Pilgrims Prevail In Triple Overtime Thriller
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
SYRACUSE - If Friday night's game between Northern Lakes Conference foes No. 8 (3A) Plymouth and Wawasee were broadcast on ESPN, it would be dubbed an "Instant Classic".
The two teams played a game more reminiscent of pre-class basketball days with both teams scraping for position in an ultra-competitive NLC and looking to avoid a dreaded second conference loss.
In other words, it was an old fashioned donnybrook.
It took three overtimes, two dramatic three pointers and one layup with one second remaining in the third and final overtime for the Pilgrims to escape from the Hardwood Tepee with a 75-74 win.
The final 50 seconds of the contest were frenetic with the state's leading scorer and all-state candidate Kyle Benge missing a three-pointer that was collected by Wawasee post player Ryan Kauchak.
The Warriors' Austin Gerber couldn't connect on either of the ensuing free throw attempts as the Pilgrims collected the carom. Plymouth attempted to hold for the last shot but Geoff Sheetz traveled with 15.7 seconds remaining to give the ball back to Wawasee.
Lantz gave the ball right back to the Pilgrims on an errant pass. Lantz, who has played with a hand injury suffered in the Warriors football state finals appearance Nov. 27, was valiant in his efforts scoring 19 points on 6 of 16 shooting to go along with four rebounds and five assists.
With new life, the Pilgrims could not be denied. Benge drove, drawing attention from a swarm of Wawasee defenders, and found junior reserve Rick Davis for a layup with one second left in what turned out to be the final overtime session.
Davis went from goat to hero with the basket. The 6-foot-2 guard missed four free throw attempts in the overtime sessions to keep the Warriors in the game.
After a timeout, Wawasee's Michael Conrad threw a full court pass to Kauchak near the three-point line. A turnaround jumper by the 6-3 banger was wide as time expired and Plymouth players and coaches stormed the floor in celebration.
The Pilgrims long-tenured head coach Jack Edison, in his 31st year of coaching, all at Plymouth, made it 487 wins with the victory against Wawasee.
And while the legendary coach has a large pool to choose from, this game deserves consideration on a short list of great games.
"This is up there," said Edison. "I guess its something more with the respect we have for Wawasee. They're so well coached, disciplined and tenacious. They're the kind of team you want to see play. If I lived within 30 miles of (Wawasee) and wasn't coaching I'd buy season tickets."
Edison may want to put his request in now as a standing room crowd watched Friday's epic battle.
Despite jumping out to a 10-point third quarter lead, the Pilgrims struggled mightily in the second half as the Warriors established an interior dominance with Kauchak and sophomore Lance Zimmerman.
Zimmerman scored all seven of his points in the third quarter, including five straight, to give the Warriors their first lead since the end of the opening period. Kauchak finished with a team-high 26 points on 8 of 11 shooting and more importantly, went 10 of 11 from the charity stripe.
Two Kauchak free throws with 2:03 left in regulation put Wawasee up 54-53. The Warriors extended their lead to 56-53 with 38.2 seconds left in the fourth quarter when Conrad hit two free throws after drawing a foul from Benge.
What Benge giveth, Benge taketh away.
When Plymouth's Sheetz threw up a three pointer that took a long bounce off the rim, a scrum ensued with Benge collecting the loose ball. The 6-1 guard worked around a screen and released a 35-foot jumper with 2.5 seconds left that swished through the net as time expired to force the game into overtime.
The Warriors once again had a chance to end the game, but after Andrew Mock missed the back end of two free throws, Jason Renz collected the miss for Plymouth and sent an outlet pass to Kyle Plumlee who made his own game-tying three-pointer with 7.3 seconds left in the first overtime to tie things up at 63-63.
Lantz had a chance to end the game but couldn't connect on a three pointer as the first overtime period expired.
The Bethel-bound guard's time for dramatics came four game minutes later when he hit a running jumper over his right shoulder and behind the three-point arc as the buzzer sounded to send an already exasperated gymnasium in to complete hysterics, and the game into its third overtime.
After the game, a visibly spent Phil Mishler, head coach of the Warriors, was quick to give both teams credit.
"Plymouth came ready to play tonight. We feel they deserve higher than their No. 8 ranking. But you can't fault our kids. We played pretty doggone good tonight ourselves. Unfortunately in a game like this, one of the teams has to lose," said Mishler.
When a game like this comes along it immediately creates a fork in the road for the losing team. Do they fold up shop or become more resolute? In Wawasee's case, Mishler knows the answer.
"We're going to learn from this and we'll grow stronger from it," said Mishler.
Friday night's game against the Pilgrims was Wawasee's third straight without leading scorer Austin Kaiser (19.6 ppg), who broke his hand in a practice last week.
Starting in his place, Mock scored four points and had five assists to just two turnovers.
The Warriors played just seven players in the 44-minute game and including John Adams, who played little more than a minute.
Wawasee kept itself in the game for many stretches from the free throw line. The Warriors went scoreless from the field for the entire fourth quarter and didn't end the drought until Gerber hit a jumper with 56 seconds remaining in the first overtime. Gerber was the only other Warrior in double digits besides Kauchak and Lantz scoring 11 points.
Wawasee shot 27 of 35 from the line, compared to just 4 of 10 for the Pilgrims. Plymouth didn't attempt a free throw until 1:53 left in the first overtime.
"If it took five overtimes we were going to get to the line," joked Edison afterwards.
While Benge led the Pilgrims in scoring with 26 points, he hit just 4 of 12 shots from the field in the first half. Sheetz led the way for the Pilgrims in the early going, scoring eight second-quarter points and finishing the long evening with 19 points. Plumlee was the only other player in double digits for Plymouth with 16 points.
The game marks the first multiple overtime game for the Pilgrim program in over 10 years, while it's the second in Mishler's five-year tenure at Wawasee. The Warriors defeated Whitko in another triple overtime barnburner, 87-83 on Jan. 9, 2003.
Wawasee, 8-3 overall and 2-2 in the NLC, travel to LaGrange to take on Iowa-bound Jon Workman and the Lakeland Lakers Tuesday. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
PLYMOUTH 75, WAWASEE 74
Plymouth 11 21 15 9 7 6 6 - 75
Wawasee 12 15 21 8 7 6 5 - 74
Plymouth FG FT R S Pts.
*Benge 10-23 0-0 0 0 26
*Sheetz 6-9 2-2 4 1 19
*Plumlee 6-12 2-4 3 2 16
*Houin 1-2 0-0 4 0 2
*Pickell 2-2 0-0 3 1 4
Renz 0-0 0-0 5 0 0
Clinton 0-1 0-0 1 0 0
Davis 4-4 0-4 6 0 8
Bucher 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 29-53 4-10 27 4 75
Wawasee FG FT R S Pts.
*Lantz 6-16 3-4 4 2 19
*Mock 0-3 4-6 2 1 4
*Gerber 4-10 2-5 5 0 11
*Conrad 0-2 5-6 4 1 5
*Kauchak 8-11 10-11 10 0 26
Zimmerman 3-3 1-1 2 1 7
Leach 0-0 2-2 0 0 2
Totals 29-53 4-10 27 4 75
Three-point goals - Plymouth 13-31 (Benge 6-15, Sheetz 5-8, Plumlee 2-7, Clinton 0-1), Wawasee 5-17 (Lantz 4-8, Gerber 1-5, Conrad 0-1, Kauchak 0-1). Assists - Plymouth 25 (Benge 5, Plumlee 5), Wawasee 15 (Lantz 5, Mock 5 Turnovers - Plymouth 15, Wawasee 15. Fouls - Plymouth 24, Wawasee 15. Fouled out - None
JV - Plymouth 37, Wawasee 33
Wawasee socring -ÊJohn Adams 10, Nick Richardson 8, Dan Dingledein 7, Brandon Geiger 6, Brandon Breece 2 [[In-content Ad]]
SYRACUSE - If Friday night's game between Northern Lakes Conference foes No. 8 (3A) Plymouth and Wawasee were broadcast on ESPN, it would be dubbed an "Instant Classic".
The two teams played a game more reminiscent of pre-class basketball days with both teams scraping for position in an ultra-competitive NLC and looking to avoid a dreaded second conference loss.
In other words, it was an old fashioned donnybrook.
It took three overtimes, two dramatic three pointers and one layup with one second remaining in the third and final overtime for the Pilgrims to escape from the Hardwood Tepee with a 75-74 win.
The final 50 seconds of the contest were frenetic with the state's leading scorer and all-state candidate Kyle Benge missing a three-pointer that was collected by Wawasee post player Ryan Kauchak.
The Warriors' Austin Gerber couldn't connect on either of the ensuing free throw attempts as the Pilgrims collected the carom. Plymouth attempted to hold for the last shot but Geoff Sheetz traveled with 15.7 seconds remaining to give the ball back to Wawasee.
Lantz gave the ball right back to the Pilgrims on an errant pass. Lantz, who has played with a hand injury suffered in the Warriors football state finals appearance Nov. 27, was valiant in his efforts scoring 19 points on 6 of 16 shooting to go along with four rebounds and five assists.
With new life, the Pilgrims could not be denied. Benge drove, drawing attention from a swarm of Wawasee defenders, and found junior reserve Rick Davis for a layup with one second left in what turned out to be the final overtime session.
Davis went from goat to hero with the basket. The 6-foot-2 guard missed four free throw attempts in the overtime sessions to keep the Warriors in the game.
After a timeout, Wawasee's Michael Conrad threw a full court pass to Kauchak near the three-point line. A turnaround jumper by the 6-3 banger was wide as time expired and Plymouth players and coaches stormed the floor in celebration.
The Pilgrims long-tenured head coach Jack Edison, in his 31st year of coaching, all at Plymouth, made it 487 wins with the victory against Wawasee.
And while the legendary coach has a large pool to choose from, this game deserves consideration on a short list of great games.
"This is up there," said Edison. "I guess its something more with the respect we have for Wawasee. They're so well coached, disciplined and tenacious. They're the kind of team you want to see play. If I lived within 30 miles of (Wawasee) and wasn't coaching I'd buy season tickets."
Edison may want to put his request in now as a standing room crowd watched Friday's epic battle.
Despite jumping out to a 10-point third quarter lead, the Pilgrims struggled mightily in the second half as the Warriors established an interior dominance with Kauchak and sophomore Lance Zimmerman.
Zimmerman scored all seven of his points in the third quarter, including five straight, to give the Warriors their first lead since the end of the opening period. Kauchak finished with a team-high 26 points on 8 of 11 shooting and more importantly, went 10 of 11 from the charity stripe.
Two Kauchak free throws with 2:03 left in regulation put Wawasee up 54-53. The Warriors extended their lead to 56-53 with 38.2 seconds left in the fourth quarter when Conrad hit two free throws after drawing a foul from Benge.
What Benge giveth, Benge taketh away.
When Plymouth's Sheetz threw up a three pointer that took a long bounce off the rim, a scrum ensued with Benge collecting the loose ball. The 6-1 guard worked around a screen and released a 35-foot jumper with 2.5 seconds left that swished through the net as time expired to force the game into overtime.
The Warriors once again had a chance to end the game, but after Andrew Mock missed the back end of two free throws, Jason Renz collected the miss for Plymouth and sent an outlet pass to Kyle Plumlee who made his own game-tying three-pointer with 7.3 seconds left in the first overtime to tie things up at 63-63.
Lantz had a chance to end the game but couldn't connect on a three pointer as the first overtime period expired.
The Bethel-bound guard's time for dramatics came four game minutes later when he hit a running jumper over his right shoulder and behind the three-point arc as the buzzer sounded to send an already exasperated gymnasium in to complete hysterics, and the game into its third overtime.
After the game, a visibly spent Phil Mishler, head coach of the Warriors, was quick to give both teams credit.
"Plymouth came ready to play tonight. We feel they deserve higher than their No. 8 ranking. But you can't fault our kids. We played pretty doggone good tonight ourselves. Unfortunately in a game like this, one of the teams has to lose," said Mishler.
When a game like this comes along it immediately creates a fork in the road for the losing team. Do they fold up shop or become more resolute? In Wawasee's case, Mishler knows the answer.
"We're going to learn from this and we'll grow stronger from it," said Mishler.
Friday night's game against the Pilgrims was Wawasee's third straight without leading scorer Austin Kaiser (19.6 ppg), who broke his hand in a practice last week.
Starting in his place, Mock scored four points and had five assists to just two turnovers.
The Warriors played just seven players in the 44-minute game and including John Adams, who played little more than a minute.
Wawasee kept itself in the game for many stretches from the free throw line. The Warriors went scoreless from the field for the entire fourth quarter and didn't end the drought until Gerber hit a jumper with 56 seconds remaining in the first overtime. Gerber was the only other Warrior in double digits besides Kauchak and Lantz scoring 11 points.
Wawasee shot 27 of 35 from the line, compared to just 4 of 10 for the Pilgrims. Plymouth didn't attempt a free throw until 1:53 left in the first overtime.
"If it took five overtimes we were going to get to the line," joked Edison afterwards.
While Benge led the Pilgrims in scoring with 26 points, he hit just 4 of 12 shots from the field in the first half. Sheetz led the way for the Pilgrims in the early going, scoring eight second-quarter points and finishing the long evening with 19 points. Plumlee was the only other player in double digits for Plymouth with 16 points.
The game marks the first multiple overtime game for the Pilgrim program in over 10 years, while it's the second in Mishler's five-year tenure at Wawasee. The Warriors defeated Whitko in another triple overtime barnburner, 87-83 on Jan. 9, 2003.
Wawasee, 8-3 overall and 2-2 in the NLC, travel to LaGrange to take on Iowa-bound Jon Workman and the Lakeland Lakers Tuesday. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
PLYMOUTH 75, WAWASEE 74
Plymouth 11 21 15 9 7 6 6 - 75
Wawasee 12 15 21 8 7 6 5 - 74
Plymouth FG FT R S Pts.
*Benge 10-23 0-0 0 0 26
*Sheetz 6-9 2-2 4 1 19
*Plumlee 6-12 2-4 3 2 16
*Houin 1-2 0-0 4 0 2
*Pickell 2-2 0-0 3 1 4
Renz 0-0 0-0 5 0 0
Clinton 0-1 0-0 1 0 0
Davis 4-4 0-4 6 0 8
Bucher 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 29-53 4-10 27 4 75
Wawasee FG FT R S Pts.
*Lantz 6-16 3-4 4 2 19
*Mock 0-3 4-6 2 1 4
*Gerber 4-10 2-5 5 0 11
*Conrad 0-2 5-6 4 1 5
*Kauchak 8-11 10-11 10 0 26
Zimmerman 3-3 1-1 2 1 7
Leach 0-0 2-2 0 0 2
Totals 29-53 4-10 27 4 75
Three-point goals - Plymouth 13-31 (Benge 6-15, Sheetz 5-8, Plumlee 2-7, Clinton 0-1), Wawasee 5-17 (Lantz 4-8, Gerber 1-5, Conrad 0-1, Kauchak 0-1). Assists - Plymouth 25 (Benge 5, Plumlee 5), Wawasee 15 (Lantz 5, Mock 5 Turnovers - Plymouth 15, Wawasee 15. Fouls - Plymouth 24, Wawasee 15. Fouled out - None
JV - Plymouth 37, Wawasee 33
Wawasee socring -ÊJohn Adams 10, Nick Richardson 8, Dan Dingledein 7, Brandon Geiger 6, Brandon Breece 2 [[In-content Ad]]