Back-2-Back: Late free throws propel Coldwater boys to 2nd straight I-8 crown

COLDWATER, MI. — Back-2-Back Champs, for the Coldwater Cardinal boys basketball team that has a pretty nice ring to it.

For the second straight season the Coldwater Cardinal varsity boys basketball team can call themselves champions. The Cardinals wrapped up a share of the Interstate 8 conference crown Friday night, defeating the Lumen Christi Titans by the score of 40-38 to win their second straight conference title, sharing the crown this season with the Marshall Redhawks as both teams boasted a conference mark of 11-3.

For Coldwater the math was simple heading into Friday night’s Interstate 8 finale versus the Titans, win and the championship is yours for the second straight year, lose and the crown belongs to Marshall. Coldwater took care of their end of the deal but it was far from easy and with it came some drama and a whole lot of excitement.

Coldwater had managed to build a double digit lead at several moments throughout the game, however Lumen Christi had other ideas, battling back to actually take the lead late in fourth quarter until the Cardinals took care of business from the free throw line to retake the lead. After a missed free throw the Titans had a chance to either tie up the game or win it with 17 seconds remaining however the smothering Coldwater defense would not allow Lumen Christi a good look at the basket and a last ditch effort fell way short on a tipped shot, giving the Cardinals the dramatic 40-38 win.

“I wouldn’t have expected tonight to have went any differently for us, this is how nearly every game has gone for us this year,” said a relieved Coldwater head coach Aaron Bucklin. “To win here on Senior Night means even more for these great seniors. It was great battle and a heck of a ball game. All the credit goes to Lumen, they never quit and they played to the very end. I think that is a good basketball team and I wouldn’t be surprised to see them make a run in their district tournament.”

Coldwater led things early on, building a small 11-8 lead after one quarter of play thanks to a triple from Elijah Sloan and eight first quarter points from big man Donte Work.

The scoring slowed down for both teams in the second quarter as the teams played to a 5-5 stalemate, finding the halftime score of 16-13. Coldwater’s second quarter points came courtesy of buckets from Ayden Dirschell and Evan Porter in addition to a free throw from Niko Downs.

Coldwater dialed up long distance in the third quarter as a pair of Sloan triples, in addition to buckets from Dirschell, Downs and Work allowed the Cardinals to outscore Lumen Christi 13-9 to build a 29-22 lead after three quarters of play.

Coldwater opened the fourth quarter with a huge inside bucket from Work, pushing the lead to 31-22 with only a few seconds gone in the quarter, leading to a fiery timeout from the Lumen Christi head coach. The Titans responded as Brandon Stevens snapped home a three pointer on the next trip down, closing the score to 31-25 with seven minutes left in the game.

The Titans continued to reel in the Cardinals, using a pair of inside buckets, capped by a tough lay up from Timmy Crowley, to close the game to 31-29 with five minutes left in the game, leading to a Coldwater timeout.

Coldwater got back on the board at the midway point of the quarter with an Elijah Sloan jumper, giving the Cardinals a 33-29 lead with four minutes left in the game.

Lumen Christi responded with a huge three pointer by Crowley, closing the game to 33-32 with 3:15 left. After an empty possession for the Cardinals the Titans took the late 34-33 lead on an inside bucket from Aiden Pastoriza on a tough post move, giving Lumen Christi the lead with 2:30 left in the game.

Coldwater did not panic and went to their senior big man on the next trip down as Work was fouled going to the bucket, finding himself at the free throw line with just over two minutes left in the game. The senior captain came through with two clutch free throws, pushing Coldwater back into the lead at 35-34.

The scoring stayed quiet for the next minute of game time until it was freshman Gavin Taylor’s turn to come through with clutch free throws, hitting a pair from the charity stripe on a 1-and-1 with 59.5 seconds left, giving the Cardinals a 37-34 lead.

Lumen Christi wasted little time on the other end, hitting a quick bucket to close to 37-36, leading to a timeout with 50.6 seconds left. The Titans were forced to foul Coldwater sophomore Ayden Dirschell who also went to the line for a key 1-and-1. Dirschell sank both free throws with 43.3 seconds left, giving the Cardinals a three point lead once again at 39-36.

Once again Lumen Christi wasted little time getting to the bucket, hitting on an inside layup with :30 seconds left to once again close to one point at 39-38.

Coldwater was able to get the inbound pass in and move the ball past half court, eating up a good chunk of time before the Titans got the foul, sending Dirschell back to the line for another 1-and-1. The sophomore drilled the first of two shots, giving the Cardinals a 40-38 lead with 17.1 seconds left, leading to Lumen using their final timeout.

Dirschell’s second free throw rimmed out and was rebounded by Lumen Christi as the clock began to tick away. The Titans moved the ball up the floor and found themselves trapped inside the paint with nowhere to go and the time quickly melting away. Lumen finally was able to get out of the paint and kicked the ball to the perimeter however the time seemed to have gotten away from them. In a desperation attempt the Titans heaved a last second shot from the corner, a shot that was partially blocked leaving the last second shot attempt well short. The ball fell harmlessly to the court as the Cardinals celebrated their huge 40-38 win, a victory that assured them a share of the Interstate 8 conference crown.

“Tonight was a tough one and the credit has to go to Lumen Christi and coach Josh Tropea,” said Bucklin. “It was a combination of things, they changed up defenses really well between man-to-man and zone, they threw out some full court pressure on us, then they threw out a wrinkle in the fourth quarter where they brought in a new lineup of guys that got them right back into the game. I have seen a lot of tape on Lumen and there wasn’t much on there about that group of guys so hats off to coach Tropea who really coached his heart out today, it was a battle for sure.”

Coldwater had two players reach double figures in the win, led by big man Donte Work who had a game high 15 points to go along with three rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Senior Elijah Sloan also hit double digits for the Cardinals, pouring in 11 points off the bench. Sloan also added two rebounds.

Also adding to the Cardinal winning effort was Ayden Dirschell with seven points, seven rebounds, two assists and three steals; Niko Downs with three points, two rebounds and three assists; Gavin Taylor with two points, two rebounds, two assists and two steals; and Evan Porter with two points.

“Tonight we had a little bit of everything doing it for us, you know we had everyone from a freshman to a sophomore to a senior going to the free throw line for us and they all came up clutch, as they have done all season long,” said Bucklin. “These guys work so hard each and every day in practice for me and in the end they just have that clutch gene. They stepped up when we needed them to step up and we took care of business.”

Lumen Christi was led on the night by Timmy Crowley with 13 points, the lone Titan in double figures. Joe Lathers also had a solid night with nine points. With the loss Lumen Christi falls to 11-9 overall on the season and 6-8 in the Interstate 8. The Titans will look to finish out their 2022-23 regular season with a Tuesday matchup versus Jackson High School followed by a season finale battle with Hillsdale next Thursday.

Coldwater meanwhile improves to 13-7 overall on the season and caps off an Interstate 8 Conference Championship with a conference record of 11-3, sitting tied atop the standings with the Marshall Redhawks. Coldwater will put a cap on their 2022-23 regular season next week with a Tuesday trip to Otsego (14-4 on the year) followed by a home finale versus Portage Central (6-13) on Thursday.

This article originally appeared on Coldwater Daily Reporter: Coldwater boys wrap up second straight I-8 championship