RANDY HISNER
WZBD.com
In a game that went down to the last split-second, the visiting Whitko Wildcats outlasted the Heritage Patriots 48-45 Saturday night in boys’ basketball action.
Heritage (0-2) was down three points and had the ball with 5.3 seconds left, but Noah Redmon’s off-balance three-pointer at the buzzer didn’t find the mark.
Those last few tense seconds were the final installment in a second half packed with drama.
The Wildcats (2-0) led from late in the first quarter to the end of the third quarter, but they could never shake the pesky Patriots.
Whitko gained its biggest lead, 31-23, at the 4:45 mark of the third quarter on a putback by leading scorer Sam Essegian. The Patriots scrapped their way back, going on an 8-2 run to close the quarter and creep back to within two at 33-31. Guard Kobe Meyer keyed the rally with a pair of three-pointers.
After a delay while Heritage personnel escorted an ejected fan from the premises, the Patriots’ Landon Lybarger hit a three-pointer from the top of the key to open the fourth quarter, lifting Heritage to its first lead since the opening period.
The Wildcats regained the lead, only to see Lybarger snatch it back with another three, this time from well behind the arc on the left wing, to give the Pats a 39-38 advantage.
It turned out to be the last lead for the Patriots, though they did tie it once more at 41-41 with 2:08 left when D’VonTaye Washington hit the first two of his six straight free throws in the quarter.
On Whitko’s next possession, Easton Grable hit his second big three of the period to give the Wildcats a lead they would hang onto, though Washington would make it a one-point game with his fifth and sixth free throws with 6.7 seconds on the clock.
With a last-split-second timeout, the Wildcats barely escaped a five-second violation while attempting to inbound the ball. When play resumed they inbounded to Essegian, who was promptly fouled. He hit both free throws to set up the Patriots’ final chance, but they couldn’t get a good look at the basket, forcing Redmon to take a desperation shot from beyond the top of the key.
Whitko coach Chris Benedict was impressed with Heritage, but he also liked how his team responded to the Patriots’ pressuring man-to-man defense. “They were very aggressive,” he said, “but I thought our guys met the challenge. They hit some big shots, but we hit some big shots near the end.”
Benedict gave the Patriots a lot of credit for his team’s struggle to get consistently into their half-court offense. “They wouldn’t let us get to where we wanted to get to,” he said.
First-year Heritage coach Kyle Sovine liked a lot of what he saw from his team. “Championships aren’t built in the first couple games of the season,” he said, “but the biggest thing is we’re learning, we want it, we’re competing hard in practice. We keep preaching in practice just keep getting better, keep getting better, buy in to what we’re teaching, and the wins will come, success will come.”
“We competed for 32 minutes,” he added. “If we keep doing that, good things will happen.”
Meyer, Lybarger, and Redmon had 11 points each for the Patriots, who hit all ten of their free throws. They were 7-of-17 (41%) on two-pointers, 7-of-28 (25%) on threes.
Essegian led Whitko with 17 points. He made nine of eleven free throws. Kyler Krull, who sat out several minutes with foul trouble, added 11, and Gamble had nine. The Wildcats hit 9-of-25 (36%) on twos, 4-of-6 (67%) on threes, 18-of-29 (62%) on free throws.
Heritage will host Leo next Saturday, December 1.