BORDEN — Sometime survival is all you can ask for.
Henryville’s 40-38 Class A Sectional 62 semifinal win over Rock Creek wasn’t exactly a virtuoso performance, as coach Perry Hunter noted following the game.
“We just survived tonight,” Hunter said after Dylan Wolf’s layup at the buzzer propelled his squad to tonight’s championship game against Lanesville, a 62-40 winner over South Central in the early matchup. “That’s all you can do sometimes this time of year.”
The Hornets (12-10) overcame the loss of starting forward Kyle Robertson, who suffered an apparent wrist injury while committing a foul on Rock Creek’s Shawn Austin early in the fourth quarter, and trailed the Lions for most of the matchup.
But Henryville rallied following the injury to Robertson. Austin converted 1 of 2 free throw attempts following the foul call, and on Henryville’s next possession, Taylor Stone nailed a three-pointer to knot the game at 35 with 5:32 left.
Taylor Weeks then picked off a errant Rock Creek pass at midcourt and scored on a driving layup to give the Hornets their first lead of the game, 37-35, with 4:39 left.
The Hornets would never trail after that point, although Austin nailed a three-pointer from the right side for Rock Creek to knot the game at 38 with 49.7 seconds left.
Following two Rock Creek turnovers, Wolf missed two free throws that would have given the Hornets the lead inside the final 20 seconds. But Steven Mayfield and Austin tangled for the rebound on Wolf’s second missed free throw, and the possession arrow pointed to Henryville after the jump ball.
After receiving the inbounds pass, Mayfield started towards the basket, but found Wolf inside for an easy layup at the buzzer that gave Henryville the two-point win.
“The way it was going, it was going to be whoever had the ball last was probably going to win it,” Rock Creek (13-10) coach Chris Brown said. “I feel bad for our guys. We really came to compete, and the kids played hard. It was unfortunate we lost, and it was unfortunate that their young man (Robertson) got hurt.”
Brown commended the effort of his squad following the game and praised the play of Austin, who led all scorers with 17 points.
“We came through a lot of adversity this season, and Shawn Austin has been a great kid this whole year,” Brown said. “We got better as the season went on, and that’s all you can ask out of your kids.”
So the Hornets will live to play another game tonight, without one of their best players — and despite converting only 6-of-16 foul shots against Rock Creek. Mayfield led the Hornets with nine points, while Robertson had eight points at the time of injury.
“They are going to want to win for him,” Hunter said of Robertson. “Those kids love him. Tomorrow night is going to be a lot of fun. You just hate to see a kid get injured.”
HENRYVILLE 6 13 10 9—40
ROCK CREEK 14 7 11 6—38
Henryville (12-10) — Stone 3, Weeks 8, Wolf 7, Mayfield 9, Robertson 8, Boyd 0, Carlson 2, Gardner 1, Everage 2.
Rock Creek (13-10) — Neptune 0, Hawn 4, Mayes 6, Malone 6, Austin 17, McGregory 0, Ashby 3, Barker 0, Garner 2.
Three-point goals: Henryville 4 (Stone, Mayfield 2, Robertson). Rock Creek 3 (Malone, Austin, Ashby).
Turnovers: Henryville 12, Rock Creek 15.
Rebounds: Henryville 27 (Weeks, Mayfield 6); Rock Creek 31 (Austin 9).
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CLASS A SECTIONAL: Henryville beats buzzer, Rock Creek
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