Vanderhydt’s buzzer-beats sends Washington over Mahomet-Seymour

By FRED KRONER
fred@mahometnews.com

Washinton’s Devon Vanderheydt hit a buzzer-beater Tuesday night, sending the Panthers past visiting Mahomet-Seymour 52-50 in a non-conference boys’ basketball game.

“I tip my hat to the Vanderhydt kid, who hit a tough shot with a hand in his face,” M-S coach Ryan Bosch said. “We’d guarded their initial play well and he ended up making a play.”

M-S led 13-11 after one quarter and the teams were tied at halftime, 28-28.

Braden Finch led the Bulldogs with 14 points.

Other top scorers for M-S were Grant Coleman (12 points), Cole Lener (nine points) and Luke Koller (seven points).

Lener had a productive overall game with six rebounds, five assists and three steals.

“We shot pretty poorly on the night, specifically at the free throw line, and that helped Washington stay in the game,” Bosch said.

Each team made 11 free throws. However, Washington was 11-for-12 from the line and M-S was 11-for-21.

The Bulldogs committed just six turnovers.

“It was a back-and-forth game that neither team got a large lead,” Bosch said. “We erased a six-point deficit in the final three minutes with just great efforts across the board defensively.

“We also had Kobe Essien in foul trouble for much of the second half, which prevented a real rhythm for him.”

M-S returns to action, weather permitting, on Friday at Dunlap.

“I’m excited to see how our kids respond to this because I’ve been so proud of their resilience and mental toughness when we’ve caught some tough breaks in the past this season,” Bosch added.

The Bulldogs are 9-9 overall.