A little belief - and a lot of Braylon Wenger - helps Dalton defeat Norwayne 76-70 for a share of the WCAL title

The senior scored a game-high 34 points and knocked down six 3-pointers

Author:
Ryan Isley, SBLive Sports
Publish date:
Feb 18, 2023 10:41 AM EST

Norwayne vs Dalton boys basketball 021723 Jeff Harwell21

DALTON, Ohio – Sometimes, a little belief is all you need.

That belief started to come for the Dalton boys basketball team in the second half Friday night in a 76-70 win over Norwayne to give the Bulldogs a share of the Wayne County Athletic League title.

Trailing by seven at the half, Dalton changed up their defensive approach for the final two quarters and started to chip away at the Norwayne lead. In the first half, Norwayne point guard Ethan Hann was able to get the offense started immediately, whether Dalton made a shot or missed one on their offensive end.

“The first half, they did a good job of getting the ball out of bounds, getting to free throw line extended and then Hann goes with it,” Dalton head coach Justin Greenfelder said. “We talked at halftime about bringing up that (defender) and taking him away just trying to make him catch the ball going back towards the baseline. We were able to get the ball out of his hands and move the game back closer to our pace.”

As the defense was getting stops, the shots for the Bulldogs started to fall on the other end.

Dalton was able to tie the game late in the third quarter on a 3-pointer by Jack Steiner, but Norwayne found a way to get back out to a 4-point lead. And then when Dalton tied the game again at 60-60 in the fourth quarter on a pair of free throws by Braylon Wenger, the Bulldogs were able to get over the hump.

Wenger dribbled the ball down the floor to the free throw line, turned around and flipped it to a wide-open Steiner, who knocked down a 3-pointer from the top of the key to give Dalton a 63-60 lead, its first since 6-4.

“I knew we needed a bucket, and I got a clean look, so I shot it,” Steiner said.

Hann pulled the Bobcats to back within one, but Dalton knocked down another 3-pointer, this one by Keller McFarren to go up 66-62.

“They started to have some confidence at that point,” Greenfelder said. “They started to see the ball go in and it really helped pick up our energy on the defensive end, too.”

The essential dagger came right after Hann had pulled the Bulldogs to within five at 69-64 with 1:48 left.

Quentin Lehman grabbed an offensive rebound and kicked it out to Wenger, who hit his sixth 3-pointer of the game. He left the hand up a little bit and then bounced back down the floor.

“I just stepped in and shot it with confidence,” Wenger said. “Playing them, the game is never over, they play until the end. Kudos to them. I just took a shot, the team needed it and it went in.”

His coach also knew the game wasn’t over but let himself enjoy the moment as it happened.

“As a coach, you’re never comfortable until that last buzzer goes off, but I think I put my hands up on that one too,” Greenfelder said. “You could feel that was a special shot there.”

Wenger led all scorers with 34 points, including the six 3-pointers.

“I had a good week of practice,” Wenger said. “In warmups, I was hitting a lot of my shots, so I just carried that confidence over into the game.”

Steiner knocked down three 3-pointers and finished with 18 points, giving him and Wenger a combined 52 points in their last regular season game of their careers on their home floor.

“The dynamic duo,” Greenfelder said. “Two seniors on senior night who just were not going to accept losing. You could just see it in both their eyes.”

Hann scored a team-high 25 points, including Norwayne’s final 10 points with two and-1s that kept chances alive for the Bobcats late in the fourth. Justin Rupp added 17 points.

The win means Dalton is the champions of the WCAL for the fourth straight season, a title they share this season with Norwayne and Smithville as the three teams all finished 12-2 in conference play.

“Four straight is unheard of around here,” Wenger said. “I couldn’t be more proud of a group than I am of these guys.”

And it all started with having a little belief.

“All week in practice we talked about belief (and) the difference between believing and hoping,” Greenfelder said. “There was a lot of hope on this team, hope that things would go well for them. They started to believe I think tonight as the game went on that they could win.”