Triad’s Hunter Thompson (3) gets a charging foul after running into Shekinah Christian’s Austin Helmuth (11) during the second half. The senior Cardinal notched 10 points in the team’s loss to the Flames.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Aleksei Pavloff)
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Triad’s boys basketball team exhausted four quarters before coming up short against Shekinah Christian, 78-75, in an overtime thriller.
Since defeating neighboring Fairbanks earlier this month, the Cardinals have been on a downward trend with setbacks to Greeneview and Mechanicsburg.
On Tuesday, Triad welcomed Shekinah Christian into Cardinal Country for its senior night festivities.
Prior to tipoff, the Cardinals paid tribute to seniors Gage Heitman, Hunter Thompson, Kane Bailey, Wyatt Robison, Herman Grefslie, Cameron Thomas and Owen Veith.
Despite trailing the Flames by 11 points entering the fourth quarter, the Cardinals’ resiliency proved vital in forcing an overtime session.
Shekinah struck gold from beyond the arc during the opening portion of the non-conference matchup.
“We knew they had some kids who could really shoot it,” Triad coach Adam Moore said. “We wanted to throw a bunch of different looks at them.”
One minute into the game prompted the first trey by Shekinah’s Riley Helmuth.
Austin Helmuth followed suit for a 6-0 Flame lead.
Thomas secured Triad’s first points.
The Flames remained hot from beyond the arc and boosted their lead to 17-7.
“We didn’t think they’d make that many shots,” Bailey said. “When they were making them, we just hoped to stay in it.”
The Cardinals clawed back with Robison’s trey to pull within 17-10.
Braelyn Feasel came through with another trifecta to narrow the gap to 17-13.
Triad’s defense began to pick up steam. A steal by Bailey led to a three-point play making it a one-score game (17-16) with 1:05 left in the period.
Alex Bauermeister responded with an “and-one” call for Shekinah.
His free throw boosted the Flames to a 20-16 lead entering the second period.
The Cardinals struggled to overturn the mistakes made in the first period.
SC still outscored them 26-21 in the second set.
Bailey notched eight points in the quarter, with another five coming from Thompson.
Riley Helmuth also tallied eight points in the period.
That led to Shekinah’s 46-37 halftime spread.
“We just had to get out on their two shooters who were mostly scoring and take care of the ball,” Bailey said.
Riley Helmuth claimed the first bucket of the second half for a 48-37 Shekinah lead.
Thomas’ three-ball kept the game from getting out of hand.
The Flames, though, led 52-42 at the 3:08 mark of the period.
Shekinah took a 54-43 margin at the start of the fourth quarter.
Triad’s defense limited the Flames to 10 points during that stretch.
The Cardinals moved to a full-court press which paid dividends.
With less than three minutes left in the fourth set, Triad’s Brayden Hoffman struck with a trey, chopping the Flames’ lead to 60-58.
Bailey then fought his way into the paint for a 60-all stalemate.
“I thought defensively, we played pretty well in the second half,” Moore said. “With about five minutes left in the fourth quarter, we knew we had to get a spark.”
SC’s Jayce Yoder scored for a 62-60 edge.
With 1:49 left in regulation, Triad’s Hoffman hit a free throw.
After a defensive standoff, Yutzy gave Shekinah a 64-61 margin with 30 seconds on the clock.
Bailey nailed a trey with five seconds to play, tying the contest at 64.
That sent the game into overtime.
“When we called a timeout, I told them before they left the huddle ‘when Kane makes this, this is what we are doing,’” Moore said. “I had all the confidence in him … he is a big-game player.”
“I was ready for it,” Bailey said. “I got open and was excited, but the job wasn’t finished.”
SC got two free throws by A. Helmuth and bucket from Bauermeister.
“We just had to match them,” Bailey said. “Their posts were open most of the night, which was on me mostly.”
After missing an offensive opportunity, Riley Helmuth knocked down two free throws for a 70-64 Flames’ lead with two minutes left in overtime.
“They made a couple of shots early and we missed our first couple of shots,” said Moore. “It really didn’t allow us to get into that full-court pressure that we had success with late in the fourth period,” he said. “It was tough to get that momentum back.”
Bailey led Triad (4-16) with 28 points, followed by 12 from Thomas.
“I am really proud of our kids and the effort they played with tonight,” Moore said. “That’s what we want our program to be, especially with our seniors displaying the way we want to play.”
The Cardinals will play at Greenon today.
“We need to work on making shots,” Bailey said. “Once we do that, there is no one we can’t beat. I think we will be a tough team come tournament.”
Triad
Heitman 1-3-5, Thompson 3-2-10, Bailey 8-8-28, Thomas 4-2-12, Veith 1-0-2, Robison 2-0-6, Hoffman 4-0-9, Feasel 1-0-3. Three-point goals: Thompson 2, Bailey 4, Thomas 2, Robison 2, Hoffman.
Shekinah Christian
Henson 2-4-8, Yoder 1-1-4, Bauermeister 9-4-22, Yutzy 3-3-9, A. Helmuth 4-4-15, R. Helmuth 7-2-20. Three-point goals: Yoder, A. Helmuth 3, R. Helmuth 4.