ANDERSON, Ind. —
In the end, it took eight seconds of insane defense to end the Anderson boys basketball team’s eight-game losing streak.
In a game twice postponed by weather, the Indians held off a last-ditch rally at Huntington North for a 59-58 North Central Conference victory on Wednesday.
“It’s huge,” Tribe coach Joe Nadaline said during a phone interview from the team’s bus after the game. “I’m happy for our kids because they’ve been playing so hard and putting themselves in position (to win).”
Anderson (7-11, 2-4 NCC) has had several close calls since its last win, a 72-42 demolition of Frankton in the semifinals of the Madison County Tournament on Jan. 4. But the Indians never have been able to close the deal.
They lost by eight points against Class 4A No. 4 Pendleton Heights in the county title game, by seven points against 17-3 Richmond on Feb. 3 and by eight again to Class 3A No. 2 Muncie Central on Feb. 9.
Things were heading in that direction again Wednesday against the Vikings (4-16, 0-6).
The Indians trailed by eight with about two minutes to play but rallied to take a 59-56 lead with 11 seconds left.
With one foul to give, Nadaline told his team not to let Huntington North get a shot up. But Derrick Dabney did his job a bit too well and was whistled for an intentional foul.
“He left the door open for that to be called,” Nadaline said.
The Vikings sank both free throws to cut the deficit to one with eight seconds remaining, but the Indians turned up the defensive pressure and never let the hosts get a good look at the basket on their final possession.
“We got ourselves into a really bad spot,” Nadaline said. “But then we did something we haven’t done all year, and that’s make plays at the end of the game.”
Trey Boyd led the Indians with 17 points. Jalin Beard, Terrance Johnson and Dabney added 10 points each.
Anderson travels to New Castle (14-3, 3-3) to close NCC play Friday.
“We’ve been close, and we’ve been close against some really good teams,” Nadaline said. “We just didn’t execute at the end of the game. Hopefully, now, we can build off of this win.”
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Anderson's Trey Boyd drives to the basket during a game earlier this season. Don Knight
Discussion
Indians put stop to slide
Anderson defeats Huntington North in 59-58 thriller
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