Hatchets lose heartbreaker, 47-46
Dec. 1—HUNTINGBURG — A Noah Wright rebound basket with 2.9 seconds left provided the fifth and final lead change of the fourth quarter as Southridge handed the Washington Hatchets a 47-46 Pocket Athletic Conference loss at Memorial Gymnasium on Friday.
After Colton Stowers had dialed long distance for the fourth time in the game to give Washington (0-2, 0-1) a 46-45 lead with :15 on the clock, Wright grabbed an air ball by the Raiders' Tate Whitehead and put it back in to give Southridge (1-0, 1-0) the win.
Wright's put back was just the fourth Southridge offensive rebound of the game but it was costly according to Washington coach Gene Miiller.
"That's what we talk about all the time, when it comes down the end of the ballgame, you have to play good defense but you have to rebound the basketball too. You have to finish the play," said Miiller. "But that's been a problem for us all along, rebounding at the defensive end. I thought for the most part we did a better job but it came down to the last play and they beat us with a offensive rebound put back.
"You just can't have that happen, you have to block out and do a better job of going after the basketball and coming up with the rebound. We failed to do that."
The Hatchets trailed 22-19 at halftime but an impressive third quarter saw WHS outscore the Raiders 15-9 to take a 34-31 lead into the fourth quarter. A 7-2 run to open the final stanza pushed that lead to eight points at 41-33 with just over 5:00 left in the contest. But Wright foreshadowed his end of game heroics with a bucket, followed by a 3-pointer from Whitehead, who led all scorers with 17 points, to close lead to three at 41-38.
A basket by Davis Schwartz cut the lead to one at 41-40 with 3:25 to play, and then Whitehead hit a pair of free throws to give Southridge its first lead since midway through third quarter at 42-42. A Chris Meredith basket put WHS back in front 43-42, but a conventional 3-point play from Wright gave the Raiders a 45-43 lead with :35 left.
Stowers led the Hatchets with 16 points, including 11 in the second half. Brandt Neidigh was close behind with 14 points, followed by eight points apiece from Meredith and Olsen Kroeger.
"I thought defensively we played pretty well, a little better, we still got beat on dribble penetration, we have to do a better job on dribble penetration," said Miiller. "I thought Kaleb (Waller) really did a nice job on Whitehead and he still ended up with 17, Whitehead hit some tough shots. Wright was the one you didn't expect to score, and he ended with 14. He just beats you on penetration and we didn't do a very good job of stopping his dribble penetration."
Wright added 14 points for the Raiders, including seven in the fourth quarter.
Washington won the JV game 36-35.
Washington returns home tonight to face North Daviess.
