LEROY—The Hartford boys basketball team led by 12 points at halftime Tuesday night against Southern Coffey County. By the time Jaguars coach Patrick Gardner called a timeout with 29 seconds remaining, the Titans had a one-point lead, but Hartford had the ball.
Gardner drew up a play designed to get a shot for Colten Barrett, with secondary options available as needed. Michael Wilson, who scored 13 points thanks to a few hot streaks, was the one who ended up getting a shot. He missed.
As Gardner puts it, Wilson missed the “right way.” Ralstin Wilkerson was able to get the offensive rebound for Hartford and score on a putback with 15 seconds remaining. The Jaguars (6-14) held on for a 37-36 win in the first round of their Class 1A Division I sub-state.
“It came right into my hands,” Wilkerson said. “I just kind of pump-faked and laid it up there, hoping it would go in.”
SCC (10-11) quickly ran the ball down the court and used a timeout with five seconds to go to set up one final play. Colin Kraft’s three-point attempt in the final seconds didn’t fall in.
“We’ve played three games with a difference of five points total,” SCC coach Brandt Miller said. “We beat them twice by two both times, they beat us at the buzzer tonight. So it could have gone either way the whole time and I knew it would be close down the stretch.”
A Kraft 3-pointer put the Titans ahead 7-6 in the first quarter. Using pressure defense, Hartford then went on a 15-0 run that helped the Jaguars go into halftime with a 12-point lead.
The Titans spent the second half bringing their deficit back down. By the end of the third quarter, it was a five-point game. Dusty Watts and Aaron Ludolph then scored the first two baskets of the fourth quarter to bring the Titans within one point. Another Ludolph basket later gave the Titans a 34-33 lead, their first advantage since the score was 7-6. Wilkerson hit a jumper with 3:03 remaining to put his team back in front by one point. Ludolph then made two out of his next four free throws to give the Titans the lead Wilkerson broke with 15 seconds left.
Each team had two players crack double figures. Wilson’s 13 points led all scorers and Barrett scored 11 for Hartford. Travis Bryan led SCC with 12 points and Ludolph had 11. With the win, Hartford advances to play Olpe (14-6) Friday at Allen County Community College. The Eagles had a first-round bye.
Tuesday at Southern Coffey County
Hartford 14 12 5 6 — 37
Southern Coffey 7 7 12 10 — 36
HAR: Troyer 6, Barrett 11, Wilkerson 7, Wilson 13.
SCC: Bryan 12, Ludolph 11, Kraft 3, A. True 3, Fischer 4, Watts 3.