Harrison basketball uses experience to edge Lafayette Jeff
LAFAYETTE - Harrison basketball coach Mark Rinehart can sympathize with what his opponent went through Friday night.
Two years ago, his Raiders were what Lafayette Jeff is now.
The scrappy team that found ways to stay in games, but when it came to winning time, there'd be costly mistakes that would lead to a potential collapse.
Friday night at Crawley Center, the Raiders rallied from an 11-point deficit to beat Lafayette Jeff 45-42 by making big plays in big moments while the Bronchos made catastrophic turnovers that piled up.
"You have to give Jeff credit. They deserved to win," Rinehart said. "We used our experience in the last four minutes and kind of stole it. I am sure for coach Barnhizer, those are experiences they have to go through, but we made a couple more plays than they did."
Harrison is now the team loaded with experience and because of that, Lafayette Jeff coach Mark Barnhizer knew how to defend each Raider player.
Except for one.
Six-foot-4 sophomore Malachi King was not a varsity player last season and he missed last week's IU Health Hoops Classic with the flu.
King stood on the perimeter and on a night where the Raiders shot just 39 percent, King was 5 of 6, including 4 of 4 from 3-point range, scoring 14 points to go with a game-high seven rebounds.
"We didn't have much scouting on him because he's only played one game," Barnhizer said. "All he did against Rossville was drive the ball to the basket, so that was our scouting report on him. Don't let him drive to the basket. He stood out on the 3-point line and made 3s."
King's final 3, with 3:15 remaining, marked the game's final lead change, putting Harrison ahead 40-39.
"At halftime, coach Rinehart was on us about pride, so just being on each other and running our stuff, it all came together at the end," King said. "Ben (Henderson) is the leader of the team and he is really good at helping everyone else. It gives everyone else a chance to go off and show what they can do."
His third from beyond the arc also propelled Harrison in front 37-36 and was part of a series of Jeff miscues in key situations.
The Bronchos led by four, but turned the ball over twice in a row on inbounds plays under Harrison's basket, leading to five Raider points.
The sharp shooting of senior guard Ethan Smith, who scored 12 points on four made 3s, and the first half play of Ah'keem Wilson, who scored nine of his 12 points in the first two quarters, wasn't enough for Jeff to overcome 15 turnovers.
The Raiders (5-0) chipped away after falling behind 29-18 early in the second half. Christopher Lucas scored all six of his points in a span of 2:24 during a 14-2 Raider run. Henderson matched King with a game-high 14 points and Alex Mithoefer hit a pair of clutch free throws to put the Raiders up four with 36 seconds left.
After Jeff missed a midrange jumper with 10 seconds to go that would've given the Bronchos the lead, Harrison senior Cal Gick made two free throws with 3.7 seconds left. Jeff missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
"Every practice, we have to shoot 18 free throws, three at each basket," Gick said. "We do pressure free throws all the time. All these guys worked their tails off to get stops and get a chance to win. It was great to help them."
Sam King covers sports for the Journal & Courier. Email him at sking@jconline.com and follow him on Twitter and Instagram @samueltking.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Harrison basketball uses experience to edge Lafayette Jeff
