Three bounces off rim later, Parke Heritage is a state champion for first time | Latest Sports News

INDIANAPOLIS – Isaac Pickel did his job.

With 8.4 seconds left in Saturday’s Class 2A state championship at Gainbridge Fieldhouse and his team winning by a single point, the 6-9 Parke Heritage senior knew a ball screen was coming at the top of the key that would put him one-on-one with Westview star junior guard Austin Schlabach.

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“We were talking about switching everything,” Pickel said. “I said, ‘Those guys are pretty good. You still want me to switch on to (Schlabach and Kaden Grau), which is what we said were their two main guys?’”

Rich Schelsky, the Parke Heritage coach confirmed the plan: “Wall up.”

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Schlabach turned the corner down the right side of the lane with three strong dribbles, absorbed some contact, and put up a shot over the outstretched hands of Pickel. The ball caromed off the backboard and off the right side of the rim.

Once. Twice. Three times.

“I felt like the ball sat on the rim for a couple years,” Pickel said.

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It eventually fell off the rim and safely into Pickel’s hands. He corralled the ball, cradled it with two hands and then sent it skyward as the buzzer sounded on Parke Heritage’s 57-56 win over Westview.

If Parke Heritage and Westview played a seven-game series, it might go down like this every game.

“It went about as close as I predicted all week,” Rich Schelsky said. “I thought this had the chance to be the best game of the day. That’s not to slight any of the other classes, but I knew how good both teams were.”

It is the first state championship for Parke Heritage in the eighth year of the school, which is a consolidation of Rockville and Turkey Run. The fourth-ranked Wolves (27-4) made it through after reaching the semistate each of the previous three years, but hopes of a state title were starting to slip away late in Saturday’s game.

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With 34 seconds remaining, No. 3 Westview had the ball and a one-point lead. The next foul on Parke Heritage would send the Warriors to the free-throw line for two shots. The ball was inbounded to senior Kaden Grau near the Westview bench. There appeared to be some contact with Parke Heritage senior Leyton McMullen as Grau stepped out of bounds.

“I’m couldn’t see if his foot was out of bounds or not,” Westview coach Chandler Prible said. “I thought he had gotten pushed myself. But honestly, I am beating myself up because I had a couple timeouts. In fact, I had three timeouts. I thought he was going to be able to get out of there, but I should have burned one. That’s on me.”

Parke Heritage still needed to score, trailing by one point with 31.2 seconds left. Treigh Schelsky, the 6-foot senior and Huntington University-bound guard, had a good idea of what he wanted to happen after the original set was “blown up.” Schelsky dribbled back out with about 17 seconds left and thought “just go make a play.”

“It wasn’t anything else other than, ‘Just go make a play,’” he said. “I kind of saw the court and we had a guy strongside corner and I saw Isaac in the dunker’s spot. I went to my right and got downhill and Grau helped over. That’s a play I love making. Get downhill and beat my guy dump it off to Isaac. He obviously finished the job.”

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Pickel wanted to dunk it but decided the smart play was to lay it up over the front of the rim with his right hand. It dropped through with 8.4 seconds left, giving the Wolves a one-point lead. If there was a defining play of Treigh Schelsky’s high school career, that was it.

“Our last possession of the game is the epitome of Treigh Schelsky as a basketball player,” his father and coach, Rich Schelsky said. “He’s a winner. He doesn’t care if he scores or somebody else scores. He’s going to make the winning play. It’s kind of fitting the state championship came down to that.”

Pickel migrated toward the front of the rim as Schelsky drove, though he did not necessarily know what was about to happen.

“I saw Treigh pull it out and I was like, ‘OK, he’s going to go get a bucket,’” Pickel said. “I had 100 percent confidence in Treigh to make a play. When I saw my guy help over, I just wanted to make sure I was there to get a clean pass.”

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It was one of only two baskets for Pickel, who finished with five points and eight rebounds. Schelsky and junior guard Brenden Goins – who set a state finals record by going 5-for-5 from the 3-point line – each scored 17 points to lead the Wolves. Junior Carter Crum added 13 points for Parke Heritage, which will move up to Class 3A the next two years via the tournament success factor.

Westview shot 12-for-26 from the 3-point line in the back-and-forth game that saw the Warriors rally from an 11-point deficit early in the second quarter. Grau, the Mental Attitude Award winner for 3A, finished with 14 points and seven rebounds and the junior Schlabach added 13 points and eight assists. Daniel Yoder and Pierce Yoder each scored nine points and were a combined 6-for-7 from the 3-point line.

Prible told his team during the final timeout with 8.4 seconds left that they had a chance to finish in the best way possible – on a game winner. And with a different bounce of the ball, they would have.

“It almost turned out to be that special,” Prible said. “But I think five years from now – hopefully it’s not that long – but they are going to remember how special this group was and how fun this season was.”

Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: IHSAA basketball: Parke Heritage scores game winner with 8.4 seconds left