COLUMBIA CITY - It would be tough for Whitko's varsity boys basketballs team to start its season with much more excitement than it did Wednesday.
Playing Whitley County rival Columbia City on the road, the Wildcats overcame a 40-29 deficit late in the fourth quarter to storm back for a 45-40 victory over the Eagles."It's a rivalry game," Whitko coach Rob Irwin said. "It doesn't really matter who's better or who's worse. It's always going to be a tight game."
Through the first three-and-a-half quarters, the game didn't really look to be too tight.
Playing sluggish and a little uninspired, the Wildcats allowed the Eagles to go on a 17-5 run between the second and third quarters. The scoring spurt turned a 14-14 game into a 31-19 advantage for the home team following a three-pointer from freshman Brandon Gay with 3:49 remaining in the third.
"I thought we hit a wall, and they looked fresh," Irwin said.
Following Gay's trey, Irwin called a timeout to settle his guys down a bit.
"In the past, I would have jumped all over them," Irwin said about the message during the timeout. "When they came over this time, I just told them to relax."
Following the timeout, the Whitko offense seemed to settle down a bit, allowing the Wildcats to get into a rhythm and cut the deficit to 35-29 following two free throws by senior Nick Metzger with 5:02 remaining in the game.
But just as it appeared Whitko had clawed back into the game, Columbia City scored the next five points, punctuated by a three-pointer by Matt Schmidt with 3:20 left to play, sending the crowd into a frenzy up 40-29.
But then the wheels fell off.
After a Whitko timeout, junior Travis Lepper connected on a trey, and following a Columbia City turnover, hit another, cutting the lead to 40-35 with 2:44 remaining.
"Travis stepped up and hit big shots," Irwin said of Lepper, who finished the game with eight points on 3-of-3 shooting.
Whitko's full-court trap then caused another turnover, which freshman point guard Logan Irwin capitalized on with two made free throws on their ensuing possession.
A missed free throw on the Eagles' next possession once again gave the ball to Whitko, which put it in the hands of its young point guard.
Dribbling to the right on a clear out, Irwin connected on a shot from the baseline, cutting the Columbia City lead to 40-39 with just a minute-and-a-half to play.
"He did that for us during the summer," Irwin said of his son. "When we needed baskets late, Logan stepped up."
Up by one, the Eagles looked to keep their lead by playing a little keep-away, but when Schmidt had a wide-open look at a three-pointer, he took it. Unfortunately for him and the Eagles, the shot was off and Whitko senior Kaden Krull came down with the rebound.
"I love the fact that they just kept playing," Columbia City coach Dave Parker said. "Even right down to the wire when Matty missed that three-pointer. Was it a good one? Was it not? I don't know. If it goes in, the game's probably over.
"Give me Matty Schmidt shooting a wide open three-pointer for a game-winner, I'd probably say okay on that," he added.
With the game on the line, Logan Irwin pretty much made the same move as he did on Whitko's previous possession, dribbling right before hitting the go-ahead shot from the baseline with 51 seconds left on the clock.
"He just bowls over people," Parker said of Logan Irwin. "It's hard to guard someone like that. It was our freshman guard on him the whole time, and I thought Brandon Gay did a tremendous job on him."
After grabbing the lead, the Whitko defense held tight and four-straight free throws by Metzger sealed a 16-0 run and a Wildcats victory.
"They got into us, then, obviously, made good offensive plays," Parker said. "When they had to hit those three-pointers, they hit them. When they had to hit those free throws, they hit them. You can't take anything away from them."
Prior to last year's 42-40 Whitko win over the Eagles, Columbia City had come out on top of the series 11-straight times. And with so much youth on both teams, the series appears to be a tight one for years to come.
"I don't know if I've been as nervous as I was for this one," Irwin said. "I think our kids were wound tight too. I'm glad it's over, and we found a way to win."
"He was playing a freshman and sophomore too," he added about the Eagles. "The scary part about them is they have everyone coming back next year."
The loss was tough on the young Columbia City team, but Parker didn't want to harp on the negative too much.
"I'm not going to let the last 60 seconds diminish how we, as a coaching staff, feel about the effort tonight," Parker said. "There was a lot of good stuff."
Logan Irwin finished the night with a game-high 14 points on 5-of-12 shooting, while Metzger finished with nine points and Krull and Lepper each chipped in eight.
For Columbia City, it was junior Brice Lantz who led the way with nine points, followed by eight from Gay and Schmidt and another seven from junior Chris Bachelder.
"They are perfectly okay with that," Parker said of his team's balanced scoring. "They play together, compete and whoever gets the open shot takes it."
Both teams are back in action Saturday, as Whitko hosts Leo and Columbia City pays a visit to the Tiger Den in Warsaw.
"People are going to underestimate us, but we can play a little bit," Parker said. "I don't know how soon that's going to translate into wins, but we're just trying to let them play basketball."
Irwin also foresees his young guys taking their lumps along the way, but Wednesday's comeback win was a good lesson.
"The kids figured out how to get a win together," he said. "It wasn't one guy doing it. It took four other guys to get the ball into that position. It's what we've been preaching."
