After a win at Indianapolis Lutheran on Friday, the Trinity Lutheran boys basketball team looked far from tired at the Bollinger Athletic Complex the following day.
Anchored by a season-high 22 points from senior Toby VanLiew, the Cougars basketball team defeated Henryville 58-48
on Saturday.
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In the first quarter, VanLiew scored the first eight points for
the Cougars.
Luke Stuckwisch provided a pair of free throws with 1:45 left in the first quarter to give the Cougars a 10-5 lead.
The Hornets took a 13-12 lead at the 4:08 mark in the second quarter after Jacob Janek converted an and-one opportunity underneath the basket.
At 3:40, the Cougars retook the lead on a made basket by Keegan Rebber.
With eight second left before halftime, Janek hit a mid-range jumpshot near the top of the key to give the Hornets a 19-18 lead.
Janek netted 10 of the Hornets’ 14 second quarter points.
The Hornets slowed the pace at the start of the third quarter, taking every possession as it came to them.
Down 23-22, with 3:29 remaining in the third quarter, Stuckwisch buried a 3-pointer to retake the lead for
the Cougars.
The Cougars then went on a 11-0 run, highlighted by nine points from VanLiew.
Following two free throws from VanLiew with 1.5 seconds left in the quarter, the Hornets in-bounded the ball to half court. The Hornets’ Braxton Robertson was fouled on a half-court heave, and he hit all three free throws.
With those free throws, the Hornets scored seven points in the third quarter.
“We wanted to switch it up and give them different looks defensively in the second half,” Cougars coach Aaron Rudzinski said. “For most of the first half we had played man. We ran a little zone and full court press which disrupted them a little bit (in the second half). I think they rushed some shots and that helped us get ahead in the game.”
The Cougars led 36-26 at the start of the fourth quarter.
Some miscommunication led to six Cougars on the floor, and a technical was called, before the clock started for the final
eight minutes.
In the fourth quarter, the Hornets fouled early and often.
Stuckwisch took the brunt of the fouls and made nine of 10 attempts to seal the Cougars win.
The Hornets were able to sink three 3-pointers during the final stretch, but every time they scored Stuckwisch buried his freebies at the charity stripe.
The Cougars finished 24 for 26 from the free throw line.
“Luke has kind of been the leader of the team — the glue that holds it all together,” Rudzinski said. “He’s the guy who can handle the pressure the best. When he’s in the game, I don’t really worry anymore. This is his third year of doing this and he can take over a game. We were 24 to 26 and it was big to hit our free throws.”
Stuckwisch finished with 18 points on the night, 11 of which came from the free throw line.
On top of his team-high points, VanLiew led the Cougars’ 22 rebounds with eight boards.
“Toby was one of the few that could get to the paint and score. We didn’t hit a single 3-pointer in the first half,” Rudzinski said. “He was big, he played smart and hard. He got to the basket and played a nice game.”
The Cougars will head to Southwestern (Shelbyville) on Tuesday.