INDIANAPOLIS — With 4:20 left in its Hoosier Hoopfest boys basketball matchup with Peru at Gainbridge Fieldhosue, Lewis Cass was in trouble. The Kings’ leading scorer all season in Luke Chambers had already fouled out and they found themselves down 12 with Peru fully in control thanks to a 22-7 run since halftime.
That’s when things turned dramatically. Cass used a furious rally in the last 4:20 of regulation and dominated the overtime period to pull off a stunning 54-47 win over the Class 3A No. 5-ranked Bengal Tigers.
“Resiliency really is a great word for it,” said Cass coach Kyle Johnson. “I am so proud of the young guys that came in and played well off the bench. With [Chambers, L.J. Hillis and Haden McClain all fouled out] that’s three starters. To come away with a win with three starters fouled out in overtime is pretty impressive.”
The Kings (7-3) were carried by Hillis and Tyson Good. Chambers, who came in averaging nearly 19 points per game, was held to just six points before he fouled out with 6:47 left in regulation. After leading 21-18 at the half, Cass went cold for the third period and the early part of the fourth period. Peru’s Matthew Roettger scored the first six points of the second half and later hit a big 3-pointer in the quarter on his way to a game high 21 points.
All told, the Tigers (9-3) used a 16-3 run to take a 34-24 lead by the time Chambers fouled out, and they were able to push it to 40-28 on two free throws from Roettger with 4:20 left.
That is when Cass was able to change up its defense and respond with a run of its own. In just 53 seconds Hillis connected on four free throws and Good added a 3-pointer to quickly make it 40-33. Peru responded with a basket from Alex Ross, but Hillis and Good followed with a combined six points to make it a 13-2 Cass run and a one-point game with 1:32 left.
“We went to a layups-and-free-throws-only offense there lately and decided not to,” said Peru coach Eric Thompson. “We missed a bunch of 8- to 10-foot shots, which are not layups, and didn’t follow the game plan we wanted.”
Roettger kept Peru in front by hitting four free throws in the final minute sandwiched around a basket from Good, but the Kings had one final chance in the last 10 seconds. Good was able to find Trey Johnson alone in the corner and he buried a tying 3 with 3.8 seconds left to complete the comeback and tie the game 46-46.
“Tyson did a good job of taking over at the end of the ballgame and he made the right passes when he needed to,” said coach Johnson, “and it was pretty impressive to see a young guy step up and hit that shot in a pressure situation.”
The Tigers still had a chance to win in regulation and they looked to Roettger. They completed a full-court pass to him at the top of the key after a timeout, but his turnaround 17-footer just missed as time expired.
“That was the play we wanted, but with 3.8 seconds left we really wanted to have him turn and go to the basket, especially since we were in the double bonus,” said Thompson.
The overtime was almost all Cass, as the Tigers were outscored 8-1 in the extra four minutes.
Hillis led the Kings with 17 points, while Good scored 12 — all after the 4:00 mark of the fourth quarter as he led the comeback.
Cass travels to Pioneer Friday and Logansport Saturday. The game at Pioneer will be in the Panthers’ auxiliary gym.
Source: Pharos-Tribune
