GOSHEN — Wilmington missed its final six shots and fell short of Goshen 56-48 Friday night in SBAAC American Division basketball.
The late-game shooting woes were par for the course for the Hurricane on this night. WHS was 18 for 55 from the floor, the only saving grace was a 6 for 12 third period.
But in the end, Goshen made its final six free throws and WHS couldn’t get over the hump after matching the Warriors at 48-48 with 2:58 to play.
Wilmington is 6-4 overall and 1-3 in the division. Goshen, winners of six straight, goes to 7-4 in all games and 2-1 in the American.
“We’re close, definitely improving as a group but for us to take the next step, we have to do the little things, which are big things,” head coach Jermaine Isaac said.
The first-year WHS coach lamented a 45-28 rebounding edge for the Warriors.
“The embarrassing thing for me as coach is our guys are getting outhustled for the 50-50 balls, outhustled for the rebounds,” Isaac said. “Hats off to Goshen. Their guys wanted it more than we did.”
Collin Barker led Wilmington with 23 points and nine rebounds. Luke Blessing had 10 points. Cole Bernhardt grabbed eight rebounds.
Goshen had four in double figure points, with Caden Zeinner hitting for 15. He also had five assists. Garrett Whitaker and Grant Steele led with nine rebounds each and combined for 21 points. Conner Moore had 11 points.
For the most part, Wilmington controlled the scoreboard in the first half. Barker had a stickback off his own miss then cashed in a field goal 12 seconds later to put WHS up 6-2 midway through the first.
Barker assisted on Kellen Baltazar’s three in the second as WHS built its advantage to 14-7. It was 20-11 Wilmington before Goshen went on a 9-0 run to tie the game. Just before the halftime buzzer, Baltazar fed Bernhardt for a reverse layin to give the Hurricane a 22-20 halftime lead.
That lead was short-lived, though, as Goshen scored 12 of the first 16 points in the second half to take a 32-26 lead with 4:17 to go in the third. The Warriors led by eight after three, 44-36, and it was 46-40 Goshen midway through the fourth.
But Wilmington started its comeback when a Collin Barker steal led to a Kellen Baltazar basket, 46-42. Barker drained a three with an assist to Cole Bernhardt, 48-45, at 3:29. Baltazar cashed in a long-distance shot with 2:58 to go and the teams were tied 48-48.
But that was the last of the offense for the Hurricane. Goshen made its free throws and the Hurricane went 0-for-6 from the field the rest of the way. Ironically, Wilmington did not have a turnover in the second half after 13 in the first two quarters.
SUMMARY
January 7, 2022
@Goshen High School
Goshen 56, Wilmington 48
G^7^13^24^12^^56
W^12^10^14^12^^48
(56) GOSHEN (fg-3fg-ft-tp) Newberry 0-0-0-0 Stroud 4-1-0-9 Moore 4-1-2-11 Zeinner 5-0-5-15 Whitaker 3-2-2-10 Steele 4-1-2-11 McKinney 0-0-0-0 Brewer 0-0-0-0 Waters 0-0-0-0 Haley 0-0-0-0 TOTALS 20-5-11-56
(48) WILMINGTON (fg-3fg-ft-tp) Blessing 4-0-2-10 Brown 0-0-0-0 Baltazar 3-1-2-0 Bernhardt 2-0-0-4 Barker 9-1-4-23 Warix 0-0-0-0 Griffith 0-0-0-0 Killen 0-0-0-0 TOTALS 18-2-10-48
FIELD GOALS: G (20-51); W (18-55) Barker 9-19
3 PT FIELD GOALS: G (5-19); W (2-13)
FREE THROWS: G (11-20); W (10-13)
REBOUNDS: G-45 (Whitaker 9 Steele 9); W-28 (Barker 9 Bernhardt 8 Blessing 4 Baltazar 3 Killen 2)
ASSISTS: G-6 (Zeinner 5); W-8 (Killen 2 Baltazar 2 Brown 2)
STEALS: G-5; W-7 (Brown 3 Blessing 2 Barker 2)
BLOCKED SHOTS: G-0; W-0
TURNOVERS: G-14; W-7
