VANDALIA — It took a little while for Indian Lake to get comfortable here Friday night, but it found its footing in time to pull off a memorable tournament victory.
The Lakers fell into a 13-point hole after one quarter before gradually chipping away at Brookville’s lead in a Division III boys sectional basketball opener.
A back-and-fourth final few minutes saw the score deadlocked at 44-44 as the clock ticked under a minute left.
Indian Lake senior guard Zander Barnes drove to the basket and got a layup to drop with 18 seconds remaining to give the Lakers a two-point advantage.
On its ensuing possession, Brookville got the ball into the hands of its best player, guard A.J. Eller, who worked himself free for an open three-point attempt at the top of the key just before the buzzer.
The shot looked on target initially, but it bounced off the back of the rim and did not fall as the Lakers held on for a gutsy 46-44 victory.
“With these guys, I feel like we are never really out of a game,” said Indian Lake head coach Zach Overturf. “We know we can get our shots and they will eventually fall.
“We played about as bad of a first quarter as you can play, but the guys weathered the storm and they kept fighting.”
The 12th-seeded Lakers (12-11) advance to face seventh-seeded Greenon at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at Vandalia Butler in the sectional semifinals.
“Give a lot of credit to Brookville,” said Overturf. “They have a really good program and they have an outstanding player in A.J. Eller. In the second half we tried to press them so we could get the ball out of his hands. We wanted to try to make their other guys beat us, and we were able to contain him down the stretch.”
The Lakers suffered through some big-stage jitters in the first quarter as they fell behind 20-7.
However, they warmed up in the second quarter, outscoring the Blue Devils 16-8 to get within five points (28-23) at halftime.
The Blue Devils pushed their lead to eight points (36-28) at the 3:24 mark of the third quarter, but the Lakers closed the period on a 10-run, capped by a three-pointer by freshman Caiden Nicol, to grab a 38-36 advantage.
A bucket by Chase Coburn early in the fourth quarter increased the Lakers’ lead to four points. Brookville then responded with a 4-0 spurt to tie the game at 40-40 with 3:16 remaining.
Barnes made two free throws at the 2:59 mark to give Indian Lake a 42-40 advantage.
Brookville’s Daniel Dominique followed with a back-to-back buckets to put the Blue Devils ahead 44-42 with 1:25 left to play.
A runner by Barnes with 1:06 remaining pulled the Lakers even at 44-44, and after the Lakers were able to get a stop on defense, Barnes delivered his eventual game-winning bucket.
“That was a tremendous play,” said Overturf of Barnes’ twisting layup through traffic.
“Honestly, I don’t know how he got the ball in the basket. We needed a play from our senior and he gave us one.”
The final seconds did not elapse without more suspense, though, as the Lakers had to hold their breath as Eller’s three-point attempt just missed the mark.
“I thought it was going in,” said Overturf. “I was looking right at it, and when he let it go, it looked like it was going to go down. Fortunately for us, it didn’t.”
Barnes finished with a game-high 21 points for the Lakers. Luke Jackson was in double figures as well with 11 points and Caleb Wurster added seven points.
Eller, who came in averaging 21 points per game, had 18 points for Brookville. But 16 of them came in the first half. He was held scoreless by the Lakers over the last 15 minutes of the game.
INDIAN LAKE 46, BROOKVILLE 44
INDIAN LAKE (12-11)
Nicol 1 0-0 3; Barnes 8 5-7 21; Coburn 2 0-2 4; Wurster 3 1-2 7; Jackson 4 0-0 11. Totals: 18 6-11; 46.
BROOKVILLE (9-13)
Eller 7 2-2 18; Dominique 4 0-0 8; Stanoikovich 2 0-0 5; Lightcap 3 1-1 7; Shore 1 0-0 3; Dafler 1 1-2 3. Totals: 18 4-5 44.
Lakers 7 16 15 8 — 46
B. Devils 20 8 8 8 — 44
Three pointers: Indian Lake 4 (Jackson 3, Nicol); Brookville 4 (Eller 2, Stanoikovich, Shore). Team fouls: Indian Lake 8; Brookville 13.