dropped to 1-14 overall and 0-3 in league play.
Northwest head coach Mary Hannig said Fortner continues to be a bright spot during an otherwise down year. Fortner leads the squad with an average of 9.5 points per game.
“She anticipates very well and gets a good amount of steals,” Hannig said. “She goes in streaks. She is one of our better rebounding guards.”
Fortner started at point guard last season and is the only returning starter. This year she was moved to shooting guard.
Injuries have taken their toll as well on the Lions.
“We haven’t been consistently healthy since Christmas,” Hannig said.