Hand's foul shots cap wild finish in Danville win
Feb. 16—SUNBURY — One could forgive Nick Hand for feeling nerves at the foul line Thursday night.
His Danville team trailed Shamokin by one point with 4.8 seconds left in regulation, and he'd just watched the Ironmen blow a 14-point lead over the course of 80 game seconds.
Oh, and he was only on the floor because senior teammate Hayden Winn fouled out with 24 seconds left on a four-point play that put his team behind.
"I was just ready if somebody fouled out to step in," Hand said. "I knew I had to remain calm, and did what I had to."
Hand knocked down both foul shots for the lead, and when Joe Hile's shot at the buzzer fell short Danville walked away with a 54-53 victory in the opening semifinal of the Heartland Athletic Conference Tournament at Lockcuff Memorial Gymnasium.
The second half of the game was enough to give both coaches — and the respective fan bases — heart issues.
Shamokin struggled with Danville's defense for most of the game's first 20 minutes. The Indians had just 12 points, and their leading scorer, Hile, had no points on just three shots to that point.
When Luke Huron converted a three-point play with 4:11 left in the third quarter, Danville went ahead 31-12.
"You hold them to (12 points), we were super-happy but we also know that they are coming," Ironmen coach Gary Grozier said. "We know Joe Hile's coming — he scored all 16 points in the second half. We know Jenssyn Shuey is coming. They are good basketball players. We knew 19 points (ahead) was an illusion.
"We are the (Heartland) Division II champs, and they are Division I champs. These games are supposed to be close."
The Indians' goal in such a situation was to cut the margin to 10 points or fewer at the start the fourth quarter. That looked like a tough ask when Danville's Ethan Morrison knocked down a 3-pointer to keep the lead at 19 with less than three minutes left in the third.
Shamokin finally got going and uncorked a 20-2 run that bridged the third and fourth quarters. Case Lichty scored six points in the final 13 seconds of the third, and his banked 3 at the buzzer sliced to nine at the start of the fourth.
Indians freshman Carson Steele, returning to the court for the first time since a Dec. 14 win over Montoursville, capped the spurt with two drives to the basket sandwiched around a Colin Stinehart foul shot which made it 41-37 with six minutes left in the game.
Danville then righted the ship. Huron broke the scoreless stretch with a driving layup, Winn converted through contact, and the Ironmen's lead was up to 45-37. Daniel Walker scored the next five Danville points, including a three-point play with 1:30 left that made it 51-39.
"We felt pretty good about this (game). We prepared well all week," said Walker, who finished with a game-high 18 points. "We've wanted them since the first time we played them (a 10-point Shamokin win three days before Christmas)."
Grozier added, "Daniel is really improving. He works at his craft. He worked hard all night to get himself in better position to score, and he put the ball in the hoop."
Danville then started to struggle with Shamokin's defensive pressure, and Huron missed four straight foul shots. Hile had two late steals, and Lichty had another. The Indians scored as many points in the final minute of the game as they did in the first 20 minutes. Hile brought Shamokin within three at 52-49 with 30 seconds left.
There was a loose ball on a Danville inbound play, and as it rolled to midcourt a Shamokin player saved the ball by throwing it towards his basket. Lichty caught it at the foul line, and quickly got to Rylan Price in the corner. He knocked down the 3-pointer as Winn fouled him to foul out. Price converted the foul shot, and Shamokin led 53-52.
Danville called a timeout after crossing halfcourt. The Ironmen missed a shot, but the ball was tied up on the rebound. With the arrow pointing to the Ironmen, they inbounded and Hand was shoved to the ground, sending him to the line for the go-ahead shots with 4.8 seconds to play.
Shamokin got the ball past the 3-point line quickly, but Hile's final shot was partially tipped — Indians coach Chris Zimmerman thought he was fouled — and the Ironmen survived. They earned a rematch with Loyalsock, a 53-40 victor over Selinsgrove in the other semifinal, at 7:30 p.m. tonight at Lockcuff Gymnasium for the championship. The Lancers beat Danville 48-47 on Feb. 4 with a buzzer-beating putback.
And there'll probably be a rubber match between the Ironmen (17-6) and the Indians (17-6) in the District 4 Class 4A semifinals if the tentative seeds — Shamokin is No. 1, Danville is No. 3 — hold when the playoff matchups are announced Sunday.
------
HEARTLAND ATHLETIC CONFERENCE
BOYS BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
SEMIFINAL
at Lockcuff Memorial Gymnasium, Shikellamy H.S.
DANVILLE 54, SHAMOKIN 53
Danville (17-6) 54
Ethan Morrison 4 0-0 10; Carter Heath 3 1-1 8; Luke Huron 4 0-4 9; Hayden Winn 2 1-2 5; Daniel Walker 8 2-2 18; Nick Hand 1 2-2 4. Totals 22 6-11 54.
3-point goals: Morrison 2, Heath, Huron.
Did not score: none.
Shamokin (17-6) 53
Rylan Price 3 1-1 10; Joe Hile 5 5-8 16; Colin Stinehart 0 1-4 1; Case Lichty 3 0-0 7; Jenssyn Shuey 3 0-0 6; Logan Steele 4 2-2 10; Cru Schroyer 0 2-2 2. Totals 18 14-19 53.
3-point goals: Price, Hile, Lichty.
Did not score: Andrew Schreffler, Gavin Renn.
Score by quarters
Danville;7;11;23;13 — 54
Shamokin;8;2;22;21 — 53
