New London slips past St. Paul

NEW LONDON — Even in the moment, Tom Howell was hesitant. The veteran New London boys basketball coach was dealing with the usual question a team with the lead faces in the fourth quarter Saturday night against St. Paul. The Wildcats held a 52-49 lead over the Flyers with 3:13 left in the Firelands Conference game at New London High School. Howell then decided to start working the clock, with the visitors needing to foul another four times to reach the bonus. Despite a couple tense moments, it worked. New London was able to go ahead by two possessions in the final 37 seconds of a 58-53 win. The Wildcats are 4-1 overall and 2-1 in the FC, which doubles last season's win total in just five games. "It was a tough decision, but it's something we've been practicing a little bit because we feel like we have the guards to do it," Howell said. "After a couple of possessions, I just didn't like the way it looked, and we told them to take an open look if we had it. "There were a couple times under two minutes where we did shoot it, but I just didn't want us to turn it over," he added. "We have to continue to work on those things. We have a lot of seniors, but also a freshman among three underclassmen out there at times. We're not used to that part of the game." Down 32-28 after St. Paul's Isaac Kalizewski scored the first five points of the third quarter, NL went on a 10-0 run over the next 3:06 to take control. Henry Thomas made a 3-pointer from the top of the key, then Jaxson Schaffer was able to split two free throws and scored underneath the basket for a 34-32 lead at the 3:22 mark of the third. Grady Heileman drove to the lane and scored to make it 36-32, then Schaffer was fouled again and made both free throws for a 38-32 lead at the 1:56 mark. St. Paul (4-4, 0-3) got a score down low from Connor Lindenberger to stop a 4:21 scoring drought, but it didn't last long. Jarrett Mencl answered with a 3, then Heilman scored on the next NL possession for a 43-34 lead with just 26.6 seconds left in the third. "It's almost like we took that four-point lead, exhaled, and got punched in the gut," St. Paul head coach Steve Minor said. "We got the wind knocked out of us, and by the time we caught our breath, we were down six and trying to fight our way back." But the Flyers did fight back. Nate Griffin hit a huge 3 with 9.2 seconds left in the third to cut the deficit to 43-37. St. Paul then got two free throws from Landon Fries to open the fourth, and then Griffin was fouled on a three-point attempt with 7:12 left. He made all three, and then off an NL miss, he rebounded a missed shot and scored to cap a 10-0 run for a 44-43 lead with 6:58 left in the game. After each team traded the lead on consecutive baskets, Jackson Mitchell scored off a miss for the 'Cats with 4:23 left to make it 49-46. After Lindenberger split two free throws, Mencl made his third 3, this one from the corner for a 52-47 lead with 3:26 remaining. "Jarrett hit some big shots tonight, but especially that one," Howell said. "Huge shot." Kalizwski then made two free throws with 3:13 left to pull the Flyers within 52-49, which is when Howell opted to shorten the game. Thomas scored with 2:26 remaining, but Kalizewski answered at the other end with 2:01 left to make it 54-51. Heileman was then fouled with 36.7 seconds left and made the first shot. He missed the second, but Thomas was there for the rebound and was fouled with 30 seconds left. He also split the pair to put the 'Cats up 56-51, then both teams traded free throws in the final 17 seconds. "That rebound Henry got, he went over three of our guys and just decided he was taking it, and that was huge," Minor said. "We needed that to give ourselves a chance. We made some adjustments at the end, but we needed them to miss to give ourselves a shot at the end, and it just didn't happen. We just couldn't get over the hump in key spots." The first half was streaky for both teams. New London quickly led 7-3 less than two minutes in as Thomas scored consecutively from the floor and at the line. Griffin answered with consecutive baskets of his own for the Flyers, including a 3 for an 8-7 lead at the 5:12 mark. Trailing 12-11, the 'Cats then closed the quarter with six straight points over the final 3:02 to take a 17-12 lead. That included two straight scores from Schaffer on a baseline jumper and in the key. Both teams traded baskets to start the second quarter, giving NL a 19-15 lead. This time, it was the Flyers who went on a run with eight straight points in just 49 seconds. Kade Houck converted a three-point play, and then, after an NL turnover, Fries drilled a 3 from the right wing. After another turnover by the 'Cats, Brady Fritz scored in transition to give St. Paul a 23-19 lead with 5:15 left in the half. But back came the Wildcats, as they went on a 9-0 run over a 3:32 span to take a 28-23 lead. Four different players scored in the run for NL, including Mitchell, a 3 by Mencl, and two straight scores from Schaffer and Thomas, the last with 1:23 left in the second quarter. St. Paul closed the gap to a point at halftime, however. Lindenberger rebounded a missed shot from short range with 59.2 seconds to go, then Fries scored on a short right baseline jumper with 26.4 seconds left in the half to make it 28-27 at the break. Thomas and Schaffer each finished with 15 points and five rebounds for New London. Heileman scored 11 points, as did Mencl, while Mitchell grabbed nine rebounds. "It was a tough game," Howell said. "I think defensively we made them take tough shots, but we also didn't finish all the time at the other end. We didn't finish a play a lot, but I still think we made them do some things they didn't like doing despite them out-rebounding us. "But we again made our free throws, and that always helps, too." New London is at Rittman on Monday before another key test awaits on Dec. 27 at Plymouth (4-2, 3-0). For St. Paul, Griffin scored 18 points and had six rebounds. Kalizewski added 11 points and seven rebounds, while Fries had 10 points. Lindenberger added seven points and seven rebounds. The Flyers have seven days off before hosting Mapleton (0-5, 0-3) on Dec. 27. "We did a lot of the things we wanted to do but just came up a little short," Minor said. "We held them in the 50s and played much better defensively from Thursday (70-54 loss to South Central). New London took Western to the wire, and this is a tough place to play. "You knew it was coming, but they are probably a bit ahead of schedule as far as getting back on track. I told our kids that 0-3 in the FC is a heck of a hole, so our only focus right now can be on our next game. Right now we're at the bottom with Mapleton, and that's not who we want to be. So we want to put the time in, enjoy the holiday, and be ready for them next Saturday." ST. PAUL (4-4, 0-3) Nate Griffin 5-5—18; Connor Lindenberger 3-1—7; Kade Houck 1-1—3; Isaac Kalizewski 4-2—11; Brady Fritz 2-0—4; Landon Fries 3-3—10. TOTALS 18-12—53. NEW LONDON (4-1, 2-1) Henry Thomas 5-3—15; Jackson Mitchell 2-0—4; Grady Heileman 4-3—11; Garrett Carruthers 1-0—2; Jaxson Schaffer 6-3—15; Jarrett Mencl 3-2—11. TOTALS 21-11—58. St. Paul 12 15 10 16 — 53 N. London 17 11 15 15 — 58 3-point FGs: (SP) Griffin 3, Kalizwski, Fries; (NL) Mencl 3, Thomas 2. JV: St. Paul, 44-32.