CLARKSBURG, W.Va. — Bridgeport’s final play wasn’t designed to have a specific player shoot, nor was the shot supposed to come from an exact place.
Rather, Indians’ coach Dave Marshall simply wanted his team to display patience, get into its set and run off most of the remaining 23 seconds during a possession that began with Bridgeport and Wheeling Park tied at 53.
It led to Mitchell Duez penetrating and pitching beyond the arc to Anthony Spatafore, who drained a 3-point attempt to send the Indians to a 56-53 victory over the Patriots in their season opener.
“We just talked about what we wanted to do and we put the personnel on the floor that we wanted and trusted them to look for the things we wanted,” Marshall said. “Actually, being a tie game we were just looking for a paint touch and maybe get to the free-throw line, but the last thing we told them was we wanted to take the last shot or as close to it as possible. Mitch got a good pinch there in the paint and made a nice kick and Anthony stepped up and hit a big shot. No question about that.”
The contest was moved from Bridgeport to Robert C. Byrd High School on short notice due to a power outage at BHS just before 7 p.m.
When it began shortly after 8:15 p.m., it was apparent from the outset the two teams were essentially evenly matched.
The Patriots used an early 7-0 run to overcome an 8-4 deficit, and they led by four after two Cole Francis free throws before Julian Skasik’s jump hook brought the Tribe to within 17-15 at the end of the first quarter.
A pair of Connor Messe triples allowed the Indians to go on top 21-19, before Park’s Brent Phillips made all four of his free-throw attempts in the quarter to help his team hold a 25-23 lead. Duez then beat the buzzer with a driving basket to send the contest to halftime knotted at 25.
The Patriots (0-3) had only seven first-half field goals, but made 9-of-10 free throws. The Indians, meanwhile, did not score from the free-throw line through the first two quarters, but half of their 10 field goals were triples.
“They hit some contested threes and they hit some tough shots,” Park coach Michael Jebbia said. “I was proud of our kids’ effort.”
With the game tied at 32 following Messe’s 3 just past the midway point of the third quarter, the Patriots put together their best stretch of the contest to hold the biggest lead of the night from either team — 40-32. The 8-0 spurt featured Phillips’ layup, Cole Wilkinson’s 3 and three more points from Phillips on a free throw and leaner.
Antonio Renzelli’s stickback late in the third allowed the Indians to trail by six, before they responded with a key run to start the fourth.
Spatafore’s 3 started the fourth-quarter scoring and consecutive layups from Duez enabled BHS to lead 41-40 with 6:33 remaining.
“The thing I was most pleased of is we’re down eight at one point against a team as good, well-coached and athletic as they are, some folks probably thought we were dead in the water,” Marshall said. “It would’ve been real easy for us to roll over there, but we scrapped back. If they’d have held that eight-point lead, we were in big trouble, because they’ll spread you. They run a four corners and we know that. That’s one of the things we were talking about is we have to cut into this lead.”
Jebbia saw that stretch as a big difference in the outcome.
“There have been spells each game where a team has hit us with a 7-0 run when we’ve had a little bit of a lead or maybe even a little bit of control,” he said. “Tonight, at the start of the fourth quarter, a 7-0 run and it was a big one.”
Bridgeport still led by one at 47-46 with inside 2 minutes remaining, before Phillips’ two free throws put Park back on top.
The Tribe’s Jaden Haywood and Park’s Aiden Davis traded triples that left the Patriots with a 51-50 advantage, before Duez got free on an inbound play and drained a corner 3 to give the Indians a late two-point lead.
Phillips made two foul shots to tie the game at 53 with 23 seconds remaining, setting the stage for Spatafore’s game-winner.
“There were a lot of big shots, but when the lights are on and that last one comes up, that makes it an even extra big shot,” Marshall said.
Duez led the Indians with 14 points and five assists, while Spatafore scored 11 off the bench. Messe scored nine points and Haywood added eight points and five assists in the victory.
The Indians outscored the Patriots 30-12 on triples, which allowed them to overcome a 25-17 rebounding deficit.
Phillips led all players with 25 points and 11 rebounds, using his aggressiveness to score 11 points on 14 free-throw attempts.
Davis added 10 points in defeat — Wheeling Park’s third single-digit defeat in as many games.
“The kids are right there,” Jebbia said. “We’re playing nine, ten guys a night and just two have varsity experience. Hopefully each week we can grow a little bit as a team, but it was a tough week with a little bit of travel. The kids played well. It just didn’t work out for us.”