Bartlett outlasts Waubonsie in 3 OTs
Bartlett senior forward Billy Kramer hadn’t hit a game-winning shot in his varsity career.
That changed Saturday night in the Hawks’ 58-56 triple overtime win over Waubonsie Valley in Upstate Eight Conference Valley Division boys basketball action at Bartlett.
With 6.8 seconds left in the third overtime, the Hawks (6-2, 3-0) inbounded the ball under their own basket and Justin Busch fed the ball to Kramer, who knocked down a 12-footer with 1.5 seconds on the clock to seal the win.
That came with Bartlett’s leading scorer Lance Whitaker (16 points, 7 rebounds) on the bench after fouling out earlier in that period.
“Coach (Jim Wolfsmith) tells me to take my shots, and I knew I had to hit that one,” Kramer said.
“Give that kid a bunch of credit because that’s big time,” said Warriors’ coach Steve Weemer, who’s team falls to 5-3 overall, 1-2 in the UEC Valley.
That shot sealed the win, but the Hawks looked like they might seal it much earlier. Bartlett hit 5 3-pointers, 2 from Marcus Aluquin (16 points), in a 19-2 start.
However, the Warriors showed their perseverance pulling to 19-10 by the end of the first quarter and grabbing a 21-20 lead late in the second after a Matt Gialamas basket.
Tied at 23-23 entering the second half, Jon Moss (16 points, 6 rebounds) hit three straight from behind the arc for a 32-23 Bartlett lead, but the Hawks again saw the Warriors rally back to eventually tie the game 44-44 by the end of regulation.
“Waubonsie, they never go away especially with (Jared) Brownridge,” Moss said. “They’re a good team, and we expected them to come back.”
Brownridge tallied a game-high 25 points and added 5 rebounds. Bryan Jefferson contributed 16 points and a game-high 11 rebounds for the Warriors.
Waubonsie Valley held just one lead in the extra time after a Brownridge bucket made it 49-47 with 1:57 left in the first overtime. Both teams had 5 points in the first OT and 4 in the second.
What seemed to kill the Warriors in overtime were turnovers with 6 to Bartlett’s 2. Waubonsie Valley finished with 20 turnovers and Bartlett 15.
“The bottom line is, they were the better team tonight,” Weemer said. “We had turnovers at key points in overtime, and you can’t win when you do that.”
Mitch Reid grabbed 7 rebounds for Bartlett and Jack Cordes 7 for Waubonsie Valley.
“Our team is really resilient,” Wolfsmith said. “This is our second overtime game of the season, and first win. This was a good game.”