With a 60-45 win over Chippewa on Monday, Feb. 28 the Norwayne Bobcats will continue their trip down the Div. III Northeast 5 district bracket.
The Bobcats will be perched on the the District Final bracket for the fourth consecutive season as they look to make a 4-peat as district champions.
Norwayne now awaits the winner Tuesday’s game between the number four seed Canton Central Catholic and the number six seed Garfield Heights Trinity. That game will be played at 6:00 p.m. at Wooster High School.
On center stage for Norwayne on Monday was senior post Justin Rupp. He rocked out on Oldman Road lighting up Wooster High School and the Chipps for 30 points. The Chipps allowed Rupp to catch the ball too deep in his workroom as most of his points came in the paint and on the fast-break after a Chippewa miss.
Donating to the Bobcats’ scoring along with Rupp was Ethan Hann who scored nine points, sophomore Parker Metsker had six, Braden West had six and Beau Polen also had six.
Leading the Chipps in scoring was Ethan Douglas who had 12 points, six in each half. Senior Caleb Gasser finished with 10 points and junior Tillman Brown had eight.
Norwayne is now 21-4 overall and has beaten Chippewa 11 straight times. The Chipps end their season with a record of 13-10.
The Chipps scooted out to a 5-1 lead with a Brown layup and a Brendan Donnelly 3-pointer from the left wing. A Rupp layup right before the first quarter horn tied the game 9-9 after one.
Trailing 16-18 midway through the second period Norwayne got a straight-on triple from Mesker that put them back up 19-18. With 3:25 to play in the half, Rupp scored eight points to Chippewa’s two and the Bobcats charge to a 29-22 lead at the break. Rupp scored an impressive 12 points in the second quarter alone.
The third quarter belonged to Norwayne as they would outscore Chippewa 16-7 to extend their lead to 45-32 after three.
