Miller and Holt's heroics lead Triway past Northwestern in epic season opener
WEST SALEM — Triway wanted Zack Miller taking the go-ahead shot.
The fourth-year varsity guard had a great look in the final 25 seconds, but saw it glance off the rim and into the hands of Northwestern's Brett Alberts. For a brief moment, it looked like the Huskies were going to survive Triway's late charge.
And then Miller got a second chance.
Triway freshman Brayden Holt swiped the ball as Alberts came down, grabbing it and dishing it back to Miller, who didn't miss the second time, giving Triway a 73-72 win over Northwestern as the boys basketball season began with a bang.
An epic finish to an epic season opener.
"A pretty head's up play for the freshman," Miller said with a smile. "We didn't execute our (initial) play, but Brayden made a big-time steal underneath the hoop, and I saw my guy that boxed me out run down the court, so I slipped into the corner and Brayden found me."
Northwestern's runner in the final seconds missed and time expired as the teams scrambled for the rebound, sending Triway's bench into a frenzy.
"How we found a way to win at the end, I don't know," Triway coach Ben Holt said. "We just didn't panic. We do late-game situations all the time in practice. It's ridiculous. We're always comfortable in those situations."
The individual performances from Miller, Holt and Alberts — with plenty of contributions from elsewhere — weren't typical of a season opener. But then again, Miller, Holt and Alberts don't really have an offseason. Many of the players on the floor Friday work on their games year-round, but it's tough to live in the gym or on the blacktop quite like those three.
Playing in his first varsity regular season game, Holt had a night to remember, despite having a first half to forget. The freewheeling freshman made just a single basket in the first half, watching his shots come close before rolling off the rim. Most freshmen would have stopped shooting.
But Holt isn't most freshmen.
"I shoot all the time," Holt said. "I'm not worried about my confidence. If I keep missing, short or long, they're all on target. I'm just going to keep playing my game. If they fall, they fall."
He was the best player on the floor in the second half, scoring 21 of his 23 points after the break to keep Triway alive while Northwestern's offense kept humming.
In the third quarter, Holt scored 12 straight Triway points, including two pull-ups in transition well beyond the 3-point line. And then in the fourth, with Northwestern opening up one of its largest leads of the night, Holt hit a jumper from 15 feet before making his biggest shot of the night — an and-one 3 with 3:05 remaining that tied the game at 66-all.
"The thing is, even if he missed it and it didn't go in and we lost, he would do the same thing the next game," Ben Holt said. "He's not afraid of the big moment, just like Zack and Drew (Bishko), and guys like that, aren't."
Northwestern managed to take a four-point lead after Holt's four-point play, but Holt answered again with a floater before Miller hit the game-winner with 15 seconds to go.
"I've watched Brayden grow up," Northwestern coach Mark Alberts Jr. said. "It's impressive what he did. The thing is, he bounced back after having a bucket at halftime. He bounced back and had a great second half. Made huge plays down the stretch. He's been doing that since he was in fourth grade playing in the open division at Wooster."
Coaching his son for the first time in a high school regular season game was particularly meaningful to the elder Holt.
"As a dad, first and foremost, I'm super proud of him," Ben Holt said. "As a coach, we needed him to do that for us to get that win tonight. Coaching your son after all the years of doing this — this is my 20th year and I finally get to coach my son — was actually a little bit tough. (I got) a little teary-eyed there to start the game. You have to settle in as a coach, like we ask (our players) to settle in, and I'm super proud of his effort and his ability to grind through some things tonight."
Miller had a huge game of his own, scoring a game-high 27 points to open his senior season. Despite recovering from a shoulder injury that robbed him of his final football season, Miller looked as good as ever during an efficient 9-for-16 performance.
Meanwhile, Alberts battled through early foul trouble to make a huge impact on the game, much of it having little to do with scoring, even though he finished with a team-high 19 points. He led the Huskies with 11 rebounds and six assists, setting up his teammates all night by finding the open man while also keenly picking his own spots to score.
"He's a great player," Miller said of Alberts. "He was all over our scouting report. We were very focused on him, and he still had a great game.
Four Huskies finished in double figures, with Owen Ferriman (16 points), Jacob Ward (10) and Luke Wright (10) joining Alberts. Easton Thomas also had eight points off the bench as everyone in Northwestern's eight-man rotation made positive contributions.
"I think nobody thought we had anybody like that," Alberts Jr. said. "We have good big guys, and we made some good plays. They need to learn a few things ... but they're much improved players from last year.
"Our eight (rotation) players — I like them all. They all contributed. They did very well tonight."
Bishko also made his presence felt for Triway, finishing with 13 points and 13 rebounds during an all-around performance. Riley Gumber (6 points, 5 rebounds) was the only other Triway player to score more than two points.
This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Boys Basketball: Zack Miller's 3 lifts Triway over Northwestern
