Windsor Lives At The Line Late, Beats BC

JOHN CURTIS - Daily Union Sports Editor

In a game that couldn't have been sloppier if it had been played outside in the rain, Windsor feasted at the line in the fourth quarter to get the home win over Beecher City, 73-61.

Torey Leasher and Andy Cole drove a couple of 3-pointers like stakes in the ground to anchor comebacks from 12 down and seven down against BC. Leasher's came in the second quarter, down 12 points, and Cole's was in the third quarter, down seven points. Cole then proceeded to take over the game, scoring 16 of his team-high 19 points in the second half.

The other dynamic at work was the officiating and the Devils ability to make free throws. The 3-man crew called a tight game, which victimized the aggressive defense of BC. They sent Windsor to the line 18 times, for 36 free throws and Windsor made 24. Windsor made 19-of-26 during the second half comeback, while BC shot just five free throws in the second half.

Beecher City used their deep bench and junior leader Luke Levitt to gradually build a 4-point lead after the first period, 17-13, then got it up to 12 points with a 12-4 run early in the second period. Then Leasher stopped at the arc and hit a corner trey, cueing a Devil 7-0 run to stop the bleeding, 29-24 BC.BC got it back up to a 9-point lead before the half, but the Devils went on a 6-1 run to close the gap at the half, to a solo possession, 39-36 BC.

BC opened the third with a 7-3 spurt and led 47-40 when Andy Cole hit his first 3-pointer to keep Windsor in BC's rearview mirror, then dished to Sid Edwards to make it a 2-point game at the end of three quarters, 49-47 BC. Cole then tied the game with two free throws at the 6:09 mark of the fourth, 51-51. He then went right back to the line and made 1-of-2 for the first Windsor lead since the early part of the first period, 52-51. Less than a minute later, Cole goes to the line again, making 1-of-2 for a 53-53 Devil lead.

The Devils continue to build their lead at the line and got it to nine points at the 4:52 mark when Cole cashed in again from the arc, 62-53. Cole put the Devils up by ten with another 1-of-2 trip to the line at the 1:37 mark, 65-55. BC was dead in the water at the point, getting called for fouls and not able to get any sustainable traction on offense.

"We won this game, because we wanted it," said Windsor coach Bruce Austin. "We wanted that game last week against Cumberland, but couldn't get it. We wanted this one and finally got our defense working. They fouled and we made our free throws, more than normal."

Cole stepped up to lead three double-digit scorers for the Devils, something they have needed to get over the hump lately. Cole scored 19 points and 16 of those 19 came in the second half, when the Devils made their move. Cole made 9-of-14 free throws in the game and 8-of-12 in the fourth quarter. He also hit his two treys in the second half.

Usual Devil scoring leader Kyle Floyd followed with 18 points, including 6-of-8 from the line and his twin brother Ryne Floyd scored 17 points, 12 of which came in the first half.Sid Edwards once again did yeoman's work on the floor and upped his production to eight points. Torey Leasher got his six rebounds per game average and his seven points per game average, But three of those seven points were huge when he hit that second period trey.

Luke Levitt led all scorers for BC with 25 points, mostly working around the paint, save one trey. fellow upperclassmen Beau Hutchison and Jordan Julius followed with eight and seven points, but the host of other Eagle scorers, six in all, combined for 21 points,

Both teams made 23 field goals, each with three 3-pointers. The margin of victory came at the free throw line. Windsor made 24-of-36 free throws and BC just 12-of-18.

Windsor hosts Dieterich in a rescheduled game on Thursday, their final regular season game. BC hosts St. Elmo on Friday in their final home game fo the season.

Windsor 73, Beecher City 61

Windsor 13-23-11-25--73

BC 17-22-10-12--61

Devil stats: Cole 19 (2-2s, 2-3 pt FGs, 9-of-14 FTs), K. Floyd 18 (6 FGs, 6/8 FTs), R. Floyd 17 (7 FGs, 3/6 FTs), Edwards 8 (4 FGs), Leasher 7 (1-2, 1-3 pt FGs, 2/2 FTs), Wolfe 4 (4/6 FTs). Team FGs 23 (3-3 pt: Cole 2, Leasher 1). Team FTs 24-of-36.

BC stats: L. Levitt 25 (11-2s, 1-3, 0/3 FTs), Hutchison 8 (3 FGs, 2/3 FTs), Julius 7 (2 FGs, 3/4 FTs), Dr. Levitt 5 (1-2, 1-3 pt FGs), Di. Levitt 5 (1-3 pt FG, 2/2 FTs), Kirchofer 4 (FG, 2/2 FTs), Lagerhausen 3 (FG, 1/2 FTs), Ohnesorge 2 (2/2 FTs), Peterson 2 (FG). Team FGs 23 (3-3 pt: L. Levitt, Dr. Levitt, Di. Levitt). Team FTs 12-of-18.

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