Whiteland boys basketball coach Nate Cangany wishes he could bottle and shelve the way his team played the final four and a half minutes Friday night.
As for the game action leading up to that point, maybe not so much.
Seeking their first 4-0 start in 13 years, the Warriors fell behind early against visiting Perry Meridian, trailing by as many as 14 points. A spirited fourth-quarter rally wasn’t enough to overtake the Falcons, who got out of town with a hard-fought 50-44 victory.
Whiteland drops to 1-1 in the Mid-State Conference standings and 3-1 overall entering tonight’s home contest against Shelbyville.
The Falcons (2-2, 1-1 Mid-State) have now won five consecutive games against the Warriors by a total of 26 points.
Hurting Whiteland most was the 12-0 scoring run Perry Meridian went on from 5:48 of the second quarter to the 2:53 mark to break free from a 12-12 deadlock and seize control of the game.
Cangany’s squad clawed to within 42-40 with 1:06 remaining in the fourth quarter, but couldn’t get over the hump.
“In that 12-0 run, we didn’t do anything that we normally do,” Cangany said. “Offensively, we were stagnant. We were moving east to west instead of getting in attack mode and getting downhill. And then defensively, we were a step slow on their cuts, a step slow on their drives.
“They hit a couple shots that were open, a couple shots that were contested. That run was enough for them to get that cushion.”
Falcons coach Mark James, whose club took the court both averaging and allowing 40 points a game, was pleased with the composure and growth his young ball club demonstrated until the game’s late stages.
Led by 12 points apiece from junior forwards Patrick Schott and Richard Dube, Perry Meridian converted 17 of 32 field goal attempts (53.1%) compared to Whiteland’s brisk 13 of 34 (38.2%). Schott corralled a game-high seven rebounds as the Falcons won that battle, 19-16.
“Our kids shared the ball really well (during 12-0 run). This is basically our JV team from last year, so they’re still learning how to play, how to trust each other,” James said. “We don’t always communicate well, but during that time we communicated really well. The ball was moving, and I thought we were defending pretty well.”
Perry Meridian held an apparently home-free 40-28 advantage at 5:30 of the final stanza. A 3-pointer from Warriors junior Austin Willoughby lit the fuse to what was a 12-2 Whiteland run, the last points coming on a reverse layup by sophomore guard Wiatt McLaughlin following a steal near midcourt.
On the ensuing possession, a scramble for the basketball ensued in front of the Whiteland bench. The Warriors bench was whistled for a highly questionable technical foul with 59.1 seconds showing, leading to three Falcon free throws and a five-point spread.
Two more Willoughby charities got the hosts within three, but that was as close as Whiteland could get.
Senior guard Drew Higdon led all scorers with 15 for the Warriors, followed by Willoughby’s 12 and eight from senior guard Dylan Gross. Willoughby paced Whiteland in rebounds with four.
“We’ve got fighters. We’ve got guys that care and want to work hard,” Cangany said. “They weren’t happy with the first, like, 15, 16 minutes and wanted to change the tempo. They wanted to bring the energy. In the fourth quarter, it was kind of that now-or-never attitude. We’ve just got to start that sooner.”
