Tom Reck
Tribune-Star Correspondent
Switz City — Third time was the charm for North Central’s boys basketball team Saturday night as the Thunderbirds avenged two regular-season defeats against Shakamak to win the White River Valley Class A Sectional.
The Thunderbirds edged the Lakers 36-35 for their fourth sectional in school history and second in four seasons. They will meet either Indianapolis Lutheran or Indianapolis Fall Creek in the Martinsville Class A Regional.
Former Laker Ethan Stanifer provided the winning points in the contest, hitting a free throw with 1.7 seconds to play after missing the first of two shots awarded him.
The senior also rebounded a missed free throw to put the Lakers up 35-33 in the final minute and finished with a team-high 10 points.
Justin Crody was 3 for 3 from the field for the Lakers and had seven points. He hit a basket and free throw with 46.7 seconds left to gain the final tie of the game.
North Central then worked the basketball until calling time with 18.4 seconds left, setting the stage for Stanifer’s game-winning heroics.
“You can’t say enough about Ethan making his second free throw after missing the first one and being called for being over the line the time before that,” said NC coach Ryan Kamman.
“I got a text message from one of the guys who helps us coach and said just think, you might be trying to figure out how to beat Shakamak with Stanifer. It was awesome to have him on the team. He’s a great kid,” said the coach.
He said defense was the key to success.
“I thought defensively we stepped up and did a good job … and on [Billy] Newton. Late, we got a couple key turnovers off of our defense. That was huge for us,” said Kamman, who is in his fifth season as coach of the Thunderbirds.
“Robert Horn stepped in for Corbin [Rehmel] after he got his technical and was out of the game with his fifth foul. I can’t say enough about the job that he did,” he said.
[Bobby] Swaby and Ethan hit some big 3s. Tyler Howkinson had a big one for us. Shakamak started worrying about him and that opened up Bobby at the top of the key and that opened up Ethan maybe,” he added.
Looking back to Friday night when the Thunderbirds came back to beat Clay City and advance to the championship game. “They found a way to win last night and found a way to win tonight,” said the coach.
He said Swaby was the only senior who played some on the varsity as a freshman on his first sectional championship team.
“These guys have put in a lot of hard work. Maybe the hardest workers are the ones who don’t get a lot of the publicity and the playing time.
The Thunderbirds had a 9-8 lead at the first stop, trailed 18-17 at halftime and were down 28-27 going into the fourth period. They never trailed again after Swaby’s 3-pointer gave them a 32-30 lead.
Swaby had six points, Howkinson nine and Jordan Stefancik eight.
North Central had a 14-12 edge in field goals, had a 4-1 edge in 3-pointers and had six fewer turnovers.
Billy Newton concluded his basketball career with the Lakers with a double-double of 13 points and 13 rebounds, helping Shakamak have a 30-18 edge on the boards.
Coach Steve Brett said his team did not play well enough to win.
“We had too many mistakes, unforced turnovers. Execution was not there all night long. The double-overtime last night [against WRV] probably drained us some. We did not move as well as we did in that game,” he said.
“North Central did a good job defensing us. We got no easy shots. I don’t think we were as patient as we should have been sometimes and forced things and that’s where [some] turnovers came in and North Central took advantage of it and made the plays,” he said.
