Marian Central, Pischke stun Bartlett
Marian Central's Adam Pischke lives for moments like the one he had at the end of regulation in Wednesday afternoon's boys basketball game against Bartlett.
With 3.6 seconds left in regulation the odds were very much stacked against Marian, which trailed by 3 points and had to go the length of the floor for a 3-pointer to tie, while Bartlett still had three fouls to give before being in the bonus. However, the Hurricanes defied the odds, managing to get the ball inbounded and into the frontcourt and into the hands of Pischke without being fouled. From their the four-year varsity star, who had a game-high 32 points, swished a 35-foot shot at the buzzer to send the game into overtime.
The Hurricanes (8-3) went on to 69-63 win in the consolation semifinals of the Hinkle Holiday Classic at Jacobs.
“I just really wanted the ball in that situation,” Pischke said. “I practice those shots all the time at the end of practice and you always dream of being able to hit that kind of shot at the buzzer. I'm just glad it went in and we were able to go on and get the win.”
The Hurricanes trailed 56-50 with 38 seconds to play in regulation before Jack Mocsinski and Sam Ohlrich each hit 3-pointers sandwiched between a pair of missed free throws by Bartlett to tie the score at 56-56.
The Hawks (6-5) took the lead 59-56 with 3.6 seconds left when Tyler Pauletti converted a 3-point play on a drive to the basket before Pischke's heroics.
The Hurricanes trailed throughout the game and by as many as 10 points in the first half.
“We just kept on fighting and never gave up,” Marian coach Curtis Price said. “We made some big plays down the stretch and it sure helps to have number 5 (Pischke) on your side. I have seen him do things like this for the past 4 years so nothing surprises me. He just has that determination to win.”
Ohlrich, a 6-8 junior, also played a big role in the win with 19 points, including the big 3 down the stretch in regulation and 7 points in the overtime.
The Hawks were haunted by 7 missed free throws in the fourth quarter.
“For three and a half quarters we did every thing we needed to do and after that we failed to execute,” Bartlett coach Jim Wolfsmith said. “If we hit our free throws we win and at the end of the game we talked about three things and that was try to foul them right away, don't let any one get behind you and don't let Pischke have the ball. Well, see what happened. We just didn't execute. Hopefully we learn from it because if you don't at least learn from a loss it's meaningless.”