Boys basketball: Wyatt West, Hall ‘Happy’ after win over Bureau Valley

MANLIUS - It was a “Happy” finish for Wyatt West and the Hall Red Devils on Friday night.

West hit the second of a two-foul shot off a hustle play and the Red Devils held on for a 57-56 victory over host Bureau Valley in Three Rivers East play at the Storm Cellar.

Hall coach Mike Filippini felt like it was a bit of destiny that West would have the game-winner.

“Happy as heck for Wyatt. His grandpa and grandma own Happy’s [gas station] and we had to go fill up the white bus at Happy’s and I told him the reason we won the game is because grandma and grandpa’s gas helped us,” he said. “It was a Happy day for the Red Devils for once. They get to celebrate for about (15) hours because they got to play tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. against Reed-Custer.”

Bureau Valley’s Elijah Endress hit a 3-pointer with nothing but net to tie the game at 56 with 7.3 seconds left.

Hall (8-9, 1-3) rushed the ball down for a shot for Payton Dye. He missed, but West crashed the boards for the rebound. He was fouled going up for a shot, sending him to the line with 3.3 left.

“After he hit that spin, I saw he missed it, got it and went right back with it. Got fouled,” West said.

“That whole play at the end doesn’t happen if Wyatt doesn’t hustle his butt off because that play was supposed to be for Payton for a layup,” Filippini said. “Payton caught it, spun, hustled down there and shot it. If Wyatt doesn’t sprint his butt down, we’re still playing. He deserved to make that free throw. He had a heck of a game. Hustle plays like that are what win you games.”

West felt like the loneliest man in the gym when he missed the first charity toss. But he calmly hit the second to put the Red Devils up one.

“With all those people screaming, I was kind of nervous. I couldn’t even hear myself think,” said West, who last made a game-winning free throw “way back in the eighth grade.”

West led all scorers with 23 points, including six 3-pointers on the night. Sophomore Braden Curran added 16 points for Hall.

For BV, Endress had 19 points, Justin Moon had 14 and Corban Chhim added 10.

The Storm (11-8, 1-2) took a 43-42 lead at the end of the third quarter on a runner by Endress. They upped it to 45-42 on a pair of free throws by Moon to open the fourth quarter and took a 48-47 lead, their last of the night, on Endress’ first of three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter.

The biggest lead of the second half was five by Hall, after a 5-0 swing, to go up 55-50 with 30.6 remaining.

Hall, which lives and dies by the 3, opened the game with three straights 3s, two by West and one by Max Bryant. The Red Devils added one more to take a 16-13 lead at quarter’s end.

“We know Bureau was going to play zone. In that 2-3, they’re aggressive and there’s going to be a lot of holes in it and there’d be a lot of opportunities to shoot 3s. Luckily for us, we made them tonight,” Filippini said.

“We don’t have any big guys to dump it in to. I’d love to have [BV’s Landon Hulsing]. We’ve got to dump it in to them by 20 feet.”

The Storm used a 3-pointer of their own by Endress, followed by a hoop by Moon to take its only lead of the half at 26-25 with 3:06 left before intermission.

Curran wiped that out with a basket off a dish by Bryant and a three-point play to stake the Red Devils to a 30-26 halftime lead.

“I thought our effort was good. I didn’t think our end game adjustments to recognizing the shooters was good at all,” BV coach Jason Marquis said. “I thought we had too many empty possessions where we passed it once or twice and took a poor shot. Hall, as usual, has good shooters, spaced the floor well and hit their open shots.”

Notes: The Storm are back in action Saturday facing Eastland for a 3 p.m. sophomore tip followed by the varsity. After the game, BV will host a Brad Bickett Appreciation Night to honor its former longtime coach, who is retiring as athletic director at the end of this school year. … Hall won the sophomore game 41-40. Noah Plym had 10 points and Chase Burkhart and Luke Bryant added eight each for the Red Demons. BV’s Blake Foster led all scorers with 21, while Brandon Carrington added 10 for the Storm.