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A 13-point first quarter lead had become an eight-point third quarter deficit. Williamsport desperately needed a spark.
And at the perfect time, their team leader lit the fuse. Senior George Whaley fanned the flames, and his teammates turned it into an inferno as Williamsport rallied and defeated Holy Redeemer, 67-63 Monday night at the Magic Dome. Whaley scored 21 points, dealt six assists and had a hand in 12 of the third quarter’s final 14 points, helping the Millionaires (4-1) take a lead they never relinquished.
After doing so in football last fall, Whaley is making his teammates better and it showed against Redeemer. Nine starters and reserves came together and made quality impacts as Williamsport won its third straight game and beat a team which has victories against 6A schools Scranton and Wilkes-Barre. Whaley helped them all come together when it would have been easy to fall apart.
“I want to be a leader,” Whaley said. “I want to give the younger kids, the freshmen and sophomores someone they can look up to and try and set an example.”
He’s certainly succeeding thus far. Whaley is averaging 17.8 points per game, but it goes beyond the scoring punch. He also runs the offense well, provides a steady hand in pressure situations and hurts opponents in a variety of ways.
Whaley called upon all those attributes after Redeemer (5-2) went up 42-34 less than three minutes into the third quarter. He scored the next five points, fed Zach Lake for a game-tying 3-pointer, then hit a go-ahead jumper. After Redeemer briefly retook the lead, Whaley grabbed a rebound, and fed Jamaire Harden in the final seconds, putting Williamsport ahead, 48-47 entering the fourth.
A player who made massive strides last season, Whaley opened the fourth quarter with another basket, hit a pull-up jumper a few minutes later and gave Williamsport a 56-49 advantage. Oh yeah, he also hit both ends of an important 1-and-1 with 43 seconds left, giving Williamsport a six-point advantage.
“He definitely has really evolved as a leader,” Williamsport coach Allen Taylor said. “You saw the leader qualities last year, but this year it’s really come to fruition. We’re just hoping he continues to grow in that area.”
Taylor believes he also has two budding leaders in Harden and Lake. Both played key roles in the comeback, as did several others. Caleb Fausnaught scored six of his 10 points in the fourth quarter, adding two vital blocks in the closing minutes. Lake and Thomas Takach each scored nine points and Jakiah Kline (8 points, 10 rebounds) just missed a double-double.
It wasn’t always pretty, but Williamsport again found a way to overcome a second-half deficit. The key now is putting together a smoother ride, instead of riding a game-by-game roller coaster.
“We don’t have that killer instinct where we find a way to just put teams away and run away with it. I think that comes with maturation,” Taylor said. “As we develop and get more chemistry and get a better understanding of what we want to do in those situations, we’ll continue to improve with that.”
Williamsport produced one of its best quarters this season, closing the first on a 19-2 run and building a 13-point lead. Highlighting this team’s depth, eight Millionaires scored. Everything changed in the second quarter, however, as Redeemer took advantage of some lax defense and six Millionaire turnovers. By halftime, Redeemer, a team which was a shot from last year’s Class AAA state final, led by three. That lead grew to eight early in the third.
Instead of focusing on what it lost, Williamsport refocused on what it could gain. The Millionaires dug in defensively, started wearing down the Royals and led by eight with 25 seconds remaining.
“We just knew we had to get it back,” Whaley said. “To be honest, it never should have been that close. Once we were up 13, we should have just kept going and won by 30.”
That didn’t happen but the bottom line is Williamsport won. This is a fairly young team with a lot of new pieces, so it’s taken some time to put everything together and there is ample room for improvement. Better to be 4-1, with room to grow then having just a win or two.
A strong foundation is being laid and different players took turns highlighting that against Redeemer. The bench was particularly strong. Harden dazzled throughout the second half and played a huge role in the comeback, dealing a game-high six assists and grabbing five rebounds. Harden is one of the area’s assist leaders and he made some outstanding plays throughout the game’s final 12 minutes.
“I like coming off the bench and just giving George another helping hand. Heás our No. 1 scorer, so when I’m coming off the bench I like to facilitate and get him more open shots,” Harden said. “Either one of us can have the ball, so either one of us can make the big play that we need. If we need a spark, one of us can do it.”
The reserves consistently hit the ignition switch and played a monster role in Williamsport building that early lead and then getting it back during the second half. Playing his first game since the opener, Thomas Takach scored nine points, including five in the fourth quarter. His corner 3-pointer put Williamsport up seven in the fourth and he added six rebounds, while going 4 of his last 5 from the field.
Naamir Lowe and Chris White provided strong defense, rounding out the strong bench performance. Add that with starters like Lake (9 points, 6 rebounds) making key plays and Williamsport had just enough to avenge last year’s buzzer-beating loss at Redeemer.
“We’re building trust for each other. We just can’t have any drop offs when we go to the bench,” Harden said. “Everyone has to be the next man up and fulfill their roles.”
Takach came through with a crucial hustle moment when he pulled down an offensive board in the game’s final minute. That led to Whaley hitting two free throws. Fausnaught blocked a shot and Lake made a steal in that closing minute as well. Lake’s foul shots put Williamsport up 64-56 and Fausnaught clinched the win with two more free throws at the 10.7 second mark.
“We have another tough game at Pottsville (Wednesday), so we have a lot to work on,” Taylor said. “We’re blessed to be 4-1 but we still haven’t played consistent basketball. We have to find a way to clean up some things moving forward.”
REDEEMER (63)
Jacob Hunter 8 3-4 23, Zach Perta 5 2-4 15, Darryl Wright 0 1-2 1, Jeff Kozerski 0 4-4 4, Mark Atherton 1 0-0 3, George Sabatini 6 4-4 17. Totals 20 14-18 63.
WILLIMASPORT (67)
George Whaley 8 3-5 21, Caden Holt 1 0-0 3, Caleb Fausnaught 3 4-4 10, Jakiah Kline 3 2-2 8, Zach Lake 3 1-3 9, Jamaire Haden 2 1-2 5, Chris White 0 0-0 0, Thomas Takach 4 0-0 9, Naamir lowe 1 0-0 2. Totals 25 11-16 67.
Redeemer 10 23 14 16-63
Williamsport 23 7 18 19-67
3-pointers: Redeemer 9 (Hunter 4, Perta 3, Atherton Sabatini); Williamsport 6 (Whaley 2, Lake 2, Holt, Takach).
Records: Williamsport 4-1. Redeemer 5-2.