Eli on the spot…Fort Loramie’s Eli Heitkamp was right place, right time, to put up the winning shot off an offensive rebound. Loramie won in overtime, 48-46. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
In a physical, frustrating game that saw Fort Loramie flounder on the brink of defeat, it came down to five critical minutes…and that’s what it took to win a district semi-final over Emmanuel Christian.
Piqua, OH – Sometimes in sports it’s impossible to explain how you won, or even…how you avoided losing.
The cliches’ don’t do it justice.
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We wanted it more than they did…Refuse to lose…You gotta’ believe.
Or how about this one: We played to win, and not to lose!
All of these more or less characterized Fort Loramie’s dramatic 48-46 win in overtime over Emmanuel Christian Academy Tuesday night at Piqua Garbry Gymnasium in a game that Loramie seemed destined to lose for the first twenty two minutes.
That is, until with 2:15 left in the third quarter Ean Grilliot’s running layup gave Loramie their first lead of the game.
EAC, as it turned out, was a physically tougher basketball team than expected and #9 Loramie languished throughout the first half trying to find some kind, any kind, of offensive rhythm and flow against EAC’s matching zone. You talk about a funk? Loramie had nothing going for it, scoring just 9 points in the first quarter, and 15 points in the first half.
Physical…Emmanuel Christian’s Nate Hudson runs down Max Maurer on a baseline drive.
And only for the fact of the Redskins’ defense, and their ability to match EAC physically, did they stay in the game. They shot poorly, they didn’t do much rebounding and curiously, EAC seemed to play into their hands by slowing things down and working the ball in their half-court offense.
Had the Lions gotten out and ran, scored in transition, they might have blown Loramie out of the gym. As it was, they led 18-15 at the break and Loramie probably did a few Hail Marys on the way to the locker room, for gratitude’s sake.
Basketball, like other sports, is full of ironies.
For instance, as poorly as Loramie reacted to Emmanuel Christian’s zone in the first half, EAC changed a few things in the second, including scrapping the zone for man defense, because they were obviously more comfortable playing man with an 8-point lead at one point.
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Suddenly, Loramie had more space, like the leash had been taken off. They became more aggressive in attitude, started diving for loose balls on the court, attacking the rim on offense. They still couldn’t make a shot, missing numerable bunnies at the rim as they had done in the first half, but they were getting more comfortable themselves…more confident.
Loramie’s Max Maurer stops Nate Hudson and the during action in Tuesday’s Redskins win at Garbry Gymnasium.
“We were having a great time,” said sophomore Eli Heitkamp. “All the boys were having fun. There was some pressure, but I didn’t let it get to me much. I just tried to live up to the moment.”
EAC continued to be tentative with their offense, trying to shorten the game, play in the half court. But some missed shots, Loramie rebounding better, and a couple of turnovers kept the Redskins nipping at their heels…until finally at the 2:15 mark a running layup by another soph, Ean Grilliot finally gave Loramie its first lead of the game at 32-31, and the set the stage for frantic, dramatic fourth quarter.
The lead changed three times, it was tied four times. And under two minutes both teams had chances to put pressure on the other by taking care of a two-point lead.
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Trailing 42-39, Loramie had chances to tie or go ahead the foul line, only to see Heitkamp miss a pair and Max Maurer split a pair. And still, they continued to miss layups while attacking the rim, now running through the Lion’s visibly tiring defense.
And with 15 seconds left in regulation, and trailing 42-40, Maurer put his head down and took it to the rim with what would have been the tying basket…but missed. EAC, who had boxed out underneath all night, stood flat-footed and watched the ball roll off the rim and into the arms of Eli Heitkamp who grabbed it and stuck it in for the tying points just moments before the horn sounded to end regulation. The game went to overtime.
Tied at 42-42, there was a discernible difference in the two teams as they jumped center to start the extra four-minute period. Emmanuel Christian, frankly, knew that they had lost a late lead and momentum, and now took on an attitude of playing not to lose.
Loramie, on the other hand, was going for it, Heitkamp scoring an easy bucket underneath to give the Redskins the first lead in overtime.
EAC promptly scored on their end, but they were clearly in panic mode now trying to avoid a mistake on defense. Loramie set screens, opened lanes, and Heitkamp, Maurer, and Grilliot were getting to the rim, forcing the Lions to react. Each of them scored on drives in the overtime.
Ean Grilliot scores on this drive to give Loramie is first lead.
Fighting to keep pace, EAC lost a valuable possession on a player control foul with the game tied at 46-46 and under a minute to go. Now it was Loramie working the ball down under 30 seconds, confident with momentum in their pocket, and Emmanuel Christian again doing their best not to make a mistake, or commit a foul with Loramie in the bonus. Max Maurer took advantage.
Maurer would ultimately finish the game with 8 points, but had he hit some of the ones he’d missed throughout he might have finished with 20. Once again, with 15 seconds he saw a lane to rim and took off. EAC’s Gus Carrier and Alex Pinkleton collapsed to stop him, and you guessed it…Maurer’s shot rolled off the rim. But failing to box out underneath, Eli Heitkamp had creeped in under the rim, grabbed the rebound and put it back in the basket with twelve seconds to go.
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Emmanuel Christian had time…time enough to get the ball to the lane, make two passes, and into the hands of Carrier, whose fall-away jumper was short. Spencer Knouff grabbed the rebound for the Loramie, and that was that. The Redskins had literally pulled victory from the jaws of a late 42-39 deficit in regulation, and what seemed like certain defeat. Simply put, they had handled the pressure of the final five minutes…better than Emmanuel Christian.
Stress of the moment…Max Maurer at the foul line with a chance to tie or go ahead in the fourth quarter.
DJ Barhorst led the Redskins with 14 points for the game, Ean Grilliot had a pair of threes and all 12 of his points in the second half, and Eli Heitkamp had 10, including the four biggest points of the game…to tie, and to win it.
For EAC, Josh Withrow had 12, Gus Carrier had 11, Jaeshaun Ferryman had 7, and Darryus Myers had 2 to lead the Lions in scoring.
Max Maurer look emotionally drained as he talked about those final minutes.
“It was rough,” he smiled. “I missed a lot [layups] before I finally got one to go down. It was physical. We’re a physical team and they were a physical team, too, and you just didn’t get a clean look in the paint at all. You always got pushed around. It was fun.
“Probably never have anything like this happen again,” he added. “I never had any doubts that we could win, but there was so much up-and-down that it was nerve-wracking. Still, I thought we would win.”
Emmanuel Christian’s Alex Pinkleton reacts seconds after the Lion’s 48-46 loss to Loramie in overtime.
Mitch Westerheide’s eyes were red. His shirt was soaked. And he couldn’t stop smiling.
“We’ve got a resilient bunch,” he said through that smile. “The second half of the year we’ve been in a lot of tight situations and we’ve been repping situations over and over at the end of practice. I have ultimate confidence in our players…Max, Eli, and Ean had great games. We were getting just about any shot we wanted [in the fourth quarter] and we knew that some of them were going to go down. We didn’t play our best game, and credit to ECA for that, but tonight was just the ultimate belief in each other.
Play to win…as opposed to playing not to lose?
“It goes back to our belief in one another, and about not panicking,” said Westerheide. “If we screw up, OK on to the next play. That’s been our thing the whole year. It’s our brotherhood, believing in each other and our coaching staff. They do a great job.
“And again, it goes back to our ultimate belief in putting the ball in Max’s hands. He’s a senior and he’s been our leader since day one. So I’m going to go down with the ship with him, and our guys, no matter what.”
Easy to say, tougher to play. Because they almost did!
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