Every day, during every workout, Wheeler Wildcats senior forward Samuel Hines Jr. shoots free throw after free throw. That work paid off on Thursday as he went perfect from the line in overtime, which proved to be the difference in the Wildcats’ 65-64 home win over the Shiloh Generals in the second round of the Class AAAAAAA playoffs.
The No. 6-ranked Wildcats (21-7), a No. 1 seed from Region 2, will host No. 8 Berkmar next week in the quarterfinals. It’s their third trip to the quarters in the last four seasons.
The No. 2 Generals, a No. 2 seed from Region 8, see their season end at 24-4.
Hines, who finished with a game-high 23 points, went 6-for-6 from the free throw line in overtime, where he totaled eight points. He was irked by a missed free throw with 1:54 left in fourth quarter, when he could have given the Wildcats a one-point lead. Instead, the score remained knotted at 52, which would hold through regulation.
“I missed a clutch one and that sent it to overtime,” said Hines, who said he shoots at least 100 free throws a day. “I knew I’d get a chance to shoot some more free throws...I just got up there and I was confident they’d go in because of all the hard work I put in. Free throws are the most important part of the game.”
After Hines’ missed free throw in regulation, Shiloh held the ball for the remainder of the fourth quarter. In the waning seconds, Zawdie Jackson drove toward the basket and appeared to draw contact from a Wheeler defender when he pump-faked, but no foul was called and Jackson stumbled to the ground as the ball fell behind him. Shiloh’s Antonio Meeks picked up the ball well behind the 3-point line and heaved it off balance in one motion as the buzzer sounded, barely drawing the bottom of the net.
“(The game official) said something about ‘the principle of verticality,’” Generals coach Kim Rivers said of the explanation he got for why no foul was called on Jackson’s shot. “They said his man jumped straight up and my man jumped into him. The way I was taught is if you go up and you make contact, it’s a foul. But it was a no call, so we just had to play through.”
Wildcats coach Larry Thompson had studied tape from Shiloh and recalled the Generals’ 66-60 double-overtime win over Archer on Feb. 7 in the Region 8 tournament, when they held the ball for an extended period of time in the game’s final moments. Thompson said he had a game plan for when the Generals deployed that strategy again on Thursday.
“The guys knew exactly what was coming,” Thompson said. “We were in the exact same defense that Archer was in, a 1-2-2. And we said we didn’t want them to be comfortable when that clock got down so we switched to man and made them make a play. The defense was good and I’m proud of how they responded.”
Wheeler opened the overtime period on a 7-0 run that began with a Nash Kelly 3-pointer 12 seconds in. Maxwell Harris and Hines added field goals to make it 59-52 with 1:46 remaining.
But the Generals wouldn’t go quietly. James Little hit two 3-pointers for Shiloh, the second of which made it 61-58 Wheeler with 55 seconds left. In between each of Little’s 3s, Hines made two free throws. With 26.8 seconds left, Shiloh’s Caleb Golden hit a deep 3 and was fouled. He made the free throw to pull the Generals to within 63-62.
Hines was immediately fouled again with 24.6 seconds and calmly sank two more free throws to put the Wildcats up 65-62.
The Generals would answer with Anthony Canada’s layup, but the possession chewed nearly 20 seconds of clock. On the ensuing inbound, the Generals immediately fouled Wheeler sophomore guard Juvon Gamory, who missed both free throws with 5.3 seconds left.
The Generals rebounded the second miss but turned the ball over in transition and the clock ran out.
It was the first matchup between the two since Wheeler beat Shiloh 93-90 in triple overtime in the second round of the 2014 playoffs. That game featured Shiloh’s Josh Okogie and Wheeler’s Jaylen Brown, both of whom are now in the NBA.
Now the Wildcats are three wins away from their seventh state title in a program history that dates back to 1984, and the first since 2015.
“It’s a great feeling to advance to the Elite Eight,” said Hines, “but our business isn’t done.”
Prince Davies was Wheeler’s only other double-digit scorer with 16 points. Shiloh was led by Golden (19 points) and Canada (17).
Shiloh 16 15 6 15 12 -64
Wheeler 16 11 12 13 13 - 65
About the Author
