Patrick Wessler’s monster night lifts Combine past Northside BY CAMERON WILLIAMS AND LANGSTON WERTZ JR.
After trailing 18-0 at one point in the first quarter, the Goats of Combine Academy (2-0) found a way to rally to an 86-69 victory over Northside Christian Academy (0-1): Give the ball to 7-foot senior center Patrick Wessler.
A lot.
Wessler had 33 points and 19 rebounds at Friday’s Carmel Christian Tip-Off, just days after he signed his letter-of-intent with Virginia Tech. Still, it was not the start that Combine coach Jeff Mcinnis had in mind, but he knew his team could find a way to pull out the victory.
“We just came out and played,” Mcinnis said. “We knew it was going to be a tough game, and they choked us early and we knew we had to fight back.”
Fight back they did. After trailing 24-12 after the first quarter, Combine went on a short scoring run to narrow the gap. Wessler had a big second quarter to turn the tide for Combine. He had three offensive boards that all led to second-chance points in the second quarter.
Heading into halftime, Northside Christian — which played much of the game without star player and top recruit Wesley Tubbs, who left with an apparent injury — still had the lead, but Combine was able to shorten it to just seven points. Combine’s Jayden Epps had a solid third quarter by scoring six of his eight points. His defense made an impact by forcing Northside Christian into bad decisions resulting in turnovers.
While Epps did not have his normal scoring performance, his leadership on the court still made a big impact for the team with him helping initiate the offensive sets Mcinnis had in place.
The fourth quarter was all Combine as it outscored Northside Christian 27-15. Wessler had a dominant performance in this quarter as well. He added five more rebounds to his total in the fourth quarter.
“I knew as a big man, as the biggest dude on the floor, it was my job to dominate,” Wessler said. “(I needed) to get rebounds offensively and defensively as well as score the ball. As a team, once we got down, we knew we were good. We knew we were the better team, and we just came back with good energy, played solid and came all the way back.”
“I felt like Pat had the advantage in the game,” Mcinnis said. “We just utilized the big fella down the stretch.”
THREE WHO MATTERED
Patrick Wessler, Combine Academy: The Virginia Tech commit had a big-time performance for his team and at times really put it on his back. He scored the first six points for Combine out of the halftime break and grabbed four rebounds in that span as well.
A.J. Smith, Combine Academy: The senior guard totaled 11 points and six assists. He initiated most of Combine’s offense throughout the duration of the game. He got off to a slow start by turning the ball over twice early but turned things around in the second half to help propel his team.
Daniel Lubamba, Northside Christian: Lubamba was the spark in the first quarter to get Northside Christian off on the right track. He scored the opening points for his team and was pushing the ball well in transition to get quick, easy baskets.
WORTH MENTIONING ▪ There was a total of 38 fouls in this game. While the game never got chippy by any means, it was a very physical game, and the referees were quick to make a call when they saw excessive contact.
▪ Patrick Wessler’s big performance comes just days after he signed his national letter of intent with the Virginia Tech Hokies.
▪ Illinois commit, Jayden Epps, from Combine Academy had a rough shooting night but made up for it with his defense by gathering four steals and forcing a handful of turnovers as well.
UP NEXT Both teams will be taking to court again on Saturday, Nov. 13 on day two of the Carmel Christian Tip-Off Classic. Northside Christian Academy will face Cannon School at 3 p.m. and Combine Academy will take on Good Better Best Academy at 7:30 p.m.
After trailing 18-0 at one point in the first quarter, the Goats of Combine Academy (2-0) found a way to rally to an 86-69 victory over Northside Christian Academy (0-1): Give the ball to 7-foot senior center Patrick Wessler.
A lot.
Wessler had 33 points and 19 rebounds at Friday’s Carmel Christian Tip-Off, just days after he signed his letter-of-intent with Virginia Tech. Still, it was not the start that Combine coach Jeff Mcinnis had in mind, but he knew his team could find a way to pull out the victory.
“We just came out and played,” Mcinnis said. “We knew it was going to be a tough game, and they choked us early and we knew we had to fight back.”
Fight back they did. After trailing 24-12 after the first quarter, Combine went on a short scoring run to narrow the gap. Wessler had a big second quarter to turn the tide for Combine. He had three offensive boards that all led to second-chance points in the second quarter.
Heading into halftime, Northside Christian — which played much of the game without star player and top recruit Wesley Tubbs, who left with an apparent injury — still had the lead, but Combine was able to shorten it to just seven points. Combine’s Jayden Epps had a solid third quarter by scoring six of his eight points. His defense made an impact by forcing Northside Christian into bad decisions resulting in turnovers.
While Epps did not have his normal scoring performance, his leadership on the court still made a big impact for the team with him helping initiate the offensive sets Mcinnis had in place.
The fourth quarter was all Combine as it outscored Northside Christian 27-15. Wessler had a dominant performance in this quarter as well. He added five more rebounds to his total in the fourth quarter.
“I knew as a big man, as the biggest dude on the floor, it was my job to dominate,” Wessler said. “(I needed) to get rebounds offensively and defensively as well as score the ball. As a team, once we got down, we knew we were good. We knew we were the better team, and we just came back with good energy, played solid and came all the way back.”
“I felt like Pat had the advantage in the game,” Mcinnis said. “We just utilized the big fella down the stretch.”
THREE WHO MATTERED
Patrick Wessler, Combine Academy: The Virginia Tech commit had a big-time performance for his team and at times really put it on his back. He scored the first six points for Combine out of the halftime break and grabbed four rebounds in that span as well.
A.J. Smith, Combine Academy: The senior guard totaled 11 points and six assists. He initiated most of Combine’s offense throughout the duration of the game. He got off to a slow start by turning the ball over twice early but turned things around in the second half to help propel his team.
Daniel Lubamba, Northside Christian: Lubamba was the spark in the first quarter to get Northside Christian off on the right track. He scored the opening points for his team and was pushing the ball well in transition to get quick, easy baskets.
WORTH MENTIONING ▪ There was a total of 38 fouls in this game. While the game never got chippy by any means, it was a very physical game, and the referees were quick to make a call when they saw excessive contact.
▪ Patrick Wessler’s big performance comes just days after he signed his national letter of intent with the Virginia Tech Hokies.
▪ Illinois commit, Jayden Epps, from Combine Academy had a rough shooting night but made up for it with his defense by gathering four steals and forcing a handful of turnovers as well.
UP NEXT Both teams will be taking to court again on Saturday, Nov. 13 on day two of the Carmel Christian Tip-Off Classic. Northside Christian Academy will face Cannon School at 3 p.m. and Combine Academy will take on Good Better Best Academy at 7:30 p.m.
