Keith MacPherson, Sports Editor
BELLS — Call it a case of being in the right place at the right time.
With 2.2 seconds left, Muenster forward Andy Flusche picked up a loose ball in the paint and put it up for a layup to give the Hornets a dramatic 47-45 win over No. 15 state-ranked Honey Grove in the Region II-1A area playoffs on Thursday at Bells High School.
Muenster will play Triple-A Academy in the regional quarterfinals early next week though information on when and where were not available at press time.
Cole Walterscheid scored a team-high 19 points for Muenster (17-6). Flusche added 13 points for the Hornets.
Flusche’s last second heroics came after Trevor Hess landed 3 of 4 free throws after being fouled on consecutive trips down the court in the final 1:30 to tie the game up at 45-45.
Honey Grove (22-3) maintained the ball for nearly a minute with the score tied, hoping for some late game heroics of its own. Instead, with 17 seconds left, Hess knocked the ball out of a Warrior player’s hands. The loose ball would find its way into deep Honey Grove territory before Flusche scooped it up for the last second score.
Charles Sanders led Honey Grove with 21 points. Hussien Jabai had 10 points.
Thanks to a stingy defense and a powerful front court on offense, Muenster controlled much of the first half. The Hornets took a 26-21 lead into intermission.
Walterscheid was 9-of-11 from the field in the first half and all but two of the Hornets’ first half points came from inside the paint. On defense, the Hornets held Honey Grove to only 24 percent shooting from the field (8-of-34).
Muenster pushed the lead to eight at 32-24 midway through the third quarter before the Warriors began to claw their way back to make it 34-31 heading into the final stanza.
