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St. Marys' Austin Parks battles to go to the basket during Thursday's Division II district semifinal against Van Wert at Liberty-Benton. Parks scored 30 points, but the Roughriders fell to the Cougars 56-55 on a last-second 3-pointer.
BENTON RIDGE - St. Marys coach Dan Hegemier wanted his team to foul after an Austin Parks free throw.
Van Wert coach Ben Laudick wanted a timeout.
Neither coach got what they wanted, but A.J. Proffitt gave the Cougars just what they needed.
The Van Wert senior beat the buzzer with a 3-pointer to give the Cougars a 56-55 victory over the Roughriders in the Division II boys basketball district semifinal on Thursday night at Liberty-Benton High School.
Van Wert's A.J. Proffitt hits the game-winning 3-pointer to lead the Cougars past the Roughriders.
The Cougars (17-7) take on top-seeded Defiance on Saturday in Benton Ridge for a berth to the Bowling Green regional. The Bulldogs defeated Shawnee 65-58 in the nightcap. St. Marys ends its season at 18-6.
"We expected a very close game," said Laudick, whose squad lost 62-60 at St. Marys during the regular season. "All the credit goes to our guys buying into the gameplan we threw out this week."
The game featured 11 lead changes - four coming in the fourth quarter - as St. Marys fought back from a seven-point deficit midway through the second quarter to have the lead until the final horn.
"We battled back (and) battled back," said Hegemier. "Very proud of the kids. It was tough playing against a bunch of quick kids."
Van Wert led 24-22 at the half and quickly made it 26-22 on a Garett Gunter layup a minute into the third quarter. St. Marys kept pushing as the teams traded bucket for bucket, but Van Wert led 42-37 going to the final quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Parks, who had 22 of the Riders' 37 points through three quarters, continued to be the go-to, getting a bucket before converting the free throw as part of a hoop-and-harm 3-point play to tie the game at 42-all with 6:54 to play. The Cougars lost the ball on a player control foul, leading Jace Turner to break the tie and give St. Marys its first lead since the second quarter at 44-42.
After another Cougar turnover, Parks scored again to make it 46-42. Aidan Pratt cut the margin to 46-44 with just over 4 1/2 minutes to play, then after nearly two minutes of scoreless play, Proffitt knocked down a 3-pointer to put Van Wert ahead at 47-46. St. Marys quickly countered after a Cougar timeout, as Turner knocked down a shot from the arc 30 seconds later to make it 49-47.
St. Marys' Jace Turner and Van Wert's Aidan Pratt box out for a rebound.
"We had some problems early on, but then settled down and got the ball into Austin," said Hegemier. "Good things happened."
On the ensuing Cougar possession, Pratt was called for a charge, but after a brief discussion of all three officials, it was ruled that Pratt got the bucket before committing the foul, tying the game and giving St. Marys the ball with just under 20 minutes to play. Evan Angstmann, who struggled most of the evening and had not made a field goal, finally got one to drop with 82 seconds to play to give St. Marys a 51-49 lead.
After Van Wert missed a shot, Cobain Owens, who had hit a big 3-pointer in the third quarter, was fouled and went to the line for the double-bonus. Owens missed the first but made the second to make it a 52-49 game with 48.8 seconds to play in regulation. Gunter drove and got the layup to make it a one-point game again before Owens was fouled again. This time, the junior guard made both free throws to raise the lead back to 54-51 with 31.8 seconds left.
St. Marys' Cobain Owens looks for a pass as Van Wert's Nate Phillips defends in the Division II district semifinals at Liberty-Benton on Thursday.
Van Wert missed a shot, but the Roughriders turned the ball over near the Cougar basket, allowing Pratt to score with five seconds left to again make it a one-point game. Parks was immediately fouled after the timeout, but made just the back-end of the double-bonus to make it a two-point game with 4.2 seconds left.
Hegemier tried to get the Riders to foul on the inbounds, having four fouls to give before putting the Cougars in the bonus. Meanwhile, the Cougar coaches were looking to use their final timeout, but neither the officials or players noticed as the Cougars got the ball inbounds and down to Proffitt in the corner. Proffitt got the shot off in time and saw the ball swish through the net just as the horn sounded, sending Van Wert players, followed by the student section, onto the court with St. Marys players stunned.
"We tried to foul them at the end, but they were too quick," said Hegemier.
"Coach Hegemier was telling them to foul and I was calling for a timeout, and neither happened," said Laudick. "We were lucky enough to make a shot. Credit to A.J. He's been ridden like a mule at points this season for tough love. Doesn't start, but gets the big shot to put us in the district final."
The loss ended a stellar high school career for Parks, who went over the 1,500-point mark in his career in the contest as he scored 30 points and pulled down seven rebounds to become the school's all-time rebound leader, passing current Celina coach Adam Johns.
"We knew Parks was going to score his and we had to do our best contain the other guys," said Laudick. "They did a great job."
Owens and Turner each had nine as they and Angstmann return next season.
Proffitt hit four 3-pointers on the night to finish with a game-high 12 for Van Wert. Pratt had 11 and Gunter scored 10.
Both teams shot exceptionally well in the second half. Van Wert shot 15-of-21 after halftime and St. Marys went 12-of-17.
