By Stu Swartz
On a night when many shots missed, the last one dropped for Mishawaka Marian and that was a winner in a high school boys basketball season opener Tuesday.
Robert Mischler, 6-1 sophomore for the Knights, drilled a 17-footer at 0:04 as Marian prevailed over the visiting Goshen Redskins 34-33.
Goshen had stayed in the game and took the lead by converting 10 consecutive free-throw attempts in the second half.
Taylor Kolbus, 6-7 senior, hit two with 4:51 to play and 6-2 sophomore Jake Speicher two more at 4:29 for a 29-29 tie.
Kolbus scored on a rebound, giving Goshen a 31-29 lead with 3:37 to play and 6-2 sophomore Louis Kissinger hit a baseline jumper off a pass from Kolbus for a 33-29 Redskin lead with still 2:00 on the clock.
But, the Redskins would not score again. They had a 10-second violation, a traveling violation and two missed free throws in the last 120 seconds.
Mischler hit a 3-pointer from the right corner, getting the Knights within 33-32 with 1:32 remaining.
The Knights had a missed free-throw try and another from the field before rebounding a missed Redskin free-throw try with 0:22 showing.
Marian seemed puzzled on its last possession, but Mischler got the ball just inside the ‘3’ line and hit what turned out to be the winning shot.
An inadvertent whistle stopped the clock and Goshen, which was out of timeouts, benefited as 3.4 seconds were put back on the clock. A long pass failed to connect and the Redskins did not get a winning shot attempt.
GHS coach Brian Bechtel said, “We played with good poise and within ourselves, but no team is going to win very often shooting that poorly (11-for-38) from the field.
“We did a good job getting to the free-throw line early in the second half, but could have done a better job getting there more often toward the end.
“We played the game good enough that, if we knock down shots, we should have won. We were getting good looks too. It’s a game of confidence and we have a lot of growing to do. Several of our kids hadn’t been on a varsity floor before.
“We cut our turnovers way down from our scrimmage at Columbia City and overall I was happy with our defense. But, we didn’t get a stop on the last shot and their good shooter nailed it.”
Marian coach Tim Barwick said, “We wanted to break down Goshen’s defense or go strong inside because Kolbus had four fouls.
“None of that worked, but Mischler hit a big shot and we want him taking that shot any time. It wasn’t pretty, but we won our opener.
“Goshen is a very good defensive team and took us out of a lot we were trying to do.
“We have an athletic team and played some pretty good defense of our own, especially at the start of the second half.”
Kolbus had 16 points and 14 rebounds to lead the Redskins while Speicher tallied seven points and Kissinger four.
Netting two each were 6-3 senior Jon Good, 5-10 senior Andrew Litwiller and 6-1 junior Carson Roberts.
Warren Kay, 6-1 sophomore, was involved in a rarity as he started both the junior varsity and varsity contests. Players are allowed five quarters per night.
Mischler paced Marian with 13 points and 5-7 sophomore Coley Schultheis tallied seven.
Marian jumped to a 7-2 lead midway through the first quarter and then went scoreless for 10:37.
Goshen didn’t take full advantage of that home dry spell, though, leading just 8-7 at the first stop and 10-9 when Marian finally scored on a pair of free throws by promising 5-10 freshman Demetrius Jackson 1:04 until halftime.
The Knights surged to a pair of seven-point leads, 18-11 and 20-13, early in the third period but fouls by Marian put Goshen on the free-throw line and the Redskins fought back.
Kolbus, Speicher and Roberts each hit two free throws in the third period as the Redskins got within 25-21.
Goshen has another road test Saturday, against Elkhart Central at North Side Gym.
Junior Varsity
Marian’s JV, coached by 1975 Goshen High School graduate Ed Stacker, won 39-27. Sophomore Brian Florin led the young Knights with nine points.
Freshman Jesse Good scored seven for GHS, sophomore Austin Shaffer and junior Adam Metzler both six, sophomores Casey Looker, Warren Kay, Louis Kissinger and Diego Garcia two each.
