Indy Chronicler

RUSSIAVILLE — Western’s boys basketball team was unable to overcome a rash of turnovers and missed free throws against Hamilton Heights on Friday night at Richard R. Rea Gymnasium.

The Huskies beat the Panthers 57-52 in overtime in a Hoosier Conference East Division game.

The Panthers opened the fourth quarter with a 43-36 lead, but they proceeded to struggle the rest of regulation. They committed six turnovers in the quarter and made just 2 of 6 free throws.

“It felt like the Twin Lakes game all over again where we didn’t make plays to win the game,” Western coach Cam Bennington said, referring to the Panthers’ triple-OT loss to Twin Lakes on Nov. 25.

The Huskies improved to 2-4 overall and 1-0 in the division. The Panthers dropped to 3-4 and finished division play 1-2.

Feasting on the Panthers’ turnovers, the Huskies opened the fourth quarter with a 12-3 run to take a 48-46 lead with 2:28 left. But from there, the Huskies matched the Panthers in mistakes and missed chances.

Western guard Carter Biggs brought the Panthers within 48-47 when he split a pair of free throws following a Husky offensive foul — and when Heights followed with another turnover, Biggs returned to the line at :02. He made the first attempt for a 48-48 tie, but missed the second and the game went to OT.

The Huskies controlled the extra session. They won the tip, went to a spread offense and worked time off the clock before Tyler Champion drew a foul at 3:02. He made both of his free throws for a 50-48 lead. The Panthers quickly answered as Hudson Biggs scored inside for a 50-50 tie at 2:33, but the Huskies went back to the spread until John Irion scored on a open drive at :45.

After Western missed on the other end, Heights had control. Tillman Etchison made two free throws at :30 for a 54-50 lead. Western’s Logan Nelson scored at :16 to make it a two-point game, but Etchison hit two more free throws at :09 to make it 56-52 and all but seal it.

“When it came winning time and it was time to do things winners do, we kind of folded and didn’t do that, from not taking care of the basketball [to missed free throws],” Bennington said. “A lot of the turnovers have to do with things that we preach every day not doing like leaving our feet to pass.”

Bennington said the Huskies didn’t do anything unexpected.

“I just felt like our attention to detail and our focus started to lapse a little bit and we forgot about the things that were important,” he said. “That’s kind of been our theme — as games go on and we get tired, our mental focus kind of lapses.”

The teams went back and forth in the first half with Western leading 21-16 after the first quarter and 31-29 at halftime. The Panthers took care of the ball fairly well in the first half, but they struggled to finish defensive possessions with rebounds as the Huskies had nine second-chance points in the half.

“We let them get every rebound and every loose ball,” Bennington said. “If we do those things, I don’t think that the game is all that close at halftime. Instead, we go into the locker room feeling like we’re down eight even though we’re up two.”

Champion led the Huskies with 17 points. Etchison and Irion had 13 apiece and Dreydin Serna had 10.

Carter Biggs and Nelson led Western with 16 points apiece. Sam Thurston had seven and Hudson Biggs and Aidan Quillen had six apiece.

Western will look to bounce back when it hosts Oak Hill on Tuesday and West Lafayette on Thursday.

“It’s two more games that are going to be similar to the one we just played [Friday]. We’re playing two well-coached teams that play really hard and are really physical,” Bennington said. “If we’re not improving on the little details and those winning plays, it will be the same result the next two times.”