WHITE HALL – Talon Albrecht led three Greenfield Northwestern players in double figures with 22 points, including key threes when Metro-East Lutheran fought back to tie the game at 32-32 in the third quarter, as the Tigers eliminated the Knights 59-53 to win the IHSA Class 1A White Hall North Greene sectional Friday night, March 7, 2025, at the North Greene gym.
It was the Knights’ second comeback of the evening, having come back at the end of the first half with a 11-0 run to cut the Northwestern Lead to 21-20. But the Tigers had the answers, and hit their key shots to go on to the win to advance to the Jacksonville super-sectional and Elite Eight for the first time in school history. Greenfield-Northwestern had won its first regional since 1980 a week earlier.
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Greenfield-Northwestern Head Boys Basketball Coach Joe Pembrook said this team believes in itself and plays so hard, which were keys to the huge triumph.
"The boys play unified and played good defense. We are just happy to get out of here with a win," Pembrook added with pride.
Pembrook said he believed the Tigers' senior leadership was also a key to the victory.
"Our seniors don't get rattled and they always kept talking about settling down and executing the next play and that was what we were able to do," he said. "The boys play both ends of the floor."
The Knights fought hard to come back in both instances, but Coach Anthony Smith said they couldn’t stick to their game plan, and it made a difference.
“It doesn’t work when you don’t stick to the game plan,” said Coach Smith. “We knew about Albrecht, and they had a good game plan. We just didn’t stick to our game plan, and they outplayed us. I think they came in with the mentality that they weren’t going to lose. And they beat us. It’s a good year for us, but I feel bad for my seniors, but this one’s tough to take.”
After allowing the opening basket of the game, the Tigers went ahead 5-2 on a free throw from Kayden Roberts, and baskets from Garrett Costello and Wyatt Stuart. Brown then cut the lead to 5-4 with a foul-line jumper, but a free throw from Caleb Albrecht and back-to-back baskets from Costello gave Northwestern a 10-4 lead, with the Tigers taking a 14-7 lead at the end of the period.
Albrecht began to show off his shooting touch in the second quarter, hitting his first three, while a pair of free throws by Costello gave Northwestern a 21-9 lead. Back came the Knights, as Brown hit a pair of free throws to make it 21-11, sparking the 11-0 run at the end of the half. Bishop cut the lead to 21-15, then Heard nailed a big three and a pair of free throws to cut the lead to 21-20 at halftime.
The Tigers came out at the start of the second half, and immediately got a three from Griffin Rothe to go up 24-20, and after an exchange of baskets, Rothe hit a three, and Albrecht scored to extend the advantage to 32-23. Brown then scored on consecutive shots to make it 32-27, and Heard hit a three, was fouled, and hit the free throw for a four-point play to make it 32-31, A free throw from Brown tied the game at 32-32, but the Tigers immediately got a pair of threes from Albrecht to make it 38-32. A pair of free throws from Heard cut the lead to 38-34. A Northwestern free throw made it 39-34 at the end of the third.
Albrecht continued to score to help keep Metro-East at bay in the fourth quarter, at one point, leading 50-48. The Knights didn’t give up, however, and kept coming, but the Tigers put the game away at the free throw line, going ahead 57-48 late. Heard hit a number of threes to keep Metro-East in it, but the Tigers eventually prevailed 59-53 to win the sectional title for the first time in school history.
Albrecht led the way for Northwestern with his 22 points, while Costello added 16 points, Stuart came up with 12 points, Rothe scored eight points, and Roberts scored a single point. Heard led the Knights with 19 points, while Brown had 16 points, both Landyn Jefferson and Jacob Kober hit for six points each, Bishop scored four points, and Lucas Lorenz had two points.
The Knights end the season as 21-12, while the Tigers go to 24-10, and will play in the Jacksonville super-sectional quarterfinal game against Peoria Christian, who won the Brimfield Sectional over Princeville 57-54, Monday night at the Jacksonville Bowl in a 7 p.m. tip. The winner goes to the state finals March 13-15 at the State Farm Center on the campus of the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana.
Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.
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