By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
Friday night's Mid-East League boys basketball contest between St. Marys and Silver Lake came down to the fourth and final quarter, and with several lead changes throughout the game, there wasn't a clear runaway favorite until the game's last two minutes.
Silver Lake's Troy Heiman led the Eagles to the hard-earned 55-48 rivalry victory, scoring 13 of his 21 points in crunch time in the fourth quarter.
Silver Lake senior Troy Heiman (30) scored 21 points, including 13 in the fourth quarter, in the Eagles' 55-48 Mid-East League win over St. Marys. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Silver Lake sophomore Jared Johnson scored 13 points, with four 3-pointers, in the Eagles' 55-48 win over St. Marys Friday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Heiman went 5 of 8 from the free throw line and had four 2-point field goals..
Friday night's home win was precisely the momentum Silver Lake needed heading to winter break Heiman said.
"I've struggled on my free throws this year, and hitting those with the game on the line gave me confidence," Heiman said. "My confidence was high tonight. When shots were going down, it just gave me hope. The energy was great in here tonight.
"I have to credit the student section and fans; they brought it. It was packed tonight, and the fans really helped us get that win."
St. Marys forward and Washburn football commit Kellen Hurla didn't make life easy for Silver Lake's players, coaches or fans. The senior dropped 31 points, including 12 in the fourth quarter.
It, indeed, was a marquee matchup between Heiman and Hurla.
"Credit to St. Marys, St. Marys is a dang good team," Silver Lake coach Johnny Roberts said. "They've got great ballplayers. They've been in the state tournament for the last couple of years. We knew it was going to be a dog fight, and it was."
The importance of having high energy is one of the top priorities for Silver Lake. The Eagles played 11 players on Friday night, and nine Eagles scored.
"I'm proud of our guys for buying into what we are trying to do here," Roberts said. "Our culture is a defensive-minded team that gets stops and scores. We played together as a team. Our first five got us in a great spot to start the second half; the bench group came in and kept the flow rolling. It was a team effort."
St. Marys opened the first quarter on a 10-2 run over the Eagles. The key for that opening run for the Bears was offensive rebounds and the sharpshooter Kason Gomez. St. Marys missed quite a few early shots but collected seven offensive rebounds. Gomez collected 8 points in a 2:31 span, including two 3-pointers.
Silver Lake fought back with a vengeance after the Eagles called a timeout. After trailing 10-2, the Eagles were able to go on an 8-0 run to close out the quarter. Heiman, Brody Deiter and a buzzer-beating 3-point shot from Jared Johnson tied the game up at 10 apiece to end the first quarter.
St. Marys opened the second quarter with a 9-0 run, but Silver Lake called a timeout and went on an 11-0 run.
With two minutes left in the quarter, Johnson hit three 3-pointers back-to-back-to-back to give Silver Lake a slim 2-point lead. Four consecutive made free throws converted by Brady Hurla and Keller Hurla allowed St. Marys to gain a 2-point lead with 26.2 seconds left.
"Big credit to Jared Johnson in that second quarter," Roberts said. "He kept hitting shot after shot. Before you knew it, we looked at the scoreboard and went on an 11-0 run. Coming off the bench and hitting all of those threes got us back in the game."
Heiman would hit a contested layup and tied the game 25-25 to end the half.
Both defenses would force a ton of missed shots in the quarter. As a result, points in the paint were hard to come by in the third quarter.
Silver Lake's bench production was crucial for the Eagles to gain a slim lead to end the third quarter. Elijah Lopez, Braxton McDaniel and Noah Streit all played a vital role on the offensive front in the quarter.
Keller Hurla would end the quarter with five straight points for St. Marys, condensing the Silver Lake lead to just two points to end the quarter.
Silver Lake would start the fourth quarter exceptionally well. A 9-1 run by Silver Lake to begin the quarter was enormous. The game was played so tightly, and the production from the Eagles frontcourt led the way.
Heiman had the hot hand for the Eagles and his 13-point quarter was the difference in the Silver Lake home victory.
Silver Lake (2-2, 2-0) will have nearly a three-week break before it plays again. On January 3rd, Silver Lake will travel down US-24 Highway to take on Rossville.
SILVER LAKE BOYS 55, ST. MARYS 48
St. Marys 10 15 9 14 – 48
Silver Lake 10 15 11 19 – 55
St. Marys (2-2, 1-0) – B. Hurla 0 2-3 2, Gomez 6 0-1 15, K. Hurla 10 7-9 31, Sommers 0 0-0 0, Rezac 0 0-2 0. 16 9-13 47.
Silver Lake (2-2, 1-0) – D. Johnson 1 2-4 4, Martin 1 0-3 2, Stithem 2 1-3 5, Vande Velde 1 0-0 2, Heiman 7 7-11 21, J. Johnson 4 1-2 13, Lopez 1 2-2 4, Deiter 1 0-0 2, McDaniel 1 0-0 2. Totals – 19 13-25 55.
3-point goals – Silver Lake 4 (J. Johnson 4), St. Marys 7 (K. Hurla 4, Gomez 3.) Total fouls – Silver Lake 17, St. Marys 13. Fouled out – St. Marys, Hutley. Silver Lake, Martin. Technical fouls – none.
