Hett proves clutch with last-second free throws
Sports reporter
He shouldn't even have been at the line.
A foul that could turn the nicest coach in the world into Bobby Knight Jan. 31, enabled Marion High School boys' basketball team to defeat Smoky Valley 46-45, and improve to 3-2 in the Mid-Central Activities Association.
After Smoky Valley's Eric Martin missed two free throws with three seconds left in the game, Marion had one last shot, albeit slim.
Still, Travis Hett pushed the ball up the court and prepared to throw up a half-court shot to win the game.
Or so everyone thought.
"I was trying to draw a foul," Hett said. "I knew it would have been a tough shot."
He calmly went to the line and sank two free throws as if it were just practice, to give MHS a 46-45 lead.
"I just said go up there and shoot the free throws," Hett said.
The Vikings threw the ball the length off the court and it landed in the hands of Justin Holcom who had scored 25 points on the night.
Falling away he flung a 12-footer that wasn't even close, as Marion improved to 5-9 overall.
In a game that included 41 fouls and 53 foul shots (19 from Holcom), Marion was just tough enough to edge out the much bigger Vikings.
"I knew it was going to be physical and I knew they were an athletic group," MHS head basketball coach Rex Ostmeyer said. "There's no question if you can keep people fresh you have a better chance in the end."
Ostmeyer used a nine-man rotation in which every player played at least 10 minutes. Senior Clayton Garnica started for Hett, who missed practice because he was sick, and ended the night with one point, two rebounds, and a steal. More than anything Ostmeyer was proud to see Garnica give the team quality minutes when Hett got in foul trouble.
"He's been doing a great job in practice," Ostmeyer said of Garnica. "He gave us some great minutes."
Garnica wasn't the only non-starter who played well. Jeremy Vondenkamp, who had started a few games this season, scored a season-high 10 points and grabbed five rebounds. He also provided the energy and spark Marion needed to stay with the Vikings.
"We have to have five or six or seven guys playing well to be as good as we can be," Ostmeyer said.
In the first quarter four Warriors contributed to the scoreboard, as MHS led 12-9 after one. Jason Hett scored six points, Josh Kelsey three, Travis Hett one, and Jeff Richmond
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added a basket right before the buzzer.
The two Hetts controlled the offensive end for Marion in the second quarter, scoring nine of the team's 10 points, en route to a 22-19 halftime lead.
A Russell Ploutz basket gave MHS a 24-19 lead, but Holcom kept Smoky Valley close, scoring the team's first five points of the quarter as the Warriors still led 29-24.
Vondenkamp hit a shot to increase the lead to 31-26, but five straight points, including a three-pointer by Chase Dippel, enabled the Vikings to tie the score at 31 heading into the fourth quarter.
Early in the season the Warriors would have let a blown lead take the air out of themselves, but not this night.
"I thought we kept attacking tonight," Ostmeyer said.
Despite picking up his fourth foul with 1.7 seconds in the third, Travis Hett came out firing in the fourth with a running three-pointer that gave MHS a 34-31 lead, and caused the already raucous crowd to erupt.
Holcom tied the game with a free throw and a basket, and the teams continued to seesaw back and forth.
A 15-foot jumper from Travis Hett gave MHS a 39-37 lead with four minutes, 28 second to play. After the Vikings tied the game, Vondenkamp hit a tough fade-away jumper to give the lead back to MHS.
With Marion leading 43-42 with 1:47 to play, Jason Hett was called for his fifth foul, causing the crowd to show its displeasure with a chorus of boos.
Holcom tied the game with a free throw, but Vondenkamp came back and hit two free throws although one was wiped off because of a lane violation.
As Holcom brought the ball down the right side of the court with 1:20 to play, sophomore point guard Calvin Jeffrey picked Holcom's pocket and brought the ball up the court, looking for the final shot.
Jeffrey was anticipating Holcom's move.
"Every time he came down he spun and drove," Jeffrey said. "I missed it twice, then got that one."
After running the clock MHS called a timeout with 45 seconds remaining. With 34 seconds left Marion lost the ball and a rough scramble led the referee to give Smoky Valley a timeout.
The crowd booed loudly as it looked like no one had possession when the timeout was called.
Instead of waiting for the last shot, Darrin Biergert fired up an 16-footer that hit nothing but net to give the Vikings their first lead since 9-8.
As Marion brought the ball up the court, Emmanuel Jackson was fouled with 15.4 seconds left. Jackson nervously stepped back preparing for the free throw and was called for a lane violation for stepping outside of the circle.
"You have to treat everything the same no matter the situation," Ostmeyer said. "And he'll learn that."
Jackson missed the second shot, Martin came down with the rebound, and the rest goes down as the most exciting finish this year for the Warriors.
"Our plan was to play scrappy defense, fly around the ball, make something happen, and tonight we did it," Vondenkamp said.
The Warrior defense has been shaky at times, but they held one of the best players in the league in Holcom to just 6-13 shooting. Physical play made him earn 13 of his 25 points from the foul line.
Travis Hett led Marion with 15 points and four rebounds, Jason Hett had 13 points and four rebounds, Vondenkamp chipped in with 10 points and five rebounds, and Jeffrey had agame-high five assists.
Nickerson
The outcome Friday at Nickerson was not what the Warriors had planned, as they fell to the Panthers, 48-36.
Leading 16-15 at the break, Marion was outscored 17-8 in the third quarter, and 16-12 in the fourth.
"We never got into any kind of a flow whatsoever," Ostmeyer said. "Our offense just struggled the entire night."
Jason Hett led MHS with 14 points and eight rebounds, and Travis Hett had eight points and two rebounds.
The loss dropped the Warriors to 3-3 in the MCAA and 5-10 overall.
