Posted on 05 December 2009 by .
By Travis Miller
Contributing Writer
THORNTOWN – Patience paid off Dec. 4 for Tri-West Hendricks. The visiting Bruins were already down a game in Sagamore Conference play after a season-opening (and surprisingly close) 61-56 loss to Class 3A highly regarded Danville, and they found themselves trailing by 11 at conference rival Western Boone early in the third quarter as well.
Sounds like the perfect opportunity for a comeback, doesn’t it? Tri-West used a 16-0 third-quarter run to earns its first victory on the young season and avoid falling way behind in the league race with a 57-51 win over the Stars.
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The boys game was the nightcap to a doubleheader that saw 3A No. 14 Western Boone improve to 7-1 with a 62-56 win over Tri-West (3-2) in each team’s conference opener. The Stars, who bounced back from a 32-30 halftime deficit, had dealt 2A No. 13 Speedway its first loss Tuesday, 61-45.
In the first half, Western Boone’s shooting prowess was on full display. The Stars hit 10 first-half field goals, only one of which came inside the 3-point arc. Jay Purdy was especially effective with 14 first-half points on a perfect 4-of-4 start from deep.
His effort came off the bench and spurred an 11-8 lead after one quarter for the Stars (1-2 overall, 0-1 in Sagamore play).
The triples really started falling in the second quarter as Purdy, Brandon Burtner, and Andrew Adams combined for 19 points and 6-of-7 shooting from long range. Their accuracy allowed the Stars to build a 30-23 halftime lead as Purdy connected on a pair of triples in the final 90 seconds of the half to seemingly blow open the game.
Tri-West tried to answer with a long-range attack of its own. Randall Lowe and Tyler Waite each connected on 3-pointers late in the half to keep things close, which would prove to be beneficial later.
Western Boone started the second half with a 6-2 spurt that turned into a 12-2 run, letting the Stars open up a 36-25 lead. All six points came on interior baskets as the Stars reversed gears to attack the paint.
But Matt Grissom’s putback with 5:55 left in the third would be the final basket for the Stars for quite some time. Western Boone did not score a point for the remainder of the third quarter, at the same time enduring a 16-0 run by the Bruins that gave them the lead for good.
“We had a good start to the second half,” said first-year Western Boone coach Kyle Spray. “We were able to build on our lead with some penetration and some defensive stops, but we just stopped going inside after that.
“Their pressure forced us out, and we were never able to answer their run.”
Tri-West used a balanced attack during its critical spurt. Five different players contributed with points, while Waite and Andrew Keck dominated the paint inside.
Lowe tied the affair at 36-36 with a triple at the 2:15 mark of the third quarter. Earl Chastain then gave the Bruins the lead with a putback before Austin Hendershot ended the third quarter with a buzzer-beating three.
To make matters worse for the suddenly stunned Stars, those were the only baskets that Chastain and Hendershot contributed on the evening. Western Boone continued its cold streak throughout the final quarter, managing just three baskets from the field in the game’s final 14 minutes.
Burtner finished the night by leading all scorers with 20 points, while Purdy cooled off considerably in the second half in finishing with 17. Waite led Tri-West with 18 points, while Keck finished with 13 and Lowe also hit double figures for the Bruins with 10.
The box score:
Tri-West 8 15 18 16 – 57
Western Boone 11 19 6 15 – 51
Tri-West FG FT Pts
Caleb McVicker 2-4 2-2 6
Randall Lowe 4-10 0-0 10
Tyler Waite 8-12 0-0 18
Andrew Keck 6-11 1-2 13
Joe Pierle 0-3 4-5 4
Austin Hendershot 1-1 0-0 3
Earl Chastain 1-3 0-0 2
Josh Pierle 0-0 0-0 0
Matt Moore 0-2 0-0 0
TOTALS 22-46 7-9 57
Western Boone FG FT Pts
Caleb Nicley 0-6 2-2 2
Tyler Aguirre 1-6 2-2 5
Brandon Burtner 6-16 4-5 20
Matt Grissom 1-2 0-0 2
Wade Thomas 1-2 0-0 2
Jay Purdy 6-9 0-0 17
Luke Pearson 0-0 0-0 0
Andrew Adams 1-3 0-0 3
TOTALS 16-44 8-9 51
3-Pointers
Tri-West: 6-10 (Lowe 2-4, Waite 2-3, Hendershot 1-1, McVicker 1-1, Joe Pierle 0-1)
Western Boone: 11-23 (Purdy 5-8, Burtner 4-11, Aguirre 1-3, Adams 1-1)
Rebounds – Tri-West 25 (Waite 5), Western Boone 29 (Thomas 7)
Turnovers – Tri-West 6, Western Boone 13
Fouls – Tri-West 15, Western Boone 15
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