By Wayne E. Rivet

Staff Writer

All game, Evan Willey had little room to move on the offensive end of the court as Poland sent two or three defenders at the Laker junior.

The Knights held the 6-foot-6 center in check until 7 seconds left in the game when Willey collected a rebound off a Derek Langadas miss in the middle of the lane and softly flipped a shot just over the rim for the game winner as the Lakers rallied for a 45-44 victory last Thursday night at Nutting Gym.

“I play basketball all year round. My coaches have taught me to see where the ball is going off the rim, and tonight, I was just in the right place at the right time,” said Willey who finished with 9 points, 5 rebounds and 3 blocked shots.

When asked about if he has made adjustments seeing double and even triple coverage in most games, Willey said, “It hasn’t changed my approach. I still go into every game trying to be aggressive, but I know I’m going to draw two every time so I have to be able to kick (the ball) to my teammates. Honestly, I love passing and seeing my teammates score as much as me scoring. It’s important to get my teammates involved and making good passes to them so they can be successful.”

Laker Coach Ryan Martin felt Willey remained composed and determined despite the Knights’ constant attention in denying him the ball or making it extremely difficult for him to create a good shot opportunity.

“Evan is a player that teams are going to focus on every game. He knows it. We know it as a team. We need to continue to set screens for him and get him the ball as much as we can inside. He can be a dynamic scorer. Teams know it. That’s what they are doubling and triple teaming him every time he touches the ball. I’m proud of Evan for keeping his head,” Coach Martin said. “There is a reason why he had that tip in at the end. He is always in the game. It takes toughness and understanding that other teams respect you and know how good you are. Evan understands he is going to see it every night. He is going to have to play through some physical contact and some spurt that it’s hard getting him the ball. Our team knows how important it is to get Evan going. We’re not going to go a long way without him.”

The win was the result of some key contributions by guards Noah Duprey and Ethan McMurray. With the Lakers seriously struggling to make shots — they were 3-of-16 in the fourth, many offensive putbacks rattled off the rim and out — Duprey delivered a big 3-pointer (just the second field goal of the fourth) with 2:06 remaining to cut the Poland lead to 44-41.

“I’m proud of all of our guys. They played hard. They played smart. And, they were tough in the end. A guy like Noah, who hasn’t been shooting quite like he would like, has come off the bench and played his two best games of the season. He made some big shots, which speaks to the kind of kid he is and how he is a team guy and how tough he is,” Laker Coach Ryan Martin said.

After the LR defense held, McMurray came down with a big offensive rebound with 1:51 left. He was fouled and sank two foul shots — not a small feat since the team was just 3-of-7 entering the final period to close the gap to 44-43.

Poland freshman guard Hayden Christner had torched the Lakers all night, knocking down six 3-pointers. But, the rookie came up short with 34.8 seconds left on a fadeaway jumper inside the arc. LR’s Jacob Stone rebounded the miss, and give his club a chance to take the lead.

LR went to senior Derek Langadas, who made a strong move to the hoop. His shot rolled off the rim, but Willey snagged the ball and scored. Poland’s Hunter Gibson made a quick push of the ball across midcourt, and Poland called timeout with 2.4 seconds left.

The Knights found junior guard Isaiah Hill along the right wing, but his corner jumper was off the mark.

“Our focus the last 24 hours has been about mental toughness. We had a few players talking about whether we were mentally tough enough to get to the next level. It was ironic that we were in a situation that we had to be mentally tough. I’m proud of the guys, being down six points with two minutes left and staying together and playing tough,” Coach Martin said. “We’ve learned so much this year, end of game situations. We’ve been in 11 games that have come down to the very end. We’re getting better and better, finding ways to win close games.”

Willey agreed with his coach that the Lakers were up to the challenge, but will need to shoot better if they are to advance in the upcoming playoffs.

“I loved the energy the crowd brought. We play better when the crowd is into it,” said Willey of LR fans who had the gym rocking on Pack the House Night. “When we were behind by six, no one felt down. We all stuck with it. When we’re down, we don’t stay down. We have each other’s back. This is not ‘me’ ball, it’s ‘everyone’ ball. We’re all in it together. We really stuck together in the end… We need to bring more intensity and sticking by each other. We need to work harder in practices, even more than the regular season.”

Poland led 11-7 after the first quarter as Christner buried a pair of open 3-pointers, while the home team was a bit sluggish, connecting on just 3-of-15 shooting. The Knights pushed the margin to 16-7 until the Lakers responded with back-to-back treys by Duprey and Jacob Stone. Those buckets seemed to energize the Lakers as they went on a 13-2 run to close out the half, taking a 20-18 lead into the break. Senior Isaac Holland also helped spark the rally, picking off a pass and racing the other way for a layup then adding a 3-pointer to give the Lakers a lead. Holland was active on the defensive end, blocking two shots while hauling down four rebounds.

Langadas put the Lakers up five midway in the third with a 3-pointer and a foul shot, but Poland responded as Christner nailed two more treys.

As they did in the second, LR closed the period with a 7-2 blitz featuring a Willey tip-in, two layups (one off a turnover) and a free throw by Stone.

Up 36-31 entering the fourth, the Lakers had plenty of chances to pull away from the Knights, getting second, third and fourth shot opportunities. Stone scored early in the frame, but then LR had a lengthy scoring drought as Poland (4-12) went on an 11-0 run.

But, LR (7-9) showed both heart and mental toughness to rally for an important win as they jockey for a higher seed in the upcoming Class B South playoffs.

“We did a great job of crashing for offensive rebounds. We also did a great job of getting the ball inside. Those were our two focus points. We missed a lot of easy shots. Great teams are going to have bad shooting nights, but still need to find a way to always defend and always find ways to win,” Coach Martin said. “I didn’t think we shot well tonight, but we played well tonight.”

Stat Lines

Turnovers: LR 12, P 20

Free Throws: LR 5-9, P 3-4

Field Goals: LR 17-54, P 16-42 (nine of which were 3-pointers)

Rebounds: LR 32, P 26

LR rebound leaders: Holland 10, Stone 7

LR scorers: Stone 10, Willey 9, Holland 8, Duprey 6, Langadas 6, McMurray 4, Jason Harlow 2.