West Lafayette wins Class 3A Sectional title two years removed from losing seasons

FRANKFORT — West Lafayette sophomore Drew Whitlock saw the offensive play designed by coach Jacob VanArsdel broke.

All of Whitlock's teammates were well defended by Twin Lakes guards, the clocking ticking down to seven seconds. It had to be him with the game tied at 43-43.

The 5-foot-9 sophomore dribbled through his legs and then three dribbles to his right side.

Whitlock jumped backwards and fired an arcing fadeaway that swished gently to the bottom of the net with 1.7 seconds remaining and West Lafayette held on to win the Frankfort IHSAA 3A Championship, 45-43.

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Whitlock wore the crown for West Lafayette (19-6) after the program claimed its first sectional championship since 2019.

"Our coaches have told us all year to play like a man," Whitlock said. "We worked our butts off all year to get to this moment. And that's what we did."

The program is two years removed from posting two consecutive losing seasons in 2021 and 2022.

VanArsdel came to a program that was 6-11 in the 2021-2022 and finished 5-19 in his first season.

Loudermill was a member of both losing teams. On Saturday he was the enforcer and physical tone setter. Loudermill grabbed nine rebounds, dished four assists and nabbed five steals.

"We've come a long way since a couple of years ago," Loudermill said. "We kept getting better as a program."

Now the Red Devils along with Central Catholic are the two area teams still left standing in the IHSAA boys basketball playoffs.

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"It means a lot and you get into coaching and you think that it's about times like this," VanArsdel said. "But really it's about our team playing together and having moments like this. I'm just so proud of our team because they played together and they were the best this week."

Whitlock finished the game with 19 points on 6-of-10 shooting to lead the Red Devils. He claims to have received assistance from his father Craig, a former Rossville guard who helped him get out of his shooting slump.

"He has helped me to stay confident," Whitlock said.

Sophomore Benny Speaker added 14 points and hit two 3-pointers in the first half for the Red Devils.

"We are very young but we are very mature," Speaker said. "We listen to what our coaches tell us and they were telling us all week that if things don't go our way, we have to keep our composure."

Twin Lakes (19-7) challenged West Lafayette, which opened the night on a 7-0 run. Senior Gavin Businger hit a 3-pointer and a jumper in the opening three minutes.

West Lafayette led 20-19 at halftime and was ahead 35-24 in the third quarter before Twin Lakes crept back into the game.

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Senior Jamison Ousley came alive offensively in the second half and scored 19 points. The captain finished 3of-8 from 3-point range and shot 6-of-14 from the floor. Businger scored 20 points on 6-of-14 shooting and had 12 rebounds

Ousley got a steal to tie the game at 43-43 with 1:21 to play.

West Lafayette was able to burn up 79.3 seconds on the ensuing possession to set up Whitlock's game winning shot.

Twin Lakes coach Kent Adams left the empty and storied halls of Case Arena brimming with pride for his seniors after the gut-wrenching defeat.

"Jamison and Gavin were really the only two that could really score," Adams said. "That makes it difficult when you're down to two guys trying to do everything. But they carried us, they did it well and what a journey they've had from being in middle school where they were tiny and scrawny and now they've developed athletically with their bodies. It's phenomenal."

West Lafayette continues its journey to the IHSAA Regional Championship round to play Peru (15-10) led by a core of underclassmen in Whitlock, Speaker, fellow sophomore Ben Werth and junior 6-foot-10 center Kevo St. Hilaire. The regional site will be determined by the IHSAA on Sunday.

Ethan Hanson is the sports reporter for the Journal & Courier in Lafayette. He can be reached at ehanson@gannett.com, on Twitter at EthanAHansonand Instagram at ethan_a_hanson.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: West Lafayette boys basketball wins 3A Sectional Championship