By Mike Myers, Sports Writer
EVANSVILLE – The Class 3A defending state champion Washington Hatchets avenged one of only two losses from the 2007-08 season on Friday. But a player who didn’t even play basketball last season put the finishing touch on the 51-49 win at Evansville Central.
Senior forward Wade Collins, who last played basketball two years ago as a freshman, capped a terrific outing with a basket just :02 from the final buzzer to give second-ranked Washington the win.
After Ramsey Wright had brought Evansville Central (1-2) even with Washington (2-0) at 49-all on his final 3-pointer of the evening with :40 to play, the Hatchets worked for the last shot. But sophomore center Cody Zeller, who led the Hatchets with 16 points on the night, was double teamed in the lane in the final seconds and appeared about to commit a traveling violation.
However, an off balance Zeller was able to shovel the ball to Collins under the basket, and the 6-6 Collins laid the ball in with :02 on the clock. Central quickly inbounded the ball and put up a desperation shot which flew harmlessly out of bounds as the horn sounded, allowing the Hatchets to avenge a 61-57 loss to the Bears at the Hatchet House just over a year ago.
It was the last contribution of the night for Collins, who finished with eight points and led a Washington 28-14 rebounding advantage with a game high 12 boards in 17 minutes of action off the WHS bench.
“I thought Wade gave us some good minutes, I thought he played very well,” said WHS coach Gene Miiller. “He’s probably the best rebounder we have, and he’s just going to get more and more playing time as we go through the season. He took the ball up strong inside.”
Zeller added four rebounds and two steals, including a huge takeaway followed by a Zeller lay up which gave the Hatchets their largest lead of the game at 48-44 with 1:32 to play. Zeller had eight of the Hatchets 13 fourth quarter points.
“Cody started playing a lot stronger in the fourth quarter. Maybe he grew up a little bit in the fourth quarter tonight,” said Miiller.
Junior guard Sam Gines was next for WHS with 14 points, with 12 points coming in the first half. Gines kept the Hatchets in the game in the opening two quarters as WHS trailed 13-12 after one period and 33-31 at the half. Senior guard Cody Osmon added six points and junior guard Ethan Hunsinger five for WHS.
Washington’s defense improved in the second half. The Hatchets allowed the Bears too many open looks in the opening half, when Justin Ahlbrand (a team high 18 points) and Ramsey Wright (16 points) combinging for 20 points, including five 3-pointers, in the first half. But that duo was held to a combined 14 points and just two three’s in the final 16 minutes.
On a night when the Hatchets committed 15 turnovers and shot just 43 percent from the field, defense was the key.
“Our defense got much better tonight. Defense and making some plays down the stretch has to be the reason for the win tonight,” said Miiller. “We’re going to have win games with our defense until we get things going offensively.”
Washington has now won 23 consecutive games dating back to last season. The Hatchets travel to North Daviess tonight.
Central claimed the JV contest 43-19. Robert Miles led WHS with six points, followed by Jalen Hyde with three.
