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Bowers leads with 12, Kiser adds season-high 7
BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
Hayden Cook scored 15 points and pulled down 12 rebounds, and Bradyn Wilson hit a pair of 3-pointers and added 12 points for the Northwestern boys basketball team in a 43-31 win over host Rochester at the RHS gym Friday.
Connor Binnion added nine points for the Tigers, who stopped the Zebras with sticky man-to-man defense in their first trip to Fulton County as a conference rival.
Drew Bowers led Rochester with 12 points, and Jonas Kiser added a season-high seven. Kiser was playing basketball on the same night his cousin Jack had five tackles at linebacker for Notre Dame in a 27-17 win over Indiana in a CFP Playoff game in South Bend.
Tanner Reinartz, who scored 24 points in his most recent game against Logansport on Dec. 14, was held to a season-low three.
Northwestern improved to 4-2 overall and 2-0 in the Three Rivers Conference. Rochester dropped to 4-2, 0-1.
The 31 points were the fewest for Rochester in a home game since a 48-24 loss to Tippecanoe Valley in January 2023.
This marked the first meeting between the teams since a 71-55 Northwestern win at home in February 2001. This marked Northwestern’s first trip to Rochester since a 67-56 loss to the Zebras in February 2000.
“It wasn’t the same team that was at Logan, that’s for sure,” Rochester coach Rob Malchow said. “We had plenty of shots. I think we were 4 of 21 at halftime and 2 of 10 inside. It’s been a problem all year, and we’re just going to keep working on it. We’ve worked on it. We’re going to keep working on it. It’s all we can do.”
Already leading 31-25, Northwestern started the fourth quarter on a 10-0 run. Cook threw an outlet pass from near his own baseline to the right sideline out of bounds. After the three officials gathered to discuss the call, they ruled that a Rochester player tipped the ball out of bounds.
On the ensuing possession, Wilson hit a corner 3-pointer. Cook, a 6-5 senior center who came in averaging 17 points per game, scored on a layup and scored again on a putback of his own miss.
Rochester called timeout, but Wilson scored in transition, and Cook split a pair of free throws with 4:43 left to get the lead to 16.
Rochester’s only lead was at 1-0 on a Kiser free throw 47 seconds into the game.
Wilson hit a trey from the right wing, and Brock Shank added a 3-point play in transition off a Cameron Markley assist to make it 6-1.
Rochester spent the rest of the night chasing.
Bowers hit a 25-footer for 3 in transition with one second left in the quarter to make it 10-7.
They hung within 14-11 on a Kiser driving layup, but Northwestern closed the half on a 19-0 run over the final 5:30. Binnion had seven consecutive Tiger points at one stretch, and Cook completed the run with two free throws with 28.5 seconds left to make it 23-11.
Even though Northwestern had twice as many turnovers (eight) as Rochester had in the first half (four), they had more than twice as many points.
“They were struggling with our pressure, but if you can’t convert and get a little momentum and keep them on their heels, eventually they get a chance to break out,” Malchow said. “And we got it down to six at the end of the third, and we had several chances… We just can’t make shots.”
Bowers outscored the entire Northwestern team 9-8 in the third quarter.
It started with a Bowers pullup from 15 feet and a Reinartz triple to cut the lead to seven. A Bowers transition layup off an Owen Prater assist and a 3-pointer got the lead down to six.
After a Baugher steal and layup, Rochester had cut the deficit to 27-23.
But Binnion hit a 12-footer off an inbounds play, and Wilson got a layup with seven seconds left.
Markley fouled Bowers as he attempted a 3 with 1.0 seconds left in the quarter. Bowers made two of three free throws to get Rochester within 31-25.
Afterwards, Northwestern coach Jim Gish complimented Markley for his defense on Bowers, saying he did an “excellent job” and adding that he stays low to the ground without reaching. He added that the defense on Reinartz was more collective.
“It was a team effort,” Northwestern coach Jim Gish said of the defense on Reinartz. “He’s a good player, a very good player. I love how he plays. He’s hard-nosed. He has all facets of the game. I think he has a great pullup, can hit the 3-point shot and then can get to the rim. He’s strong. You know, a big focus for us was not giving him anything easy because once he sees it go through, you’re in trouble.”
In the JV game, Brady Coleman tallied 15 points as Rochester prevailed 45-38. Aiden Wilson and Conner Dunfee had eight each, Trenton Meadows had six, Mitchell Clark had five, and Parker Casper had three.
Northwestern 43, Rochester 31
NORTHWESTERN (43) (4-2, 2-0)
Cameron Markley 0 0-0 0, Connor Binnion 4 0-0 9, Bradyn Wilson 5 0-0 12, Brock Shank 2 1-1 5, Hayden Cook 6 3-4 15, Landen Begley 1 0-2 2, Taylor McKillip 0 0-0 0, Ashton Young 0 0-0 0
TEAM: 18 4-7 43
ROCHESTER (31) (4-2, 0-1)
Drew Bowers 4 2-3 12, Bryce Baugher 2 0-0 4, Tanner Reinartz 1 0-0 3, Owen Prater 0 0-0 0, Jonas Kiser 3 1-2 7, Carson Paulik 1 0-0 3, Brady Coleman 0 0-0 0, Conner Dunfee 0 0-0 0, Grant Clark 1 0-0 2, Jack Reffett 0 0-0 0, Xavier Vance 0 0-0 0
TEAM: 12 3-5 31
Three-point field goals:
Northwestern 3 (Wilson 2, Binnion),
Rochester 4 (Bowers 2, Reinartz, Paulik)
Total fouls: Northwestern 7, Rochester 12
Turnovers: Northwestern 14, Rochester 7
Score by quarters
Northwestern 10 13 8 12 – 43
Rochester 7 4 14 6 – 31
JV: Rochester 45, Northwestern 38
