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BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
DELPHI — Justin Potthoff put the Winamac boys basketball team on his back against Delphi in the fourth quarter of the third-place game of the Indiana Kitchen Classic Saturday, but it was the Oracles who finished on a back-breaking run.
Potthoff scored 17 points, and Will Malchow added 11 for the Warriors, but Delphi went on a 7-0 run to close the game and earn a 51-45 win at Oracle Arena.
Potthoff scored all six Winamac points in the fourth quarter. He scored on a runner in the lane and was fouled with 4:07 left and completed the 3-point play to give Winamac a 44-42 lead.
He hit a go-ahead free throw with 1:10 left that put the Warriors ahead 45-44.
But Walker Jones drove along the right baseline for the go-ahead layup, and Jones hit two free throws with 35.5 seconds left.
Kaydn McAtee completed the scoring by making three of four free throws in the final 35.3 seconds.
Winamac had a turnover and two missed 3-pointers on their final three possessions.
McAtee, a 6-0 junior guard, scored five of his team-high 13 for Delphi in the fourth quarter. Josh Hartley added nine, and Jones and Levi Coghill had eight each.
Brendan Hines had nine for Winamac, who dropped to 5-5. Delphi improved to 5-4.
Delphi won despite not making a 3-pointer and committing 19 turnovers. But they made 17 of 22 free throws while Winamac made just 9 of 17.
“We executed fine,” Winamac coach Mike Springer said of the final four minutes. “We missed shots. You know, with 16 and 17-year-old boys, they’re not always going to make them like the NBA guys are. But I was really proud of our execution. We just couldn’t put it in the basket. We had two good looks there in the last minute. But we were able to get the ball where we wanted it; we just couldn’t make them.
“I don’t think it was Delphi’s defense as much as we just missed the shots.”
Winamac trailed 25-19 but went on an 11-0 run covering the second and third quarters to take a five-point lead.
Potthoff started the run with a runner in the lane, and Hines hit a 3. Malchow split a pair of free throws to tie it with 35.8 seconds left, and Potthoff gave Winamac a 26-25 halftime lead with a free throw with 1.6 seconds left.
Potthoff then put back his own miss to start the second half, and Malchow scored in the post to make it 30-25.
The dogfight was on. Malchow scored on a driving banker and then put heavy English on a driving banker as he was hacked to make it 36-31.
Delphi would get back within 39-37 going into the fourth and then took their first lead of the second half on a Xaine Tessier reverse pivot. But Potthoff scored on a driving banker, but Hartley answered back with a drive of his own.
Delphi led 42-41.
But then Potthoff struck again.
“That was huge for us to get those baskets for us,” Springer said. “He’s a good player. I think he can do more for us as far as getting to the basket, and we talk about that and not settling for jump shots. … As we go, that’s one of the things we’ll continue to work on with him is putting the ball on the floor and getting to the rim, but he did a nice job.”
The teams will meet again at Winamac on Jan. 25.
Delphi first-year coach Chad Pulver said balanced scoring is not atypical for his team. Springer described Delphi as having a “five-out offense.”
“We’ve had a couple games where someone has really popped off, but a lot of the games we might have two or three guys in double digits with other guys with fours and sixes,” Pulver said. “And so, we’re looking for the guys to be open for the easy shot. I mean, great shots are fantastic, but we really look to make sure we’re getting the best shot in the possessions we can. We’re trying to handle turnovers a little bit better. That seems to be our bugaboo the most, so we’ve got a lot to learn yet, but we’re trying to get there.”
In the championship game, Class 2A, No. 10 Taylor remained undefeated with a 49-46 win over Rossville.
Winamac will return to conference play with a home game against North Miami Friday. This will be their first meeting since Winamac knocked North Miami out of last year’s sectional.
Delphi 51, Winamac 45
WINAMAC (45) (5-5)
Brendan Hines 3 1-2 9, Justin Potthoff 5 7-10 17, Jaybin Hines 3 0-0 6, Ethan Burgess 1 0-0 2, Will Malchow 5 1-5 11, Parker Zeider 0 0-0 0, Alex Hague 0 0-0 0, Brayden Mathias 0 0-0 0
TEAM: 17 9-17 45
DELPHI (51) (5-4)
Josh Hartley 3 3-3 9, Walker Jones 3 2-4 8, Xaine Tessier 2 2-2 6, Keigan Watts 0 0-0 0, Braydn Gleason 0 3-4 3, Kaydn McAtee 3 7-8 13, Logan Smith 0 0-0 0, Levi Coghill 4 0-0 8, Weston Brown 2 0-1 4, Caulden Pulver 0 0-0 0
TEAM: 17 17-22 51
Three-point field goals:
Winamac 2 (B. Hines 2),
Delphi 0
Total fouls: Winamac 17, Delphi 13
Fouled out: Malchow (WIN), :06.2, fourth
Turnovers: Winamac 14, Delphi 19
Score by quarters
Winamac 12 14 13 6 – 45
Delphi 10 15 12 14 – 51
Rossville 60, Winamac 50 (semifinals, Jan. 2):
Brendan Hines hit three 3-pointers and scored 19 points, but Rossville held off Winamac’s fourth-quarter comeback in the semifinals of the Indiana Kitchen Classic at Delphi’s Oracle Arena on Jan. 2.
Justin Potthoff added 11, including nine in the fourth quarter, and Will Malchow had 10.
Winamac made three of nine free throws while Rossville went 9 for 15.
Winamac trailed 45-23 after three quarters before outsourcing Rossville 27-15 in the fourth.
Brayden Thiele-Hahn hit four 3-pointers and scored a game-high 21 for the Hornets. Jordan Skiles added 12, and Nolan Britt had 10.
Rossville hit six treys in the first half to build a 33-17 halftime lead.
WINAMAC (50) (5-4)
Brendan Hines 8 0-0 19, Justin Potthoff 4 2-5 11, Jaybin Hines 1 1-2 4, Will Malchow 5 0-2 10, Ethan Burgess 3 0-0 6, Parker Zeider 0 0-0 0, Alex Hague 0 0-0 0, Brayden Mathias 0 0-0 0
TEAM: 21 3-9 50
ROSSVILLE (60) (7-3)
Thiele-Hahn 7 3-4 21, Dunn 1 0-0 3, Skinner 4 0-0 8, Saylor 2 1-2 6, Skiles 4 1-2 12, Britt 2 6-7 10
TEAM: 20 11-15 60
Three-point field goals:
Winamac 5 (B. Hines 3, J. Hines, Potthoff),
Rossville 9 (Thiele-Hahn 4, Skiles 3, Dunn, Saylor)
Total fouls: Winamac 16, Rossville 7
Fouled out: Malchow (WIN)
Turnovers: Winamac 14, Rossville 9
Score by quarters
Winamac 8 9 6 27 – 50
Rossville 15 18 12 15 – 60
Winamac 61, Frankfort 59 (quarterfinals, Dec. 30):
Will Malchow scored eight of his 18 points in the fourth quarter, and Justin Potthoff scored 17 as the Warriors prevailed for Frankfort at Everett Case Arena in the quarterfinals of the Indiana Kitchen Classic on Dec. 30.
Jaybin Hines added nine, and Brendan Hines had eight, including six in the fourth quarter. Ethan Burgess made Winamac’s only 3-pointer and had seven.
Winamac led 29-22 at halftime but trailed 44-41 going into the fourth quarter.
R.J. Cornman scored 11 of his 19 in the fourth quarter to lead Frankfort. Taran Emery hit five 3-pointers and had 15.
WINAMAC (61) (5-3)
Brendan Hines 2 4-5 8, Justin Potthoff 8 1-4 17, Jaybin Hines 4 1-2 9, Will Malchow 7 4-4 18, Ethan Burgess 3 0-0 7, Parker Zeider 1 0-0 2, Alex Hague 0 0-0 0, Brayden Mathias 0 0-0 0
TEAM: 25 10-15 61
FRANKFORT (59) (0-8)
Cornman 8 2-2 19, L. Beardsley 0 0-0 0, C. Beardsley 6 0-0 12, Michael 0 0-0 0, Stewart 0 0-0 0, Waggoner 2 0-0 6, Flores 0 0-0 0, Emery 5 0-0 15, Woods 1 0-0 2, Montalvo 0 0-0 0, McBee 0 0-0 0, Adams 2 0-0 5
TEAM: 24 2-2 59
Three-point field goals:
Winamac 1 (Burgess),
Frankfort 9 (Emery 5, Waggoner 2, Cornman, Adams)
Total fouls: Winamac 8, Frankfort 14
Technical foul: L. Beardsley (FF)
Score by quarters
Winamac 19 10 12 20 – 61
Frankfort 12 10 22 15 – 59
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