BOYS BASKETBALL | Braylon Wenger's buzzer-beater lifts Dalton over Smithville, into first place in WCAL
DALTON — As Braylon Wenger’s shot attempt as time expired bounced off the glass and hit just about every part of the rim Friday night, all the Dalton crowd could do was hold its collective breath.
But with the night the junior was having, there was no doubt it was going to drop in.
Wenger connected on the game-winning basket to cap off a career night as the Bulldogs outlasted Smithville 65-63 in a showdown for possession of first place in the Wayne County Athletic League.
It was the fitting end to a stellar 34-point effort for the 6-foot-4 guard on a night when his team needed every bit of that career performance.
“It was almost like a heavyweight boxing match,” Dalton coach Kaleb Reed said. “They kept throwing haymakers, we kept taking them, and we stumbled there a little bit in the fourth quarter, but we got our balance back, got our heads right and came out and gave them our best shot.
“Whoever it was needed to step up tonight, and kudos to Braylon for being the guy that we needed him to be.”
From the opening quarter, when Wenger scored 10 points as the Bulldogs (11-3, 8-1) built an early double-digit lead over the Smithies, he seemed to be locked in. The result was a 13-of-19 shooting performance from the field – including 4 of 8 from 3-point range — in surpassing his personal-best scoring output of 31, set earlier this season.
After draining one of the shots from beyond the arc on a step-back lift with 14.9 seconds in regulation, Wenger stole a pass off the hands of the Smithies’ Reece Riggenbach and proceed to race down the near sideline with two guys draped on him.
He then rose up, just a step off the lane line, and kissed a shot off the glass that – after hitting the rim in three different spots – fell through and set the packed Dalton gym into a frenzy.
“It was just instinct,” Wenger said. “I knew when he went to set the screen that he was popping back and then try to give them a shot to win the game. I just read it and got the steal, went up the sideline and drove in there and threw up a floater and it went in.
“I work on that a lot. It's a shot for situations like that where you need it to win the game. It was good to see it go in.”
The shot was the capper to a game that had all the drama that should be expected considering it helped decide which team would take sole possession of the top spot in the WCAL standings.
The Bulldogs stormed out to an 18-7 lead at the end of the first quarter and maintained that 11-point advantaged at the half, but before Smithville (11-5, 8-2) started to slowly chip away at the deficit after the break.
The Smithies put their trust in junior Carter Piatt, who finished with a season-high 31 points on 11-of-16 shooting. The crafty guard sliced through the Dalton defense at will in the second half, leading a rally that tied the score 50-all on his and-one play.
Paitt struck again on the next two possessions, sinking two free throws for Smithville’s first lead of the night with 4:53 remaining and then a left-handed finish in transition to cap an 11-0 run that made it 54-50.
From there, however, Wenger got going again with a personal 8-0 spurt before the teams traded the lead four different times over the final two minutes.
“I thought we got into a rhythm offensively; sometimes it feeds defense and other times you get caught trading baskets,” Smithies coach Corey Kauffman said of the second half. “We didn't do a good enough of job of showing bodies early against (Braylon); obviously we knew what he was capable of doing.”
Smithville took a 62-60 lead on a 3-pointer by Mac Butzer (14 points, 4 of 6 from deep, seven rebounds) and Piatt split two free throws after a steal by sophomore Evan Steiner to set the stage for Wenger’s step-back 3 and eventual game-winning steal and lay-in.
“I had a good warm-up and that translated into a solid first quarter,” Wenger said of his night. “My teammates did a great job of getting me involved. We just worked together and we're able to pull the 'W' out.
“It was a good bounce-back game. This gives us first place in the league and it gives us momentum. We just need to keep it rolling the rest of the season.”
Wenger’s older brother, senior Jalen Wenger, added 12 points, and Kyrie Gaut chipped in nine points and and six rebounds to share team-high honors on the boards with Jaden Schlabach.
But the night belonged to the younger Wenger, who had a certain swagger every time he touched the ball.
“And he should, he works his butt off,” Reed said of the swingman. “During the season, in the offseason ... everything he gets, he deserves. He works for it, so he should have that confidence.”
Carter Fath had 13 points for the Smithies in the loss, which put the team in a tie for second place with Norwayne in the WCAL standings, a game behind Dalton with four league games remaining.
The Bulldogs, who have won the last two WCAL titles, now have another banner well within their sights after a devastating loss to the Bobcats last Friday.
“This means a lot,” Reed said. “I don't know if I can quite quantify it just yet, but we'll find out when we go to Rittman (Saturday). I think this was the shot in the arm that we needed to get our swagger back after a tough loss to Norwayne.
“This is a great win against a really good basketball team.”
This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Dalton's Braylon Wenger scores 34 points in win over Smithville
