Indian Lake to play ME on Friday for sectional title
VANDALIA — Survive and advance.
That was the ultimate takeaway for Indian Lake’s boys basketball team here Tuesday night after the Lakers saw a double-digit lead nearly evaporate in the final moments before holding on to top Anna 52-49 in a Division III sectional semifinal.
“It just came down to getting stops,” said Indian Lake head coach Zach Overturf of a nerve-racking final stretch that saw Anna get to within a point. “That’s tournament basketball. I think their press bothered us some there in the fourth quarter, but we made enough plays at the end to squeeze by.”
The 11th-seeded Lakers (13-11) advance to play top-seeded Miami East (22-2) in the sectional final at 6 p.m. Friday at Vandalia Butler High School.
Indian Lake lost to Anna (7-16) by 15 points in a regular-season game Dec. 3.
In the rematch, the two teams battled to a 21-21 tie at halftime.
Indian Lake then grabbed the momentum with a spirited third-quarter effort.
Playing lockdown defense and getting balanced offensive production, the Lakers went on an 18-4 run to open up a 14-point lead (39-25) with 1:07 left in the third quarter.
“Anna is a team that can go on spurts, so it’s important that you can string stops together,” said Overturf. “In the third quarter, we were able to put a bunch of stops together and that was huge.”
The Rockets scored the last five points of the third stanza to make it a nine-point game (39-30) going into the fourth quarter.
Indian Lake pushed its lead back into double digits and led by 12 about three minutes in the fourth.
However, the Rockets refused to go away.
Anna used a 6-0 spurt to cut the Laker lead in half (44-38) with 3:58 left.
Indian Lake answered with a free throw from Isaac Morrison and a bucket by Caiden Nicol to up the lead to nine (47-38) at the 1:55 mark.
Anna came up with another run, this one 11-2, to cut Indian Lake’s lead to just one point (50-49) with 12.6 seconds remaining.
The Rockets then fouled Indian Lake freshman guard Avery Pequignot, who confidently knocked down a pair of free throws with 11.3 seconds to go. That gave the Lakers a three-point margin.
On its final possession, Anna had a three-point attempt from the corner partially blocked, but got the rebound and kicked it back to the corner for another three attempt.
That one came up short at the buzzer, allowing the Lakers to hold on, and move on.
“The first time we played them, it was the third game of the season and we didn’t defend very well,” said Overturf. “We were still trying to figure out our rotation and still trying to figure out our roles. It’s been a complete 180 from that point until now. We’ve seen some good growth and the game is really starting to slow down for some of our guys that didn’t have a lot of varsity experience coming into the season.”
Nicol continued his stellar play for the Lakers with a game-high 21 points. Camdon Tuttle also scored in double figures with 10 points.
The Lakers also received key contributions from their role players.
Logan Murphy, who missed the first half of the season while recovering from a leg injury suffered in football, scored six points and Maddux Hall, Pequignot and Lane Tucci each had five points.
“Caiden and Cam are going to do what they do,” said Overturf. “The key is that third guy, and that’s the difference maker. It seems to be a different guy every game. Tonight we had a lot of different players step up and make plays in crucial moments.”
Drew Doseck led the Rockets with 16 points.
The next task for the Lakers will be containing a Miami East team that features a dynamic 1-2 punch in junior guards Wes Enis and Jacob Roeth.
Enis is the leading scorer in the Three Rivers Conference at 21.5 points per game, while Roeth is number two at 18.2 ppg.
Miami East was ranked sixth in the final Division III state poll.
“It’s going to be a challenge,” said Overturf. “Miami East has two really good guards. For us, it again will come to hanging our hat on our defense. We have to come out and get stops.”
Indian Lake 52, ANNA 49
ANNA (7-16)
Seigle 2 0-0 5; Carey 5 2-2 13; Doseck 4 7-7 16; Heitkamp 3 0-0 7; Huelskamp 4 0-1 8.
Totals: 18 9-10 49.
Indian Lake (13-11)
Hall 1 2-2 5; Nicol 7 7-12 21; Pequignot 1 2-2 5; Morrison 0 0-2 0; Tuttle 4 1-2 10; Murphy 2 2-2 6. Totals: 17 14-22 52.
Rockets 7 14 9 19 — 49
Lakers 8 13 18 13 — 52
Three pointers: Anna 4 (Seigle, Carey, Doseck, Heitkamp); Indian Lake 4 (Tuttle, Tucci, Hall, Pequignot). Team fouls: Anna 21; Indian Lake 10.