Brian Lewis/The Gazette
Whitman's Michael Fowler (front) drives to the basket with Churchill's Michael Ely defending in the first half of the Vikings' 53-49 win Wednesday.
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Trailing 46-45 with just under a minute to play Wednesday, Whitman guard Eddie Wytkind knew it was his time.
The junior would nail a go-ahead 3-pointer with 40 seconds remaining to send the Vikings to a 53-49 victory over visiting rival Churchill.
"I was feeling it and I just knocked it down," said Wytkind, who finished with 17 points, four rebounds and two assists. "I thought that I had the open three and I was confident I was going to hit it. I hit it and it all broke loose."
During the final 24 seconds, Wytkind and junior forward Sam Walsh (five points) combined to go 5 of 6 from the charity stripe to secure Whitman's (4-6 overall, 2-2 Montgomery 4A West Division) seventh win in their last eight games against the Bulldogs (7-3, 3-1).
"I can't even explain to you how much our guys needed this," said Whitman head coach Chris Lun. "We have all the respect in the world for coach [Matt] Miller and Churchill, but we needed that one. For our kids to come play this way against a team that is coached that well, just means the world."
The game was close throughout. Churchill led 10-6 after one quarter of play and 21-19 at halftime.
"We felt really good at the half being down only two considering we were 3 for 16 from 3-point range," said Lun. "We felt if we could hit a couple shots maybe things in the second half would go our way. Defensive ball pressure and intensity kept us in the game until we were able to knock some of those shots down."
Whitman appeared to seize the momentum late in the third quarter after a layup by senior guard Amin Haririnia (12 points) gave the Vikings a 32-28 advantage. But consecutive buckets by Churchill's Chase Hicks (21 points) and Elijah Gore (22 points) left the game tied heading into the final quarter.
The Vikings led 43-37 after Michael Fowler (10 points) was intentionally fouled on a breakaway and converted 1 of 2 free throws with 2:40 remaining. But the Bulldogs would respond with a 9-2 run to take a brief one-point lead. Gore scored eight of the nine points during Churchill's comeback attempt.
While Churchill boss Matt Miller praised Lun and the Vikings, the former Whitman assistant was left desiring a better outcome.
"No doubt that Chris is a good friend of mine," said Miller. "However in the 32 minutes when the ball goes up you definitely want that win."
