RANDY HISNER
WZBD.com
BERNE – Trey Yoder hit a step-back three-pointer at the buzzer to lift the Woodlan Warriors to a 44-43 victory over the Adams Central Flying Jets Friday in the semifinals of the South Adams 2A Boys’ Basketball Sectional.
Both teams had trouble making threes—Woodlan going 4-for-16, AC 5-for-28—but ironically it was clutch long-range shooting that created most of the drama in the hectic final moments of the game.
Adams Central’s Trace Maller hit a pair of three-pointers from the top of the key in less than 40 seconds to bring his team from a four-point deficit at 41-37 to a two-point lead at 43-41 with 52 seconds to play.
After Maller’s second clutch three, Woodlan worked patiently to get the ball inside to 6-8 center Oliver Adams, who missed a short jumper but corralled the rebound and was fouled at the 15.4 mark.
With a chance to tie, Adams missed both free throws, forcing the Warriors to foul three times in the next eight seconds to put the Jets into the bonus. The last foul sent Maller to the line for two shots with 7.5 seconds to play.
He missed both. Woodlan’s Drew Fleek grabbed the rebound on the second miss, and Warrior coach John Baker called time out with 4.4 seconds left. When play resumed, the Warriors set a screen for the 6-7 Yoder, freeing him to receive the inbounds pass on the Jets’ side of half-court line. He weaved in and out of the Jet defense and went for the win, not the tie, by stepping back beyond the arc just to the left of the top of the key and launching the game-winner.
It was Yoder’s third straight three-pointer in the fourth quarter after missing all five of his attempts in the first three periods. He scored 11 of his 20 points in the final frame.
“He hit about as tough a shot as you can hit in that situation,” said Adams Central coach Aaron McClure. “With four or five seconds they’ve got time to get something, and if that’s the shot they’re going to get, you’ll probably have to live with it a little bit, and to his credit he made it.”
In the first quarter, the Jets gained an 8-5 lead at the 2:10 mark on Braylend Reber’s three-point play on their way to an 11-5 advantage at the first stop. Cade Van De Weg’s five points led the Jets’ offense in the period.
Adams scored six points in the second quarter to help give the Warriors a 10-7 edge as they closed the gap to 18-15 at the half.
Yoder opened the third quarter with a 15-foot jumper, and teammate Mason Moore followed with a three-pointer from the left wing to put the Warriors into the lead, 20-18. Yoder completed the 7-0 run with a baseline drive to increase the lead to four. Woodlan maintained the lead until the Jets’ Mavrick Becher hit a three from the right corner with 1:05 to go, putting his team up 27-25 heading into the fourth quarter.
Yoder’s pair of free throws and two three-pointers sparked a 12-6 run that gave the Warriors a 37-33 lead with 3:47 to go. Becher responded quickly with his second three, again from the right corner, to make it 37-36.
Fleek’s bucket from the right block and two free throws, sandwiched around Reber’s free throw for the Jets, gave the Warriors that 41-37 lead with 1:40 left before Maller hit his back-to-back threes, setting up the final dramatic sequence.
Woodlan played a 3-2 zone, mostly packing it in and making it tough for the Jets to get the ball inside. “Their plan was clearly to make us shoot the ball from the perimeter, and we didn’t do that very well tonight,” admitted McClure. “Quite honestly, that’s been one of our struggles this year.”
McClure feels that some of the Woodlan players have trouble going to their weak hand, and he thought his team did a good job of exploiting that, leading to 17 Woodlan turnovers, compared to the Jets’ seven. The turnover advantage kept the Jets in the game, partially overcoming their poor perimeter shooting.
The Jets were dealt a harsh blow when starting guard Lawson Deathe rolled his ankle in the first quarter and was unable to return to action.
Woodlan’s win avenged a 64-48 regular-season loss to the Jets on December 20.
The Jets were 10-of-20 on twos (50%), 5-of-28 on threes (18%), and 8-of-11 on free throws (73%). The Warriors were 10-of-18 on twos (56%), 4-of-16 on threes (25%), and 12-of-19 on free throws (63%).
Adams Central scoring: Maller 15. Reber 10, Van De Weg 8, Becher 6, Drew Johnson 2, Marcus Bollenbacher 2.
Woodlan scoring: Yoder 20, Adams 10, Drew Fleek 9, Moore 5.
The Jets close the season at 15-8. The Warriors will take an 18-7 record into their sectional championship game against Fort Wayne Bishop Luers Saturday at 7:30 P.M.
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