Basketball: Stewart’s bucket saves Van Buren Pointers in wild finish

Subiaco Academy stole a game last Saturday at Southside. Thursday, they had one taken from them. Van Buren’s K.J. Stewart banked a layup as the buzzer sounded to give the Pointers a heart-stomping 68-66 win over the Trojans at Clair Bates Arena. The Pointers trailed for much of the game, and appeared to be in big trouble after the Trojans hit three 3-pointers in a span of a minute to turn a 54-51 deficit into a 60-54 lead. But the Trojans hit 3-of-6 free throws over the next minute, allowing Van Buren to chip away. The Pointers (1-1) went ahead, 66-64, on Presley Kindrix’s old-fashioned three-point play with 0:08.8 left to play. Subiaco (2-1) tied the game on two James Taylor free throws, setting the stage for Stewart’s game-winner. “That very last play, they (Subiaco) trapped Presley and he hit Gavin (Ball) with a pass, and Gavin had the presence of mind to look at the clock and turn and face K.J.,” Van Buren coach Austin Trembley said. “Our guys just made some nice plays at the end.” Back-to-back 3-pointers by Subiaco’s Devon Forst gave the Trojans a 57-54 lead with 3:22 left to play, and another trey by Thomas Myers extended the lead to six. Related More high school basketball “They pushed it (lead) out to a six-point lead, but at end of the day I’m proud of our guys for not settling,” Trembley said. “We attacked the rim; we got to the foul line and made some layups. When a team like that is going off from the 3-point line it can be very demoralizing. “I thought our guys hung in there and got the win.” The Trojans, who five days earlier rallied late to stun Southside, 64-63, took the exact same 64-63 lead with 18.8 left when Tyler Komp made 1-of-2 foul shots. After Kindrix put Van Buren ahead, the Trojans tied the game with 7.9 left on two James Taylor free throws. Taylor led the Trojans with 21 points. “We missed too many free trows down the stretch,” Subiaco coach Tim Tencleve said. “We’ll learn from this. Our rotation was bad there at the end.” Subiaco led 27-26 at the half after Taylor weaved his way through the lane for a basket at the 8.8 mark. The Trojans missed a chance to pad the lead when Bryce Tencleve fired an 85-footer as the buzzer sounded. The shot was waved off, however. In the third quarter, Van Buren was awarded two free throws after being allowed to shoot a one-and-one opportunity — even though there was just six fouls in the book. Officials later admitted their mistake during a timeout in the fourth quarter. Not lost in Van Buren’s victory was the stellar play of guard Jordan West. He finished with 28 points, followed by Kindrix and Stewart with 16 and 14, respectively. “Coach Tencleve is a coaching legend,” Trembley said. “He knows how to get his kids moving to the basketball. Our defensive emphasis was to pressure the ball and not let them pass it around so much. Well, we weren’t giving enough pressure on the ball and it was Tom Brady picking us apart.”

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Van Buren High School Athletics

BASKETBALL: STEWART’S BUCKET SAVES VAN BUREN POINTERS IN WILD FINISH

KEVIN TAYLOR

Times Record | 11/17/2017