The mood was very different depending on the half Friday night at Springfield High School as the Boys Basketball traveled to the Wildcats for a GWOC matchup. In a thriller, the Bolts came away with a 68-60 victory although there were some early struggles to start.

Springfield jumped out of the gate and set the tone, holding the Bolts without a point for almost 6 minutes in the 1st quarter. Defensively, the pressure gave Northmont problems with shot selection and some quick 3's by the Wildcats let them grab the early lead. After trailing 17-4 at the end of the 1st quarter, the Bolts would play Springfield even to take a 27-14 deficit into the half.

In the locker room, Coach Allen Spears' message was simple: do the things we know to do.

"We preach resilience, we preach handling adversity...once they got the anxiety off, they cut loose and started playing".

Out of the 3rd quarter, the Bolts chipped away at the deficit, getting it down from 13 to 7 by the mid-quarter mark. Offensive rebounds were key as the Bolts were able to lean on senior Chisom Ibe, sophomores Kaleb Kelly and Ja'Kye Hoard for putback points and free throw opportunities. They continued to fight back until sophomore Keegan Anderson buried a 3PT shot to take the lead 38-37. It would be the go-ahead 3 as the Bolts would never trail the rest of the way.

The lead was built up to 12, but Springfield would continue to fight back. Free throws down the stretch put the game away, and Ibe threw down a tomahawk dunk as time expired to cement the 8-point victory.

"I feel relieved and excited to get a GWOC win at Springfield...it's tough to come here" Coach Spears said after the game.

Ibe led scoring with 25 points in the victory. Hoard was right behind with 15 points. The win pushed the Bolts to 4-3 overall and 2-1 in GWOC play.

JV held on late to win their 3rd straight game 43-38. Freshman Braylon Jones led scoring with 13 points and Anthony Lemon contributed 12 points.

Freshman fell 40-23 after fighting back late in the 1st half. Cam Copeland led scorers with 8 points. Loyal Williamson provided 7 points.

All 3 teams will return to action in the Thunderdome Tuesday, December 23rd against Springboro. Game times are 5/6:15/7:30pm.