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 If you’re Panther fan and this game didn’t have your heart about to
beat out of your chest, you better go to the doctor and get your
ticker checked. The excitement in the Morrisonville gym Wednesday
night was off the charts.
It all began with the Wildcats getting the tip and Malachi Carson
opening the game with a three. Isaac Dewberry answered with two
points for the Panthers and battle was just getting started.
Will Ewald tied the score at 3-3 on a free throw but Zavion Patton
scored off the offensive rebound at the other end and with that the
Wildcats took an early 5-3 lead. Decatur Robertson stretched that
lead to 7-3 as Alphonso Lawson finished off the fast break
perfectly.
But then the quarter belonged to Noah Funk, that is until the buzzer
sounded. Funk put on a shooting display for the next three minutes
that was exhilarating to say the least. It all started with a three
at the 3:12 mark to close the gap, 7-6. Those Wildcats were hot
though and they jumped out to an 11-6 lead before it was Funk’s turn
again. He connected for another three with 1:30 on the clock, 11-9
now the score.
Lawson was tough to handle in this first quarter and he scored again
for the Wildcats. No worries for Funk, however. With 1:00 showing on
the scoreboard Funk launched another three that was good.
Then it was back to Lawson, who scored in the paint and gave the
Wildcats the 15-12 lead. Again, no worries for Funk. He thrilled the
crowd with his fourth trey of the quarter and a 15-15 tie with :32
seconds on the clock.
Decatur Robertson did not score at this point and the ball ended up
back in the hands of the Panthers. With time winding down the
Chester-East crowd literally got on their feet as Ewald got the ball
with :04 seconds on the clock. The crowd pretty much knew what was
going to happen next. Ewald shot the three and nailed it at the
buzzer as the crowd erupted. What a spectacular shooting performance
the fans had just witnessed. Thanks to the lights out shooting of
Funk and then the Ewald signature buzzer beater, the Panthers were
all smiles with an 18-15 first quarter lead. The Wildcats were
stunned to say the least.
The Panthers were able to keep the lead momentarily in the second
quarter as Dewberry’s nice reverse layup made the score 20-17. But
the Wildcats came back with determination.
A couple quick steals allowed the Wildcats to score and go ahead
23-20 with around 4:00 minutes left in the quarter. Quay Smith
extended that lead to 26-20 with his three before Dewberry scored a
three to close the gap a little 26-23.
That would be as close as the Panthers could get a for awhile as the
quickness of the Wildcats took over. Not to mention the scoring.
Decatur Robertson outscored Chester-East 18-5 in the second quarter,
with all of the Panthers’ points coming from Dewberry alone.
The low point coming for the Panthers when a foul was called on Funk
at the buzzer while Jaylen O’Neal was attempting a three. O’Neal
sank two of the free throws to give the Wildcats a hefty ten-point
halftime lead, 33-23.
When the third quarter started the Panthers knew it would be an
uphill battle against the overall taller Wildcats, but Chester-East
was up to the challenge no doubt. Dewberry’s jump shot was just what
the team and the fans needed to get going as the third quarter got
underway. Dewberry was then fouled on the way to the basket and he
settled for one free throw that inched the Panthers closer, 33-26.
Ewald took note of Dewberry’s move and he decided to drive the lane
and he scored two points, but missed the free throw on the foul.
With the score 33-28, Chester-East was building momentum with the
ball now back in their possession but then a traveling violation was
called on Xavier Miller. Not the first traveling violation on the
team, but a very crucial one. As Miller slammed the ball on the
floor out of personal frustration, the referee immediately called a
technical foul. Smith headed to the free throw line for the Wildcats
and he made both shots for a 35-28 lead.
With a nice lead that the Wildcats wished to hold onto, they decided
to slow the tempo of the game and run some time off the clock at
this point. It worked. No one scored for two minutes. Until finally
Funk had had enough. He stole the ball and ran downcourt for the
layup with 5.8 seconds remaining in the third quarter. Chester-East
had managed to outscore the Wildcats 7-2 in the third quarter and
close the gap to a respectable 35-30. With the two teams facing off
in the last six minutes of play, the ballgame was still up for grabs
and everyone knew it.
Finally after several consecutive misses by both teams, Ewald
stepped to the free throw line and made both shots around the 4:30
mark and the score was just 35-32, still in favor of the Wildcats.
Lawson’s layup with 3:00 minutes extended the lead to 37-32. Lawson
would successfully finish yet another layup to stretch that lead to
39-33.
With 2:38 showing on the scoreboard, Ewald had a chance for a layup
but he opted to stop and pop the jump shot with confidence and it
paid off by closing the margin to 39-35.
Following a miss at the free throw line by the Wildcats’ Carson,
Funk rebounded and ran the other way for the layup that was good and
just like that the ballgame was 39-37.
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Funk, however, missed the “and one” and this time Lawson ran the
other way with the rebound and he laid it in for two points to give
his Wildcats a 41-37 lead.
Things were happening quickly in the final minutes of the game and
as Smith fouled out, Funk headed to the free throw again, but came
up short. This time Carson took the rebound and ran the opposite
direction and laid it in for Decatur Robertson, 43-37 the lead with
just over a minute to play.
Funk this time was fouled shooting a three and he made two of the
three from the charity stripe but still Chester-East trailed 43-39.
A foul on Ewald sent Patton to the line and he sank one of those
shots good for a 44-39 lead.
Chester-East had control of the ball with just under a minute to
play and was having difficulty getting a good look at the basket
until Ewald spotted an opening and he made a layup with around :30
seconds to make the score 44-41.
Still plenty of ballgame left. However, with 21.7 seconds left,
Dewberry fouled out for the Panthers and this move sent Latrell
Phillips to the line. Phillips missed the first one, however, the
second one went in but the referee immediately called the shot off
as the shooter had stepped across the line too soon.
Chester-East had the ball again and a chance for Panthers to at
least tie the game. A timeout with 16.2 seconds was called as the
coaches were all busy planning their strategies. With the game down
to the final :09 seconds Funk had a wide open long three that just
hit the front of the rim and bounced long, right into the hands of
Decatur Robertson.
The Panthers quickly fouled, sending Carson to the line and he
calmly made the two biggest free throws of his life, so far,
stretching the lead to 46-41 for the Wildcats as the clock showed
7.3 seconds.
The next moment seemed like it was in slow motion, but of course it
was not. Funk calmly dribbled the ball up the court and simply
launched a three that you could almost hear swish through the net,
despite the thundering noises throughout the gymnasium.
Just like that with 1.1 seconds left the Panthers were still in this
game, 46-44. As the Wildcats attempted to inbound the ball, Funk got
a hand on it and literally in a split second, he knocked it out of
bounds. Let’s try this again. This time the Wildcats inbounded the
ball and the player threw the ball long and high, bouncing it right
off the ceiling tile of the gym. No lie. So if your heart is not
thumping out of your chest by now, you’re probably dead. There is
still .5 seconds on the clock and this time the Panthers are going
to try to inbound the ball and get the shot off for the win.
Sadly, Decatur Robertson intercepted that pass and just like that,
in a split second the game was over, 46-44.
There was a lot at stake here and both teams gave it their all.
Panthers Coach Josh Komnick knew his team had given their all
following the heartbreaking loss, “We played about as well as we
could. We shot the ball well. We had some late turnovers and our
free throw shooting wasn’t good, but you talk about a coach wanting
their kids to play hard and play as hard as they could and we
couldn’t do any better,” he said. "We were overmatched and we were
undersized and our guys battled on the boards like crazy. We really
played well and we really had a shot at them. Our guys definitely
challenged them tonight.”
It's obvious the loss will sting for a while, and like Coach Komnick
said, "Our guys are hurting because they felt like they could have
won." Taking the loss harder than anybody was probably Coach
Komnick’s little boy, who sat on the bench during the game and after
the loss he just couldn’t hold back the tears.
Chester-East ends their season with 17 wins and 3 losses.
With the 46-44 win, Decatur Robertson moves on to the IESA Class
8-2A state tournament hosted by Mount Pulaski this Saturday.
Decatur Robertson (21-3) will play Kinderhook Western (21-2) at 2:30
p.m.
Panthers scoring
Noah Funk 21
Will Ewald 13
Isaac Dewberry 10
Wildcats scoring
Alphonso Lawson 16
Zavion Patton 10
Malachi Carson 9
Quay Smith 7
Latrell Phillips 2
Jaylen O’Neal 2
[Teena Lowery]
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