It all comes together for Hersey vs. Viator
A comeback, a dueling scoring showdown, lots of 3-pointers, a clutch shot, overtime, a buzzer-beater, and fans rushing the court.
Yes, you could say the Wheeling Class 4A regional semifinal boys basketball game between Hersey and St. Viator on Wednesday night had it all.
And it was the Huskies who had it all together to come back from a 10-point second-half deficit, take a late fourth-quarter lead, survive a momentum swing after St. Viator's Kevin Walsh swished a 3-pointer with under 10 seconds to play to force overtime, and then win it by a score of 52-50 on a Tom Sutrinaitis putback just before the final buzzer sounded.
No. 8 Hersey (16-11) will meet top-seed Warren (26-3) for a regional title at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Wheeling.
"It's something I can't really describe right now," Sutrinaitis said. "My emotions are still running right now. This is crazy."
After a deflection knocked the ball out of bounds with less than 10 seconds left in overtime, the Huskies tried to set up an inbounds play to get an open shot. The play broke down and Connor Miklasz drove inside and dished to Justin Jobski, but Jobski's shot clanged off the rim and found Sutrinaitis' hands.
"I thought Connor was going to take the 3, but he drove," Sutrinaitis said. "For some reason I wasn't boxed out and I just happened to be at the right place. The one basket I make. I guess I made it count."
"I didn't really see the clock," Miklasz said. "I thought it was over. And then Tom got it right back up and we won. It was exciting. It was an exciting game."
In the first half, Hersey's offense was stymied by the No. 9 Lions (14-13), with the team scoring just 14 points. In the third quarter, though, Miklasz came alive and provided 13 points of his own, including three 3-pointers as the Huskies stormed back into the game.
"No one was really taking shots on offense," Miklasz said. "It's my last year, so I just took some shots and they were going in."
Miklasz scored 20 points in the game, and 18 of them came in the second half. St. Viator's D.J. Morris scored 22 points, and during a segment of the third quarter the two went basket for basket in a head-to-head showdown.
"He should be very proud of his game," Hersey coach Steve Messer said of St. Viator's Morris. "He did a very difficult task tonight. He gave it everything he had."
Each player sank four 3-pointers, and the teams combined to drain 13 shots from beyond the arc.
"We had a couple breakdowns, but it was more them getting a little more confidence," St. Viator coach Joe Majkowski said of Hersey's scoring in the second half. "Certainly Miklasz making a lot of shots. He just came out and started scoring for them. It was certainly a difference."
Chris Myjak had 11 points and 11 rebounds for St. Viator and Walsh finished with 10 points. Jobski had 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Huskies and Sean Reszotko scored 9 points.