SOUTH WHITLEY - For 16 minutes on Friday night, the Churubusco Eagles shut down Whitko's Zach Henson, sort of. But in the second half, Henson did as he usually does, taking over a tight game and leading the Wildcats to a 61-53 victory.

Two minutes into the opening period, Henson came down hard on his ankle after trying to block a Todd Fleetwood layup. He went to the lockerroom to get his ankle taped up, and he came back with two minutes to play in the quarter. Henson was ineffective, though, and only scored three points on two shots.

As a result, Churubusco led 25-24 at the break. The second half was a different story completely.

Henson scored 29 points on 14 shots, including 15 of Whitko's 17 fourth-quarter points, to get the Wildcats to .500 on the year at 3-3.

"We thought his ankle was broken," Whitko head coach Dave Henson said. "We did not intend on playing him in the second half. He came out and gutted it out. I was real proud of him."

It's probably a good thing Henson did play his son. Whitko struggled offensively without Zach in the first half. If it was not for Jason Ayres 12 points in the second quarter, the Wildcats could have been down too far by halftime.

"At this point in time, we needed the win," Coach Henson said. "That was the most important thing. Jason Ayres was outstanding in the first half to keep us in it. We were struggling out there, no doubt."

Churubusco scored four points to open the third quarter to lead by five. Then Henson took over. He scored five points in the next minute to get Whitko within two.

Ayres added a basket with 5:10 to play in the third quarter to get tied up. It would be the last time Whitko would trail in the ball game. Bo Mullins gave Whitko the lead and Henson stole the ensuing inbounds pass and hit a layup to put the Wildcats up by four.

Although the momentum seemed to have completely shifted to Whitko, Churubusco hung tough and closed to within one point with 2:18 to play in the third at 40-39.

Henson closed out the third with a jumper with three seconds left to give the Wildcats a 44-40 lead.

In the fourth quarter, Whitko held a comfortable lead throughout, relying on Henson to control the ball and keep the Wildcats ahead.

After this effort, the one-man team stigma continues to loom large on the Whitko bench.

"I think we showed we're not a one-man team," Coach Henson said. "We don't quit doing something that's working. We would do the same with anyone. They were fouling him, and we are going to take advantage of that."

Henson made nine of 10 free throws down the stretch and ended with 32 points. Ayres added 14 and Mullins scored 10 for the Wildcats.

Lance Kirchner led Churubusco with 20 points and connected on all eight of his field-goal attempts. The Eagles made an amazing 74 percent of their shots through three quarters and 61 percent for the game, but they were outshot 48-33. The Wildcats held Churubusco to just 10 shots combined in the second and third quarters. Whitko also forced 19 turnovers with their full-court defensive pressure.

Churubusco shot only 59 percent from the free throw line in the second half. That is not usually going to get the job done in a close ball game. On the other hand, Whitko shot 73 percent in the final two quarters.

"We're not a good free throw shooting team," Coach Henson said. "We came in shooting 63 or 64 percent on the year. It boils down to who you've got at the line. We gave the ball to people who can knock them down at the line."

Churubusco opened up their lead early, taking advantage of Whitko without Henson. They outscored the Wildcats 12-5 over the final six minutes of the first period to lead 16-7 through one.

In the second quarter, the Eagles led 21-12 before Ayres got hot and scored 11 points in the final five minutes to cut the lead to one at the half.

Whitko (3-3) plays at Huntington North on Friday. [[In-content Ad]]