Winston’s Redbirds did all they could do and never stopped reaching for the magic that got them to the Class 1 state championship game, but a 30th win and state title was denied by the unbeaten and hot-shooting Meadville Eagles.
This website brought to you in part by the following sponsor:
The Eagles hit 20 of 22 free throws, including all 16 tries in the final five minutes of the game, to turn back Winston, 50-46, in Saturday’s MSHSAA Class 1 Championship.
The final game of the season in Class 1 was one of lumps and bumps.
Winston held Meadville to 17 first half points, and few teams have been able to do that this season. The Redbirds tried to ramp up their defense in the final two quarters, but not always with the best results.
“In the second half, defensive-wise, I still felt like we did a good job other than the fact that we bumped them a little too much, got over aggressive and kind of lost our heads and put them on the free throw line,” Redbird Coach Tim Harding said immediately after the game. “Free throws at the end of the game are what killed us,” he added. “The clock was stopped and we couldn’t get the ball.”
The Redbirds battled through injuries as they tried to hang with the #1 ranked team in the state.
The Redbirds accepted the Class 1 second place trophy following the game.
Kristchon Hisel rolled an ankle in the early going but couldn’t be kept off the floor. Senior Chevy Calhoon aggravated what has been a recurring back injury since the Osborn Tournament by crashing into the wooden facing of the scorer’s table late in the game. He wasn’t able to return.
“We’ve got an extremely tough team,” said Coach Harding. “They’re all wonderful players and don’t want to give up,” he added.
The Eagles took the lead at the 5:46 mark of the second quarter and never gave it up but the Redbirds ended the third quarter on a high note after Hisel stole the ball and Saxton Pliley hit a layup to knock the deficit down to 25-24.
A layup by Jordan Leonard and 3-ball by Craig Lewis twice kept Winston within one point of the lead, but time was running against the Redbirds in the fourth quarter.
Meadville converted 10-of-10 free throws in a 3-minute stretch to take a seven-point advantage.
Winston shooters missed three straight treys before Pliley nailed a bomb with 12 seconds left to cut the gap to 48-43, but it was a case of too little, too late.
Craig Lewis’s last shot of the season from three-point range went in ahead of the buzzer.
For the first time in the post season, the Redbirds gave the ball up more than their opponents, 13 to 10. Leonard and Hisel combined for the team’s four steals. Meadville scored 15 points off turnovers and another 12 points off second chance shots.
Despite trailing for most of the contest, the Redbirds shot better from the field, 43% to 37%, but the telling statistic came at the foul line. Winston made only six trips to the line and converted only twice.
Hisel led Redbird scorers with 13 points. Leonard added 12 and Lewis chipped in 11.
Cade Shifflett led the Eagles with 17 points and 11 rebounds. His scoring total included 9-of-10 shooting from the charity stripe.
The Redbirds’ season ended with an all-time best record of 29-3.