Buzzer Beater Kreutzer's game-winner caps second half rally

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After all that Chris Kreutzer had done to keep the Wichita County High School boys in the game during the final quarter, it only seemed right that the ball should end up in his hands for a winning shot . . . even if that’s not how the final play was designed.

By design or not, the WCHS senior was able to grab a rebound and get the putback just ahead of the buzzer to give the Indians a come-from-behind 48-46 non-league win at Dighton on Tuesday night.

It was an exciting finish to a game that saw three lead changes and three ties in the final eight minutes.

“This was a situation we’ve found ourselves in time and again this season,” says WCHS head coach Nate Schmitt, whose team entered the game with five losses - all by four points or less. “I told the boys at the end of the third quarter that instead of hoping for a win we had to believe we could win. I felt that’s how we played in the fourth quarter.”

Leoti (7-5, 3-1) erased a 32-19 halftime deficit behind their man-to-man defense that limited Dighton to just three points in the third period. Senior Neil Fletcher tied the game at 35-35 late in the third period with a reverse layin and senior guard Gabe Martinez opened the final period with a three-pointer that gave Leoti their first lead of the night, 38-35.

It then became a battle between the two teams.

Dighton senior Guy Fullmer hit back-to-back baskets to give his team a 39-38 lead only to have Leoti answer with a pair of baskets. Dighton’s Ryan Kuhlman drilled a three-pointer that knotted the score at 42-42 with 4:05 to play.

Both teams exchanged field goals during the next 2-1/2 minutes. Kreutzer and Martinez gave Leoti brief two-point leads that were erased on baskets by Kuhlman and Fullmer.

Fullmer turned in one of the game’s big defensive plays when he picked off a pass in the lane and drove the length of the floor for a layin that made it a 46-46 score with 1:29 on the clock.

WCHS then caught a huge break when Dighton’s full-court pressure created problems getting the ball across the time line. The officials awarded the Indians a timeout, even though the clock showed 10 seconds had elapsed with 1:19 remaining.

Nonetheless, Dighton (9-6, 5-1) was able to make a defensive stop only to see the momentum shift dramatically moments later. Dighton had the ball under the WCHS basket when Kreutzer picked off the inbounds pass with 37 seconds to play.

“That steal was the most critical point in the game,” says Dighton head coach Earl Steffens.

Instead of Dighton having the luxury of playing for a final shot, that advantage had shifted to the Indians. That strategy was nearly sidetracked when Kreutzer had the ball on the far sideline and was fouled, which would have put him on the free throw line for a one-and-one with 14 seconds to play.

However, Schmitt had called a timeout a split second ahead of the foul.

“Even though that would have put us on the line, I felt that would have left too much time on the clock for them to come back and maybe score,” Schmitt says.

In the timeout his instructions were pretty clear. Don’t settle for a jump shot. Take the ball inside where they had found a lot of success in the second half. The ball ended up in Martinez’s hands who drove the baseline from the right side of the basket and put up a shot that rolled across the back of the rim. On the drive, however, Kreutzer’s defender had left him to assist with stopping Martinez.

That left Kreutzer unguarded on the back side of the basket. He grabbed the rebound and released the shot just ahead of the buzzer.

As it dropped in, the WCHS players erupted in celebration, but everyone else was frozen for a split second to see whether the officials would rule the basket was good. That decision came a moment later to confirm Leoti’s 48-46 win.

It was a disappointing finish to a game that had started so well for the Hornets. They led 22-11 at the end of the opening period and stretched that lead to 32-19 late in the first half following a three-point basket by Matthew Mulville. Kuhlman’s basket early in the third period put the Hornets back on top by 11, 34-23, before WCHS closed out the quarter with a 12-1 scoring blitz.

“I don’t think we did anything better or worse in the second half,” says Steffens. “Leoti played excellent defense and took us out of our offense. They pushed us out a little farther than we wanted on our shots.”

Schmitt felt that switching from zone to man defense made the difference.

“We made the switch to start the second quarter, but we really stepped up our intensity in the second half,” Schmitt says.

The Indians were also able to pound the ball inside with more consistency in the second half where they collected 40 of their 48 points. The only exception was a pair of treys by Martinez and a pair of free throws.

“We told the boys at halftime that we had to get the ball to the rim,” says the WCHS coach, who noted that 40 of his team’s 48 points came in the paint.

Fletcher, who was 7-of-9 from the field, finished with a double-double, scoring 14 points and pulling down 10 rebounds. Martinez also had a double-double with 14 points, 10 rebounds and six assists. Finishing with eight points and eight rebounds each were Jantz Budde and Kreutzer.

The lack of third quarter offense is part of a trend that Steffens says his team needs to solve. In recent games they’ve been outscored in the third quarter by Healy (14-4), Otis-Bison (5-2) and now Wichita County (16-3) - all games that they lost by six points or fewer.

“We have to figure a way to come out with more intensity in the third quarter,” says Steffens. “We know there isn’t a team in our sub-state we aren’t capable of beating if we’re playing well.”

The Hornets will face Western Plains in a non-league game on Friday and then prepare for a big Western Kansas Liberty League test at Tribune on Feb. 7.

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