Talk about a magical night. The WHS State Championship boys basketball team from 1995 converged in their old stomping grounds, the Tom Falash gym to challenge this year's third place at state boys basketball team. The whole purpose behind this is to promote a scholarship for a worthy WHS graduate.
Starters for the alumni were Danny Walker, Nick Fouch, Ben Boettcher (better known in those days as Benji), Jon Lindsey and Nathan Walker. Coincidently, this was the starting five in '95 as well. Starters for the varsity were Issac Zanelli, Justin Roberts, Tyler Hemphill, Brock Bumgarner and Elias Daniel. The Alumni stole the tip. Lindsey hit the first bucket. Danny W. to N. Walker for two. Zanelli to Daniel for two. Roberts was fouled making one free throw. Daniel hit a bucket to put the youngsters up by one. Fouch with the "O" rebound putback. Hemphill with the dish for two. Danny W. to Fouch for the hoop. Roberts knocked in a shot. Lindsey had the steal and zig zagged his way for three fourths of the court and finished with the shot. He is poetry in motion and light on his feet. I swear he hasn't lost a step in all those years.
Fouch was fouled making one shot, 11-9 Alumni. Derrel Walker putback an "O" rebound. Derrel Walker to Gregg Russell for two as the Alumni began to pull away, 15-9. Bruce Hamilton nailed a three from the top of the key. Philipp Schmitz putback his own "O" rebound, Daniel Brockett was fouled making one free throw. Brockett putback the "O" rebound, 18-14 Alumni. Garrett Crawford made a basket. Derrell Walker to Aaron Youckton for the three. Hamilton matched that wih his three. Brockett with the "O" rebound putback just before the buzzer. At the end of the first quarter, the Alumni led 23-19.
In the top of the second quarter, Jacoby Miller had a block. Logan Loomis to Miller inside for the bucket, 23-21 Alumni. Fouch hit the hook shot. Danny Walker for the three point shot, 28-21 Alumni. N. Walker to
Fouch for two. Lindsey stole the ball under the Varsity basket and finished with the easy shot, was fouled and drained the free throw, 33-21 Alumni. Loomis hit a baseline three. Loomis to Miller for two more. N. Walker for two. Brockett with the "O" rebound putback.
Fouch for two. Lindsey stole the ball under the Varsity basket and finished with the easy shot, was fouled and drained the free throw, 33-21 Alumni. Loomis hit a baseline three. Loomis to Miller for two more. N. Walker for two. Brockett with the "O" rebound putback.
Brockett to Jason Svancara for the basket. Hamilton was fouled making one shot. Schmitz had the "O" rebound putback. Derrick Reyes to Bumgarner for two. Schmitz again put the rebound back in. Derrel Walker for two from the free throw line, 41-33 Alumni. Svancara made his presence known inside for the bucket. Roberts to Bumgarner for the reversed shot. At the half, Alumni 43, Varsity 35.
There were some incredible moves in that first half and the passing by the Alumni in the second half was brilliant. At one point, it was a contest to see which team could make the most three point shots in a row.
In the third quarter, Danny Walker was fouled making one free throw. Lindsey had the behind the back dribble, through his legs to Yuckton for the basket. Roberts sank a three from the baseline. Roberts for two more, 46-40 Alumni. Yuckton took a charge on defense. Lindsey knocked down a three. Derrel Walker had the "O" rebound to Fouch for the finish, 51-40. I overheard the Alumni comment that the floor was not as soft as they remembered.
Hemphill sank a three. Fouch putback his own "O" rebound. Russell stole the ball and finished with the lay-up. Hemphill to Zanelli for the three. Daniel hit a three. Boettcher hit a three. A three point miss broke the rhythm but not for long as Hemphill made a three on the next shot. Roberts hit a three, 58-55 Alumni. Russell to N. Walker for two. Brockett was fouled making one free throw. Yuckton drained two free throws. Fouch putback an "O" rebound. Lindsey to Derrel Walker for the shot at the end of the third quarter. Alumni 67, Varsity 55.
Crawford was fouled early in the fourth making one count. Schmitz had the block on defense. Fouch for the bucket. Ethan Thomas to Loomis for the baseline three. Danny Walker to Russell for the three. Hamilton banked in a three. Does this sound familiar? Roberts hit a baseline three, 76-65 Alumni. N. Walker to Brockett for the long two. Brockett to Svancara for two. N. Walker with the "O" rebound putback, twice in a row, 80-65. The only question in my mind at this point was whether or not the Alumni would hit a 100 points. There was about four mintues to play.
Miller had a shot fall through the hoop. Lindsey made his shot count. Hemphill was fouled making one. N. Walker to Yuckton for the three, 85-68 Alumni. Lindsey ran down a long defensive rebound, chucked the ball the full length of the court to Danny Walker for the two foot shot. Daniel sank a three. Lindsey to Yuckton for two, a pass that was caught in the air and banked in. Danny Walker hit a three point shot. Daniel sank a two. Derrel Walker for two. Reyes for the bucket. Boettcher to Danny Walker for two. Alas, time ran out before the century mark was hit. The Alumni schooled the varsity in a win 96-75.
This was a fun, fantastic game and don't let the Alumni men fool you. They still have game. They may hurt tomorrow but had fun tonight at any rate.Scoring Alumni: Fouch 17, Lindsey and Yuckton 12 each, N. Walker and Brockett 10 each, Danny Walker 11, Derrel Walker 8, Russell 7, Svancara 6 and Boettcher 3. Varsity: Roberts 14, Daniel 12, Hamilton 10, Hemphill 9, Miller, Loomis and Schmitz 6 each, Bumgarner 4, Zanelli and Crawford 3 each and Reyes 2.