THE REPORTER
It was a crazy day for the Hamilton Heights boys basketball team Thursday at the Franklin County Tournament, including a memorable finish.
The Huskies played Seton Catholic in the third-place game of the tournament, and the two teams went to overtime. Heights trailed 74-72 with 0.7 seconds left, but Phoenix Vondersaar threw up a three-quarter court shot that went in the basket, and gave the Huskies a 75-74 victory.
“Just a great memory for Phoenix and our whole team,” said Huskies coach Chad Ballenger. “They stormed the court. We’re going crazy in the locker room. It was great to get a win and head into the holidays. Made the bus ride home a lot more enjoyable.”
Heights did get home safely from the tournament, which was rushed to completion in order to get everyone home before the anticipated winter storm arrived.
The Huskies’ game with Seton Catholic was close all the way through. The Cardinals led 15-11 after one quarter and 29-24 at halftime. Tillman Etchison helped keep Heights in the game with 10 points in the first half, including two 3-pointers.
The Huskies cut Seton Catholic’s lead to 44-42 by the end of the third quarter, and pulled even with the Cardinals at 63-63 at the end of regulation. Heights was on fire from long range, as the team had drained 14 3-pointers through four quarters, including five from Sam Dawson, and three each from Etchison and Evan Williamson.
Of course, Vondersaar’s long 3-pointer was the biggest one of all. That was the 15th triple of the game for the Huskies, which tied the school record.
“That’s what kept us in the game,” said Ballenger.
Etchison had an outstanding game, with a double-double of 22 points and 10 assists.
“Tillman played awesome,” said Ballenger. “He finally took the initiative to score.” The coach said Etchison is “really trying to get people involved” and he “played the way we think he can. He can really be a scorer and lead the team in assists.”
Three more Heights players reached double figures. Dawson’s five 3s gave him 15 points. Maddox Bohland also reached double-double status with 13 points and 10 rebounds. John Irion contributed 10 points and five rebounds.
The Huskies played Triton Central in their first-round game, falling 53-48. Heights led 13-9 after the first quarter, but the Tigers took over in the second period, outscoring the Huskies 19-7 for a 28-20 lead. Triton Central then led 43-31 after three quarters.
Irion had 13 points for Heights, followed by Dawson with 12. Bohland led the rebounds with seven, while Etchison dished out six assists.
The Huskies are 3-7 and will take a couple weeks off before returning to action on Jan. 6, when they play a Hoosier Conference East Division game at Northwestern.
TRITON CENTRAL 53, HAMILTON HEIGHTS 48
Heights FG FT TP PF
Phoenix Vondersaar 1-1 0-0 2 0
Maddox Bohland 2-6 2-5 6 1
Tillman Etchison 2-7 0-0 5 0
John Irion 5-11 3-4 13 4
Sam Dawson 4-9 2-4 12 0
Evan Williamson 1-5 2-2 5 2
Simon Knott 1-1 0-0 2 2
Colin Kuhn 0-0 0-0 0 1
Nathan Yoder 1-1 0-0 3 0
Totals 17-41 9-15 48 10
Score by Quarters
Triton Central 9 19 15 10 – 53
Hamilton Heights 13 7 11 17 – 48
Heights 3-point shooting (5-17) Dawson 2-6, Williamson 1-4, Etchison 1-2, Yoder 1-1, Irion 0-4.
Heights rebounds (19) Bohland 7, Etchison 3, Irion 2, Williamson 2, Vondersaar 1, Yoder 1, Dawson 1, Knott 1, team 1.
HAMILTON HEIGHTS 75, SETON CATHOLIC 74
(overtime)
Heights FG FT TP PF
Phoenix Vondersaar 2-5 0-0 6 1
Maddox Bohland 6-11 1-2 13 2
Tillman Etchison 8-20 3-4 22 4
John Irion 4-6 0-0 10 3
Sam Dawson 5-13 0-0 15 2
Evan Williamson 3-6 0-0 9 2
Nathan Yoder 0-0 0-0 0 1
Simon Knott 0-0 0-0 0 0
Totals 28-61 4-6 75 15
Score by Quarters
Seton Catholic 15 14 14 20 11 – 74
Hamilton Heights 11 13 18 21 12 – 75
Heights 3-point shooting (15-29) Dawson 5-8, Etchison 3-8, Williamson 3-6, Vondersaar 2-3, Irion 2-3, Bohland 0-1.
Heights rebounds (26) Bohland 10, Irion 5, Vondersaar 4, Etchison 3, Yoder 2, Dawson 1, Knott 1.