Boys basketball: Schenck free throws deliver Weber’s 67-66 win over Syracuse
SYRACUSE — If Weber sophomore guard Hunter Schenck didn’t get everything he hoped for on Christmas two weeks ago, he got his wish Friday night at Syracuse.
Schenck drained a pair of free throws with 20.6 seconds left in the fourth quarter and the Warriors survived a late Syracuse basket at the buzzer to capture a 67-66, thrilling Region 1 road victory.
“At that time I was thinking about icing the game. I wanted to end it,” Schenck said. “I wanted those free throws. I was trying to get fouled out there. I love those last shots. That’s what I live for.”
Weber had squandered a 56-48 lead with 4:38 remaining in that final frame when the Titans went on a 6-0 run in a little over a minute, but twice answered with clutch plays when the margin got down to one in the closing seconds.
“We were trying to get good shots. We knew defensively if we got our guys in position, they weren’t going to take the lead. They weren’t going to get the lead if we went back and forth; just stay in front,” Schenck said.
Schenck led the Warriors with 21 points — 15 in the first half, including a trio of threes — while Cannon Devries added 17 points and Stryker Rashid checked in with 10. Griffyn Doughty came off the bench to also notch double digits with 14.
It was wild early as the game was tied or the lead changed hands 18 times in the first half before the Warriors (6-6, 2-0 Region 1) had a 10-2 spurt to close the quarter and take a 39-35 lead at the break.
“We knew it was going to be a war; they’re a great team,” Schenck said. “That’s what preseason is for, to get us ready so we knew what to do when we came in.”
Syracuse (3-7, 0-1) dropped its region opener after a bye earlier in the week.
The Titans were out of timeouts at the end, so they called a play earlier and it didn’t come off as planned.
“We had a couple of guys out of position so it was bad from the start,” Syracuse coach Mike Russell said. “It was a broken play; we got a shot off but needed more than a two at the end.”
Brock Williams paced Syracuse with 18 points and Kaden Ericksen was next in line with 17. Brandon Clark scored 11, including a basket with 28 seconds remaining to make it 65-64 before Schenck’s free throws.