Walker's trey powers WCC past Spartans
Johnny Walker had a feeling he might get a chance to hit a clutch shot Thursday night.
The Waubonsee Community College sophomore was right. And he didn't disappoint his teammates.
Walker hit a game-winning 3-pointer with 1.9 seconds remaining to give the Chiefs a 64-62 victory over Elgin Community College at the Spartan Events Center.
"I was talking to my teammate Sammie Norman (before the game) and said, 'I'm going to hit the game-winner,' " Walker said. "It just kind of happened for me."
The Spartans (8-14, 3-5 ISCC) led by 11, 49-38, midway through the second half after Steve Bilisko hit his fourth 3-pointer of the half.
Waubonsee chipped away at ECC's lead and got it down to 5 several times, including 57-52 with 3:45 left after Jonathan Shields hit a 3-pointer. Two free throws from Torrien Minor made the score 57-54 with 1:45 remaining. Shields then gave Waubonsee the lead with a 3-pointer from the right corner. He was fouled as well and hit the free throw to give the Chiefs a 61-60 lead with 1:10 left.
Elgin's Kevin Kasinger drove the lane and hit a layup over two Waubonsee defenders with a minute to play as the Spartans retook the lead, 62-61.
Walker missed a 3-pointer and Elgin's Ryan Harris had a layup blocked with 25 seconds remaining. Waubonsee got the rebound and called a timeout with 21.3 seconds left. Walker drove the lane and dished the ball off to Minor, who had the ball stripped out of his hands as he went up for a shot in the lane. The Chiefs got the ball under the basket. Walker came off the baseline, got the ball and hit the shot from the right corner to give the Chiefs the win.
"I was off all game," said Walker, who scored all 17 of his points in the second half. "That shot I didn't really think about it. I just followed through and made sure I had enough arc on it."
"We talk about how it's a game that comes down to one possession at a time. One possession ends up hurting us," ECC coach Reed Nosbisch said.
Shields scored a game-high 21 points, including hitting four 3-pointers. Minor added 11 points.
Bilisko scored 18 points, 14 in the second half for ECC. Corey Rau added 16 points and grabbed 21 rebounds. Trenton Thompson finished with 14, 12 in the first half. Harris, one of the leading scorers in the nation, was held to 8.