HS boys basketball: Schaake's game-winning 3-point lifts Warriors past Alvirne, 36-35
HAMPTON – Josh Schaake, the leading 3-point shooter on the Winnacunnet High School boys basketball team, was held without a trifecta until the Warriors needed it most in Friday’s Division I contest against Alvirne.
Schaake came off a screen at the top of the key, caught an inbounds pass from Dom Gould and banked in a buzzer-beating, game-winning 3-pointer as the Warriors pulled out an improbable 36-35 win over the Broncos.
The Winnacunnet student section stormed the floor after Schaake’s basket.
“Coach (Jay McKenna) drew up a play with me coming off a double screen at the top, and I got a a pretty clean look at the hoop and got it up there,” said Schaake, who finished with nine points. “It ended up falling in.”
Winnacunnet improved to 4-5 with the win, snapping a four-game losing streak.
“We have a tough week coming up and we needed some energy going into that,” Schaake said. “This is a big home win in front of our loud crowd, and we look to build on this.”
McKenna called a timeout with 6 seconds left and the Warriors trailing 35-34. The Broncos had two fouls to give and immediately fouled the inbounds pass. McKenna called another timeout, this time with 3 seconds left, and Alvirne still had one foul to give before sending the Warriors to the free throw line.
“I thought we might see a foul there (on the game's final play),” McKenna said. “When they did it before I thought we might see it again, but (Schaake) was pretty wide open. I think the way we ran the play, how we executed it, and how he came off the screen, we made it really hard for them to even close the distance to foul even if they wanted to.”
Senior Joe Allen led the Warriors with 17 points.
“We needed a win,” McKenna said. “(The ball) came out of (Schaake’s) hand, and I thought it had a shot; it looked pretty clean coming out, and here we are. A very timely, and much needed win for us.”
Winnacunnet is at Bedford on Monday and at Pinkerton on Tuesday before hosting rival Exeter next Friday.
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Schaake hits buzzer-beating 3-pointer as Winnacunnet beats Alvirne in Division I boys basketball game
