Big shots lift Woodmen to double-OT win

Greenwood senior Eric Moenkhaus saved his best for last.

Moenkhaus scored 10 of his team-high 20 points, including what proved to be the game-winner in the second overtime, to help host Greenwood outlast Plainfield 77-71 on Friday night in Mid-State Conference action. Both teams are now 3-2 in the conference.

“We were down one and he came off the top of the key and hit one,” Woodmen coach Joe Bradburn said. “Eric just zones in when he needs a basket. He’s hard to guard from that standpoint because of the explosion in his first step. That gave us a chance to get control of the last overtime.”

Moenkhaus’ 3-pointer gave the Woodmen (11-6) the lead for good at 73-71 with 45 seconds left. Plainfield (11-7) committed turnovers on its next two possessions. Moenkhaus then hit two free throws to push the lead to 75-71 with 13.6 seconds left in the second OT.

“It was a gritty, gutty performance and I’m just happy for our guys,” Bradburn said.

Max Raker hit a 3-pointer with less than a second left in the first overtime to tie it at 67-all.

“Isaiah (Drew) made a nice pass to Jeff (Reynolds), who went and got it. It was designed to have either Eric or Max,” Bradburn said. “Jeff had to hit one or the other with the pass and Max stepped up and hit a big shot. They hit one (at the buzzer) and we hit one.”

Plainfield’s Aidan Booher hit a 3-pointer as time expired to tie it at the end of regulation, 59-59.

“We gave ourselves a chance to get back on top of the conference, which we didn’t know we have a chance to do,” Bradburn said. “You’re going to have mistakes in a game. The last couple of weeks we’re getting better at competing and playing with a passion. If they focus right, this is a win that can catapult into the last month of the season.”

Reynolds fouled out in the second overtime with 15 points.

The Woodmen trailed by as many as 11 in the first quarter and 23-14 after the first quarter. However, the Woodmen narrowed the deficit to 34-33 by halftime.

“We got off to a bad start,” Bradburn said. “We were shooting a little fast and they were geared up and hit some 3s on us. We had to refocus, catch our breath. We called a couple of timeouts and went to different offense and calm down. Defensively, we’ve been getting better and better. Offensively, we’ve got to give ourselves a chance to get set. Once we did that, we got back in the game and it was a dogfight.”

Braydon Kincaid scored 16 for the Woodmen, hitting all eight of his free throws.

Plainfield’s 6-foot-11 senior center Gavin Bizeau, who has signed with Duquesne, led the Quakers with 29, hitting 21 of 23 free throws. Bizeau had just four points in the two overtimes.

“I thought Braydon Kincaid did a great job at getting (Bizeau) off his spots and denying him the basketball,” said Bradburn, whose team hosts Marion at 2:30 p.m. today.