HENRYVILLE — Three finally turned out to be the magic number for New Washington.

After two tough losses to Henryville during the regular season, the Mustangs were finally able to get over the hump at the perfect time on Tuesday — beating the home team in the opening round of the Class A Henryville Sectional at Furnish Gymnasium, 61-60.

“I just knew it wouldn’t be easy,” said New Wash coach Jonathan May. “If we were going to beat them, it was just not going to be easy.”

It wasn’t simple at all for the Mustangs, who a double-digit fourth-quarter advantage evaporate before winning the game in the closing seconds.

Ethan Jones scored a putback basket with 14 seconds left and the Mustangs collectively held their breath as Henryville senior Skyler Brooks’ potential game-winner rimmed in and out in the final seconds. That gave the Mustangs the elusive win over the Hornets and set off a mad celebration in front of the New Wash fans when the clock finally reached 0:00.

The victory also secured a spot in the sectional semifinals for the Mustangs, who will play Christian Academy of Indiana at 6 p.m. on Friday.

“I’m not sure how we got here, how we won,” said May, still almost breathless from a contest that saw the lead change hands on four separate occasions in the final 1:20. “I’m not even sure how much I’ll sleep tonight.”

Trailing by one with the ball under its own basket, New Wash worked the ball to junior Chris Radford, whose driving attempt bounced off the rim into the hands of Jones. The senior big man took a power dribble and bounced the eventual game-winner off the backboard and through the hoop.

“I’m told all the time, when you rebound just go up strong with it,” said Jones. “I missed a couple of those early. I made sure I didn’t miss that one.”

Henryville had two final chances in the closing seconds. On the ensuing possession after Jones’ basket, the Hornets nearly turned the ball over, with New Washington forcing a jump ball with 5.8 seconds to go.

Taking the ball out under its own basket, Henryville inbounded the ball to Brooks, who split two Mustangs defenders and had his 17-foot attempt bounce off the rim as the final seconds ticked off the clock.

“We knew they would look to Brooks,” said May. “That kid wanted the ball the entire second half and that was no different. He got a great look and we were a little fortunate there.”

The Mustangs were also fortunate to survive a relentless fourth-quarter comeback bid by the home team.

New Wash led 54-44 with 3:32 to go, but Brooks got the rally started for Henryville with a pair of free throws to close the gap to eight. A steal and layup by Cory Munk was followed by another Hornet steal and basket by Brooks, cutting the deficit to four at 54-50.

Trailing 56-50, Clifton Brishaber hit a 3 and then added his own steal and bucket that cut the margin to a single point. Brishaber then scored another hoop to give Henryville its first lead since the early moments of the third quarter, 57-56.

It was a short-lived advantage though. New Wash’s primary sharpshooter, sophomore Devin Freels, drilled a 3 with 1:04 to play and set up the frantic final by giving New Wash a 59-57 lead.

“I think that shot may have decided the game in all honesty,” said Henryville coach Perry Hunter. “We battle back, grab the lead and it looks like we had all the momentum and Freels steps right up there and drains one to put them right back on top.”

Brooks was fouled with 55.4 seconds left and made 1-of-2 at the line to cut the New Wash edge to one. The Hornets forced another New Wash turnover, the eighth of the final period by the Mustangs, and Brishaber converted two free throws with 43.7 seconds left for a 60-59 Henryville lead.

Vincent Minton tried to put the Mustangs back in front with a shot in the lane that missed, but the ball was batted out of bounds by Munk and allowed New Wash to retain possession for Jones’ heroic finisher.

“I give New Washington every bit of credit for that win, but I also give my team a ton of credit just for coming back the way that they did,” said Hunter. “If you had told me we would have a shot by Skyler to win a game when we were down 10 points with three and a half minutes to go, I probably would have laughed at you.”

Trailing by four at the break, New Wash quickly seized control in the third period. The Mustangs scored the first 13 points of the second half with Minton, Drake Krohn and Dustin Bowman all hitting 3s during the run. The New Wash defense also did its part, limiting Henryville to just one made basket in the period. New Wash led by six, at 40-34, heading into the decisive fourth.

Henryville was also plagued throughout by poor foul shooting. The host made only 16-of-26 attempts at the charity stripe.

“In a one-point game, those two things — the start of the second half and the way we shot free throws — really have a way of jumping out at you on paper,” said Hunter.

Jones had a team-high 13 points and also grabbed 10 rebounds in the win for New Wash. Freels and Minton both added 10, with Minton also grabbing a game-high 13 rebounds.

“(Henryville) did an effective job containing Vince and Devin throughout the game,” said May. “Other guys had to step up for us and they did. Ethan, he’s a big kid and boy, did he play big in this one for us.”

Brooks paced Henryville with 21 points, while Munk had 18 and Brishaber finished with 11 in the final game for each of the Hornet seniors.

“This is a tough loss, but when they can look back they will see they had a great year,” said Hunter. “Fifteen wins and winning a share of the conference title is nothing to be ashamed of. New Wash proved to be the better team in this game — that’s the best thing and the toughest thing about tournament basketball.”



NEW WASHINGTON 13 12 15 21—61

HENRYVILLE 15 14 5 26—60

New Washington (13-10) — Mayfield 8, Brooks 21, Brishaber 11, Weeks 0, Munk 18, Stone 2, Robertson 0, Liburd 0

Henryville (15-8) — Minton 10, Freels 10, Bowman 6, Radford 8, Jones 13, Bower 6, Hobbs 2, Krohn 6

Three point field goals — New Washington 6 (Krohn 2, Bowman 2, Minton, Freels); Henryville 6 (Munk 3, Mayfield, Brooks, Brishaber)

Rebounds — New Washington 40 (Minton 13); Henryville 20 (Mayfield 6)

Turnovers — New Washington 18, Henryville 13