Northmor got out to a great start in their Division IV boys’ basketball district semifinal contest against Delaware Christian at Highland — which was crucial in holding off the Eagles in the second half of a 61-44 victory to advance to the team’s first-ever district final.

The Golden Knights were red hot from the field in the first quarter, putting up 25 points in eight minutes, including the first 12 of the contest.

“That’s exactly what we wanted to do, too,” said head coach Blade Tackett of his team’s fast start. “Credit to Delaware Christian. They lost to Berne Union earlier in the year, but they’ve gotten so much better as the year’s progressed. They’ve got great shooters when they’re open, so we really wanted to establish that pressure early and see if we could get steals and lay-ups and build that lead, so that if they would get hot — like they did — we could keep that 10-point lead.”

Four points by Grant Bentley and three from Jaxson Wenger helped Northmor establish a 12-0 lead in the first four minutes of action.

“We’re shooting it pretty well,” said Tackett. “Grant got hot again, which was good to see, and Jax has been great all year and I think, today, you could tell he wasn’t going to let this game get away.”

Bentley would add 11 more points in the final four minutes of the quarter, giving him 15 in eight minutes as Northmor extended their lead to a 25-9 margin.

Delaware Christian would threaten that commanding lead over the next two quarters, though. While both Wenger and Bentley tallied six points each in the second quarter, their opponents were able to trim four points off the Golden Knight lead.

Post player Matt Tranel scored six points, while Caden Buzbee and Gabe Scherer both connected twice from three-point range as the Eagles cut the Northmor lead to a 40-28 margin.

They continued to battle back in the third quarter. Trailing 45-32, they got five straight points from Tranel to get within single digits at 45-37 with 3:43 left in the period.

Tackett felt the chance to make a district final might have weighed on the team.

“I was anxious the whole time and I think the kids were, too, and that’s maybe why we started playing outside of ourselves,” he said. “We’ve been here seven times as a school, but we’ve never been to the next level. We’ve never been to a district final and I think they wanted it bad.”

The coach added that his players got away from the things they’d done to establish their lead.

“In the beginning, we executed the game plan perfectly,” he said. “When it translated to the second half, we wanted to push it to a 30-point lead so bad that we were undisciplined. We were kind of leaving our guys and giving their shooters wide-open shots instead of staying, waiting for the screen and switching. Hats off to Tranel; that kid is a load inside and he did a great job of keeping them in the game, too.”

Northmor would get some momentum back going into the fourth quarter. They shut down the Eagles down the stretch in the third, while getting four points from Wenger to boost their lead back to a 49-37 count.

The Eagles would not be able to get closer than 10 in the fourth quarter. While Northmor struggled from line free throw line in the period, hitting 7-of-14, they were still able to finish on top by 17 due to their defense holding Delaware Christian to seven points in the period.

Bentley hit five times from deep in scoring a game-high 27 points, while Wenger tallied 21. Tackett felt his team did a good job in making program history by advancing to the district finals, where they play Patriot Preparatory at Ohio Dominican University Friday.

“The reason we have an opportunity for our first district final is because of them,” he said of his players. “They executed and they hit the shots. We struggled with free throws a little bit, but we made enough. They’re still working really hard at practice. Everyone’s still bought in and I think everyone is together and ready to attack Patriot Prep with everything we’ve got.”

Rob Hamilton can be reached at 419-946-3010, ext. 1807. Connect with him on Twitter at @SportsMCS