The Dwenger bench erupts after a charge is called on NorthWood’s Zach Zurcher. (Photos by Nick Goralczyk)

HARTFORD CITY – It was fun. It was exhilarating. It was a fantastic season. It was.

The fantastic season that was for the NorthWood basketball team came to a close on Saturday morning in the opening round of the IHSAA Class 3A Regional at Blackford High School. The Panthers fell 50-44 to a defensively stout Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger squad.

It is too easy to be cliche with the analysis of Saturday morning’s game, the Saints marched all over the Panthers. NorthWood came into the contest ranked No. 5 in Class 3A and did not live up to that ranking at all in the first quarter.

Dwenger jumped to an 8-0 lead before Zach Zurcher scored five unanswered points for the Panthers. After Zurcher’s run of points, it looked as if NorthWood would be in good shape, but the three-point deficit of 8-5 would be as close as the Panthers would get for the rest of the half.

NorthWood entered the second quarter trailing 17-9 and quickly chopped away the Saint lead to 17-13 to open the frame. Just two minutes into the second quarter the Panthers looked to be getting comfortable with the four-point deficit, but the Saints did not back down and finished the quarter on a 15-3 run to take a commanding 32-16 lead into the break.

“You have give credit to Fort Wayne Dwenger,” said NorthWood head coach Aaron Wolfe. “They created such a disparity in the rebounding early on that it stretched the game to 18 points. I felt we were able to compete in the third and fourth quarters because we were able to rebound the basketball, we didn’t do that in the first half.”

NorthWood came into the regional averaging 28 rebounds and 10 turnovers per game as a team. In the first half against Dwenger the Panthers already had eight turnovers and had just four rebounds total. The Saints had 14 boards and turned it over just three times.

But as good as the Saints were in the first half, they were that terrible in the third quarter. NorthWood came out hungry to jump back into the game and did not disappoint its large and supportive crowd that made the trek down to Hartford City.

NorthWood outscored the Saints 16-4 in the third. Dwenger did not make a single field goal in the quarter. Going into the fourth the Panthers trailed just 36-32 and had all the momentum in the world. Wolfe attributed the turnaround to better defensive play which allowed the offense to get more points in transition.

The two men making the most of that transitional play were Zurcher and Jonathan Wilkinson. Zurcher scored just two points in the third but pulled down several big rebounds. The big senior had just two boards in the first half but managed to rip down 13 in the second. Zurcher finished as the game’s leading scorer with 16 points.

Wilkinson was reaping the rewards of Zurcher’s rebounds by scoring six of the team’s 16 third quarter points. Wilkinson finished with 13 points in his final game as a Panther.

Wilkinson had a chance to close the gap to just one point when he took a three half way through the fourth quarter, but it seemed as if the basketball gods were not on NorthWood’s side  on Saturday. The shot looked great, the rock made it to the hoop, went half way in then spun right back out. There was still a lot of time left to play but it just seemed like a win was not in the cards for the Panthers after that misfortune.

Nobody can take away from the effort that the Panthers gave all day, but in the end it was about physicality according to Wolfe.

“Dwenger was more physical than us, all game,” said the coach. “They were more physical in every aspect of the game, especially in that opening half. That gave them control of the tempo and it was hard for us to climb back into the game. Usually you can go on a run and get back into a game, when you’re down by 16 you have to go on two runs and that wears you out.”

Wilkinson commented on the effort of his team as well.

“We went 100-percent the whole game,” said the senior forward. “The problem is in a game like this that after giving 100-percent for so long, trying to just stay in it, your 100 is more like 80.”

Wilkinson is one of five seniors that played in their final game and helped lead the Panthers to their best record in program history, 21-3. Wolfe knows his program will miss this group.

“It’s always difficult to win your last game in competitive athletics,” said Wolfe. “We have a team in 2014 that have no regrets. They care about each other. They care about the quality of how they play in both practice and games. This is a group that has set a standard in our basketball culture.”

Wilkinson spent some time talking about the bond he has with his team.

“This has been a lot of fun and obviously we hate to see it end,” said an emotional Wilkinson. “But, I would rather lose with these guys than win with any other team.”

Dwenger (16-8) will play Muncie Central (11-11) for the regional championship tonight at Blackford High School with tip set for 8 p.m.