BUNKER HILL – Hardin-Calhoun's boys basketball team hasn't had much time to practice this year.
Warrior coach Ryan Graner will admit, though, that the lack of practice time so far is a good problem to have – it came about because of the Warriors' run to the semifinals of the IHSA Class 1A football playoffs.
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“It's a great problem to have,” Graner said of Calhoun advancing so far in the IHSA playoffs following a 58-57 overtime loss to Bunker Hill in a non-conference game at Hlafka Hall Friday night. The game was the Warriors' season-opener; the Minutemen went to 4-2 with the win.
“I just told them I'm extremely proud of the effort,” Graner said. “But as a realist, we've literally had six days of practice after the great football run. I was more worried about us being in game shape than anything; I thought it might affect our shooting a little bit and I think down the stretch there, it did have an affect on some free throws and put backs.
“We knew what we were up against; Bunker Hill's got a nice team. They can all score the ball. They did a good job this evening, they fought hard and got the win. There's so many things we can build from on this; hopefully it keeps that fire lit underneath us. There are so many things we can fix defensively; just getting into the gym and having a basketball in our hands will make us that much better.”
“It was a tough-fought game,” said Minutemen coach Jay Goltz. “Calhoun's a tough team. We knew it was going to be a dogfight when they came in here and we've actually lost to them all three years I've been here and my boys wanted to change that tonight.
“That's a team that wants to win.”
The third term put the Minutemen behind; the were only able to score five points after going into the half tied with the Warriors at 28-28. “We had a dead third quarter; I thought we were going to go scoreless,” Goltz said. “We missed layups, free throws – shots that we should be able to make.
“We just got demolished that third quarter and then something clicked. We started working together as a team, made a few plays at the end. It just all came together at the end.”
“Our defensive effort in the third quarter was outstanding,” Graner said.
Bunker Hill did manage to hang around down the stretch; managing to forge a tie at 43-43 thanks to a three-point shot from Dane Sellars; Wes Klocke answered with a three-point play with 1:50 to go which the Minutemen quickly cut into, taking the lead at 48-47 when Chase Williams connected from behind the arc with 1:05 to go.
The Minutemen seemingly had won the game when Sean Yates hit from outside with 16.4 seconds to go, but the Warriors responded with a basket of their own with 7.7 seconds left; Bunker Hill couldn't answer and the game went into overtime.
The Warriors managed to build a small lead that would seem to be enough, but Williams scored what proved to be the winner when he hit from outside the arc with five seconds to go, but the Warriors saw their last shot to win bounce off the rim with a second to go, setting off a celebration among the Minutemen supporters.
The atmosphere inside Hlafka Hall was worthy of a late-season showdown; both sets of fans were loud throughout the evening. Goltz gave the Minutemen supporters a lot of credit.
“The fans did such a great job,” Goltz said. “We've been pushing our fan section (a section of sets in the corner near the Bunker Hill bench for the student supporters); you can see the sign that was recently created and I have to say, I don't know if we could have done it without the fans; they gave us that extra energy. It was something.”
Klocke led Calhoun with 19 points, with Jared Brackett adding 14 and Easton Clark 11; Williams led the Minutemen with 24 points, with Stormmy Coffman adding 18.
Next up for the Warriors is a date with Brussels in the North Greene Tournament at 6:30 p.m. Monday in White Hall; the Minutemen meet up with Mulberry Grove on the road Dec. 9.
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