BY CHRIS STONER
SELLERSBURG — Despite trailing by as many as 11 points in the first half, Floyd Central roared back and held on in the final seconds for a 57-55 season opening win Saturday night at Silver Creek.
A driving bucket by Floyd’s Nick Verhoff with 1.3 seconds remaining — his only field goal of the game — was the difference in the hotly contested battle.
“I thought we played well,” Silver Creek coach John Bradley said. “It was a great high school basketball game. I’m sure the fans enjoyed it. We didn’t like the outcome. I really liked how my kids executed. I like how they battled.”
It was the Dragons first loss in four games this season while the nail-biter win for the Highlanders was their first win in a season opener since 1998.
“We’re happy to get the win,” Highlanders’ coach Randy Gianfagna said. “I don’t remember the last time Floyd started the year with a win so we’ll take it.”
Early was it was Creek (3-1) in control. The hosts connected on all three of its 3-point attempts in the first quarter, including a Grant Meyer triple at the very end of the period for an 18-11 Dragons lead at the first stop.
The first quarter was a sloppy eight minutes as both teams combined for 13 turnovers.
“I think we were a little jittery on offense. We weren’t patient. We missed some free throws and missed a bunch of chippers too including two to start the game,” Gianfagna said.
Creek extended its lead to 24-13 with 6:03 left in the second frame forcing a Floyd timeout. The Highlanders (1-0) switched to a zone defense and slowly chipped away at the Dragons lead before trailing 31-25 at intermission.
“When they went to that zone it slowed us down and took away our penetration and affected our shooting,” Bradley said.
“They were just killing us when we were in man-to-man. We weren’t guarding well and we were overplaying things a lot. I think they also hurt us on the offensive boards especially in the first half,” Gianfagna said. “Then we went zone and that kind of mixed things up a little bit.”
The third stanza was dominating by defense and rebounding, all courtesy of the visiting Highlanders. Floyd held Creek to just 27 percent shooting and outrebounded the hosts 12-3 in the frame. A Connor Schellenberg basket with 1:29 put his team up 39-37, Floyd’s first lead since the opening minutes of the game.
The fourth period was back and forth with neither team have more than a two possession lead at any given time. Cody Banet put in six of his game high 18 in the final quarter, including two key late free throws. Creek’s Michael Bradley contributed 8 of his team high 13 in the last eight minutes, including a three that tied the game at 55-55 that set up Verhoff’s heroics at the other end.
“We ran a ball screen on that play and it was to go to either wing. Mike ended up with it and got a good look and had the heart to knock one down,” Bradley said.
The Highlanders shot 56 percent from the field and outrebounded the Dragons 32-19, masking their 20 turnovers. Creek shot just 37 percent overall and was 14 of 22 from the foul stripe.
“We’re going to concentrate on our free throw shooting Monday, that’s for sure,” Bradley said.
Floyd Central 11 14 16 16—57
Silver Creek 18 13 8 16—55
Silver Creek (3-1) — Sprigler 1, Meyer 4, Schroeder 1, Sturgeon 2, Eckert 12, Bradley 13, Everage 5, Jackson 13, Hoke 0, Kinzer 2, Brooks 2.
Floyd Central (1-0) — Verhoff 4, Mitchell 10, Nieoff 4, Banet 18, Allen 8, Crone 2, Schellenberg 2, Je. Thompson 9.
3-point field goals — Floyd Central 1 (Banet); Silver Creek 5 (Bradley 2, Everage, Meyer, Jackson).
Rebounds — Floyd Central 32, Silver Creek 19.
Turnovers — Floyd Central 20, Silver Creek 13.
Junior Varsity: Floyd Central 41 (7-8-14-12) Jeffries 2, Wortham 2, Miller 3, Bomersbach 4, Missi 4, Peters 2, Schellenberg 9, Knight 15, Jo. Thompson 0; Silver Creek 43 (9-7-5-22) Kemmer 5, Hoke 4, Kinzer 0, Sprigler 10, Hawn 3, Ricketts 18, Brooks 3, Armstrong 0, McCall 0.
